Thwarted DHS Probes Alleged

Government lawyers have hampered investigations into suspected waste and fraud at the Department of Homeland Security, officials told a House subcommittee yesterday.

The head of the Government Accountability Office, the nonpartisan investigative arm of Congress, and the department's own inspector general said that Homeland Security officials, particularly lawyers in the general counsel's office, had delayed inquiries and demanded inappropriate access to interviews with employees. There was no suggestion of criminality.

DHS spokesman Russ Knocke denied the allegations, calling them inaccurate and unfair. He said that investigators from both offices have interviewed employees many times without attorneys present and that the general counsel's office is involved only when sensitive information is discussed.

Numerous inquiries into suspected waste, abuse and management problems had been delayed, the investigators said.