Watchdog Faces Three Investigations

The investigations into Frazier's conduct date to last fall, when he took a week-long trip to Boston and New York. When he returned, Frazier asked his deputy, Edward Blansitt, to sign off on his expenses, according to a complaint Blansitt filed with the President's Council.

Blansitt said in the complaint that he refused to approve the expenses because Frazier appeared to have had "one relatively short business meeting" over the week.

The council closed its inquiry after an explanation from Frazier, records show, but it opened another -- into whether he ended a large staff meeting in Philadelphia early "for the specific purpose of allowing yourself [Frazier] and another OIG [Office of the Inspector General] employee the time to drive to Atlantic City to gamble."

Shortly after Blansitt filed the original complaint, Frazier reassigned him to the post of assistant inspector general for investigations, said sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Frazier also removed his office's legal counsel, Allison Lerner, from her position and named her deputy assistant inspector general for audits, according to a complaint Lerner filed with the President's Council.

Blansitt and Lerner declined to comment for this article, but the sources said that each has filed a complaint with the Office of Special Counsel, alleging to be a victim of retaliation. They are seeking protections available to whistle-blowers under federal law.

A January letter from the Office of Special Counsel to the Commerce Department says that the counsel is investigating allegations that unnamed officials in the inspector general's office retaliated against employees who "divulged information" to the President's Council. The letter seeks documents, including personnel records and travel vouchers.

Besides Frazier's travel expenses and the no-bid contract, House investigators are interested in the large sums spent on remodeling a conference room and on an aborted plan to reconfigure work spaces. Workers said walls were demolished and traditional private offices reconfigured to accommodate new, open-plan modular furniture bought at taxpayer expense. But the months-long redesign was then reversed.

One internal e-mail obtained by The Post suggests that the project not only caused lengthy disruptions in the office but may also have cost taxpayers more than $100,000.

Dingell's letter says his committee interviewed people who said that Frazier traveled regularly without a clear governmental purpose, charged for first-class accommodations and took along an excessive number of subordinates. It also questions whether Frazier gave a government bonus as a wedding gift to a member of his management team.

The letter asks that Frazier bring in a third party, such as another agency's inspector general, to oversee the gathering of the documents requested by the committee.