Smithsonian Official Resigned In Wake of Ethics Probe
Internal Report Cited Latino Center Leader For Multiple Violations

By James V. Grimaldi and Jacqueline Trescott
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, April 15, 2008

The head of the Smithsonian Latino Center resigned in February after an internal investigation found that she violated a variety of rules and ethics policies by abusing her expense account, trying to steer a contract to a friend and soliciting free tickets for fashion shows, concerts and music award ceremonies, according to records released yesterday by the Smithsonian.

Pilar O'Leary, who was hired in 2005 by then-Secretary Lawrence M. Small to be the institution's key representative on Latino affairs, billed the Smithsonian "extravagant" and "lavish travel expenses," and used her expense account on personal purchases such as outings to a spa and hotel gift shops, the Smithsonian inspector general found.

In a report released yesterday in response to a Freedom of Information Act request by The Washington Post, Smithsonian Inspector General A. Sprightley Ryan said O'Leary violated 14 ethical and conflict-of-interest policies. Many details were unclear because long passages were blacked out by Ryan for privacy reasons. "The investigation revealed that O'Leary has not always acted in the best interests of the Smithsonian," the report concluded. "Her conduct has violated the basic ethical rules of the Institution."

O'Leary, 39, denied any wrongdoing, saying in an e-mail to The Post that the tickets were "not gifts" and that her travel had been approved by her supervisors in the office of then-Deputy Secretary Sheila Burke. In an interview with investigators made public with the report, O'Leary said she had never been questioned by superiors regarding her travel expenditures.

Prominent in the Washington social scene, O'Leary appeared on the cover of Washington Life magazine two years ago as a winner of the magazine's annual Substance & Style Awards, along with Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and environmentalist Philippe Cousteau.

The Latino center that O'Leary oversaw was established in 1997 to coordinate exhibitions and programs related to Hispanic culture and history. The Latino center receives a separate appropriation of about $1 million a year. O'Leary, an attorney who previously worked at Fannie Mae, was paid about $200,000 a year in 2005 and 2006; the money came from a separate budget, not the federal appropriation. The Smithsonian development office reported that the Latino center received $1.8 million in contributions during O'Leary's tenure. In a declaration attached to the report, O'Leary said the center had raised $4 million in the same period.

The inspector general found that O'Leary solicited and accepted gifts and gratuities from outside companies and contractors doing business with or seeking to do business with the Smithsonian and who had interests that could be affected by O'Leary's official duties. "Her conduct creates the perception that she is using her position for private gain, particularly through her solicitation of gifts and her excessive travel expenditures," said the report, which was written before her resignation.

O'Leary said in her e-mail, "All of my travel was authorized by my supervisor's office."

Two contracts O'Leary advocated, including one with a friend that was not the result of competitive bidding, were determined to be improper by Smithsonian Office of Contracting. When confronted over one of the contracts, O'Leary "acted surprised that she couldn't do it." According to an e-mail she sent later to the contractor, O'Leary was "threatened and embarrassed" when she was told that the deal was "illegal."

O'Leary was found to have rented limousines frequently, including one that took the Latino center's board members from the Smithsonian Castle to the National Museum of Natural History. She also sent couriers to fetch items at her home, including wine, medication, a suitcase, a dress, keys and her BlackBerry. O'Leary said in her interview that the costs were justified for business purposes.

Many of the violations came in 2007 after Small was forced to step down for expense account abuses. He resigned after questions were raised about his expense accounts, including the use of limousines. There has been a series of reports in the past year about other ethical lapses at the institution.

The report was completed Nov. 28. The inspector general's office referred the O'Leary matter to the U.S. attorney's office, which declined to prosecute.

O'Leary reimbursed the Smithsonian $2,066, Smithsonian spokeswoman Linda St. Thomas said.

Part of the reimbursement was for expenses during a trip to Spain for which O'Leary had been paid $1,028 in cash by another organization for meals and expenses. When she returned, she submitted a Smithsonian expense voucher for $1,242 but did not deduct the money she'd received from the sponsoring organization.

O'Leary also repaid the Smithsonian for the cost of moving white plastic furniture to her home in an unusual episode. O'Leary had donated the furniture to the institution and stored it in the Arts and Industries Building. When the dilapidated structure was shut down, she hired movers to cart the furniture back to her home and billed the institution.

The report concluded that O'Leary exceeded per diem rates on 23 out of 24 trips and had charged a total of $26,797 for 20 trips in 2006.

O'Leary traveled frequently to Miami, New York and Los Angeles. "O'Leary was very particular about her lodging, normally insisting that she booked at a Conrad, Ritz Carlton or Four Seasons, even if they did not offer a government rate," the report said, citing sources and documents. "There were also times when O'Leary would refuse to stay at a hotel offering the government rate or a comparable rate."

For example, during a December 2006 stay at the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles, she charged $335 for expenses at the upscale spa Rikrak.

When her resignation was announced in an e-mail in January, Richard Kurin, the acting under secretary for history and culture, did not mention ethical lapses and praised her work developing "partnerships with scores of cultural organizations in the United States and across the hemisphere."

On Monday, Acting Secretary Cristián Samper said in a second e-mail to staff that O'Leary had "engaged in behavior that violated our Standards of Conduct and other Smithsonian policies between August 2005 and September 2007."

Samper said such reports are not always public, but Ryan determined O'Leary "held a position of such significant responsibility and public visibility that disclosure . . . was warranted."

The circumstances of O'Leary's solicitation of tickets is unclear because the names and companies of the people who provided the tickets are blacked out in the report. Among the events for which O'Leary attempted to get free tickets were the Billboard Latin Music Conference and Awards, the Latin Grammys and the Radio City Music Hall Christmas show featuring the Rockettes. She also accepted free tickets for concerts in Miami.

O'Leary said the tickets "were not personal gifts to me." She said, "I often asked those organizations to provide me and my staff with the opportunity to attend Latino cultural and media events in order to engage in important networking and outreach opportunities."

An Oct. 31, 2006, e-mail sent by O'Leary indicates she sought tickets to the Latin Grammys from someone who might have business before the institution. "We should definitely find ways to collaborate, we do a lot of evens as I am sure [name blacked out] has told you," O'Leary wrote. "I am desperate for Latin Grammy tix -- I have been invited to a bunch of vents surrounding the actual awards, let me know if you know how I could possibly get 2!"

In February 2007, O'Leary and her staff also went to Los Angeles to attend a party after the Grammy Awards, but waited until the last minute to book rooms. Before departing, O'Leary rejected a government rate at the Millennium downtown and insisted on staying in Beverly Hills, the report said. She made reservations at three different hotels before finally settling on two hotels over two nights, one costing $510 per night. When Smithsonian financial officers asked for a justification, she sent an e-mail saying, "You can say that Hollywood is going to be more convenient for meetings."

The report found that prices of the hotel rooms were often steep because they had been made at the last minute. When an investigator asked why this occurred, O'Leary said her corporate contacts "often don't realize that we aren't as flexible in making our travel arrangements as they are." She then cited cultural differences, saying that the center's Latino constituency "doesn't operate in the same time frames everyone else is used to -- in many Latin cultures, arrangements are made at the last minute."