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Subscribe to RSSJeff Neely, the man at the heart of the General Services Administration scandal, will be facing more questions about his travel. NBC's Lisa Myers reports.
Updated at 2:45 p.m. ET: Republican lawmakers tried Tuesday to tie the spending scandal at the General Services Administration to the White House, pressing current and former agency officials to explain why they met with senior administration officials two weeks before disciplining most of the implicated officials.
At a congressional hearing Tuesday, former GSA Administrator Martha Johnson acknowledged that she met with several top White House officials — including chief of staff Jack Lew and Personnel Director Nancy Hogan — as early as mid-March about the scandal.
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NBC News' Stacey Klein and msnbc.com's Becky Bratu contributed to this report by M. Alex Johnson of msnbc.com Follow M. Alex Johnson on Twitter and Facebook. |
Johnson put Region 9 Public Building Regional Commissioner Jeffrey Neely on leave on March 19. But she didn't resign and discipline other top agency officials until the GSA's inspector general officially released a report April 2 documenting lavish spending for a Las Vegas conference in 2010 that cost $823,000.
The GSA, which manages federal properties, is also being investigated for how resources were spent on other outings and conferences, including trips to Hawaii, Atlanta and Napa, Calif., and an interns' conference in Palm Springs, Calif., attended by 150 people.
Neely, the official at the center of the scandal, wasn't present at Tuesday's hearing. On Monday, Neely repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
Ex-GSA head apologizes for $823,000 Las Vegas spending spree
As Republicans tried to suggest a cover-up by the White House, Johnson testified Tuesday that she never spoke to President Barack Obama, but she said she did have "informational" meetings with other top administration officials the weeks of March 18 and March 25.
Besides Lew and Hogan, officials from the White House counsel's office and the president's communications staff attended some of those meetings, Johnson said.
"Those meetings were about policy," Johnson told Rep. Jeff Denham, R-Calif., head of the Transportation subcommittee on public buildings. "We wanted to talk with them about travel policy, because obviously they are interested in how we can move forward after this event."
Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., said it was a Democratic appointee who brought the General Services Administration to light.
Denham pressed Johnson to explain why it took "all the way up to April 2nd" to fire Stephen Leeds, her chief counsel, and Bob Peck, head of the public building department, and "to put all of the other administrators on leave."
"I was working particularly with our HR (human resources) senior executives and a senior executive in the general counsel's office to understand what was the particular evidence that the IG had uncovered and how we could fit that into letters of admonishment and what kinds of disciplinary action we could take," Johnson replied, adding that "there's a due process here that we needed to follow."
In an interview with CNN before the hearing, Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, made it clear that Republicans believe "people did let the White House know, and the White House did not choose to intervene or to take action early on."
But Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., ranking Democrat on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee and a member of Mica's committee, pointed out that it was a Democratic appointee, Deputy GSA Administrator Susan Brita, "who brought this to light."
Neely and others implicated in the scandal "will be brought to justice and be made to pay back the money they owe the taxpayers," Cummings said in an interview with NBC News' Andrea Mitchell.
Mica said he and Denham were examining whether the GSA's culture of squandering could be purged or whether the agency — "our government's landlord" — should be replaced.
Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, a Democrat who represents the District of Columbia, disagreed with Denham and Mica, saying, "GSA serves an indispensable function."
The General Services Administration is under investigation for frivolous spending in Las Vegas. The NOW panel debates the fallout from the scandal.
That's what makes the investigation "such a difficult matter," said Norton, who was lampooned in a widely circulated video the GSA made at the conference.
In his opening statement, Peck said the Las Vegas conference was an "aberration" and that most conferences he attended weren't lavish. He said he paid for some food out of his pocket in Las Vegas.
Peck also offered a personal apology and said he wouldn't shirk responsibility.
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Leave a Comment:
Yeah after the penny pinching of the bush administration these expenses look horrible..oh wait a minute...8 Trillion in new debt from bush...I'm sure some of it was crap like this...the mission accomplsihed debacle cost more than this did...
The national debt went up 4.9 trillion dollars over the 8 years Bush was in office. Of that 2.5 trillion was on spending. It has gone up 5 trillion in the 3 years since Obama took office. Of that 4.4 trillion was spending.
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This administration is quick to demonize the rich, yet this kind of behavior with our tax money is OK?
It is no longer enough to just say "some things never change", we must make those who misspend our tax dollars accountable!!!
Republican politics make me sick, they will bend over backward to try and pin anything on Obama. Yet when I ask my Rep Tom Reed NY-R to help protect the children on my street his staff refuses to help. I live on a road that is 6/10 of a mile long, is a shortcut for traffic, is a 55 mph zone with several children and pets, and has blind hills. OK let see you defend that ahole and his complete disregard for my son's safety...wait for the response, somehow I will be to blame because I have the nerve to defend the President of the United States. I am an independent and choose to see reality not choose sides.
Tom Reed made you buy a house on an unsafe street? Wow, Reps in NY have lots of control over thier constituents.
Is there anyone out there who doesn't detect the stink of death in the GOP? TOTAL DESPERATION!
It was done on Obama's watch ....
Or would you say Bush's .... ??
Where are all the people that like to arrange marches now? We need people to get out there and let these crooks know we will take our country back! We would be fired and I don't know about you, but I'm tired of seeing them talk and talk, but then go back to being the dirty crooks like this agency has been Haven't you had enough? Let's not just talk about it, let's do something about it! It might scare Washington to see a million angry people showing up in Washington because we are MAD AS H*** at them instead of each other!
How about going after every one of those that attended and getting back from them the real cost of their vacation. Every last one of them and every last dime. How about all the other "conferences" they went to? Look at what and where the payments were made.
Make those who attended the GSA conference PAY back ALL the money from their own pockets!!! Plus fines!!! then EVERYONE from the bottom up... should be FIRED!!!
This is happening everyday with both the worthless republicans and democrats. 95% of these scoundrels are ripping off the little man taxpayer and getting rich in the process. They all are no better than common thieves. This country is going to collapse due to this conservative and liberal bullsh*t. When are you going to realize that either democrat or republican the scumbags in Washington are out for themselves and could care less about you or the country. They are only going to tell you the lies you want to hear to get elected or stay in office. We deserve what we get for continuing to put the dirtbags in office.
richlee, oh I'm sure that the administration will try and cannonize these people. Sheesh...
Name me one person who said or thinks this is okay. Is there a valid point in there somewhere or is it just feeding time in the shark tank?
LOL, nobody cares.
Four more years, whiners.
Your wrong!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It's spelled "you're".
Home schooled?
You're still wrong taco!!!!!!!!!!! and no just raised in California:)
THIS STUFF HAS WENT ON THROUGHOUT MY ADULT LIFE....the IRS, the INS (NOW HOMELAND SECURITY), has had these employee training seminars, with the skits at the end that was suppose to explain team leadership, and morale. If one party tries to blame this stupidity on the other...they are nothing more than bovine dung!!! It has been going on FOR YEARS!!!! It is wrong, but major corporations also employ the same tactics. For the GOP to have one word of criticism is pure hypocrisy....but that is what most love the GOP for....They cant tell the truth or confess to any wrongdoing!!!!
It is so bad. We have prostitutes in this country that could use the work but nooooo...we have to have our federal employees taking care of other countries first.
Simple solution - which recent history says works.
The guy in charge should say - the agency is too big for one man to know everything that is happening day to day.
This reasoning got congress off of Eric Holder's back.
Who's watching the store??????? Who approved this rubbish???? Put the blame where it belongs!
Chump change compared to the billions the Republicans and their corporate masters stole during the Bush administration.
That justifies it. Where does it end or don'tyou care? I do and I dont care what party they are in. Wonder why I HATE giving my hard earned money to the Government? If you condone this behavior you should pay my share. No? I figured that for a liberal!!!!
I get kick out of that reasoning.
"Bush did it..."
But wait, weren't you the guys that said - elect us and we will get rid of all that bad stuff Bush was doing?
You cannot have it both ways - blame Bush as the villain but, when necessary, use Bush as validation as to why the bad stuff continues to happen 3 + years into your watch.
I don't buy the idiotic blame Bush script for the GSA mess. Obama and the Democrats had two years of full power. Obama also said he was going to change Washington. Apparently, he didn't do squat and now looks to blame others. Do you not know how huge a sign of weakness that is?
Yes, how dare those repubs!! Try to blame His royal supreme glory for the actions of people he is responsible for... I mean... obviously Bush is responsible... for everything... bad...
You are only allowed to give Obama credit for good things... whether he did them or not.
Libs are so funny!!
Wow Never seen so many Washington Officials upset this week. Ignorance is Bliss when you want to Overlook Millions and Trillions of Government Tax Dollars just given away to Farmers, Corporations, The BLM is Mistreating and killing Wild Mustangs to pay farmers to graze their cattle on Government lands once the horses are removed. The Department of Interior is just as Corrupt. The Corporations in the Pharmaceutical industry The Whole Health System in this Country is Corrupt but they dont Scream or Investigate the dangers that are in Our Food Supply on a daily basis. The Autism Epidemic, The childhood obesity Epidemic, Diabetes Epidemic. Stop Poisoning Our Food Supply with Toxins.
"dear lord,can we go back in time and fill the wtc,north and south,with politicians the am of 9/11/2001/"If hypocrisy was dynamite the republican party wouldn't dare sneeze.Not so fast leftys.all of them are dirty sobs
Sure sounds like a cover up to me. Reminds me of the old Clinton days.
Don't blame the poor people at the GSA. Obama is always asking for tax increases, "more revenue", but does anybody notice that he never talks about reigning in government spending, making the government more efficient? No, he never talks about that. So everyone in this adminstration thinks that the money will keep flowing in and they can spend whatever they want. Obama has not had a budget in three years. Kind of shows how important he thinks living within one is, doesn't it?
Uh, he has asked for one (1) reasonable tax increase on an EXTREMELY small portion of the population. Kindly name any other tax hikes you see, otherwise quit spewing this ridiculous conservative talking point about "Obama's raised all our taxes" or "he wants to tax us all to death." Also, it has to be an actual TAX, not some other cost that idiots want to rebrand as a tax to use as rhetoric.
Also, genius, the white house HAS proposed a budget, it's simply been blocked by GOP obstructionism. Remember the Party of NO?! Claiming that he hasn't bothered to put a budget forward simply because the asshoIes on the other side won't let his proposal get anywhere is an outright lie, and you're a liar for repeating it.
MSNBC, I believe when Obama was elected, he stated the buck stopped with him. How can Bush be responsible for everything that went wrong under his watch, while Obama gets another pass? Nice try, but the American public isn't buying this one!
Well, his supporters will buy it and still vote for him! They are that stupid!
Was Martha Johnson appointed by the President? Was this incident reported to the White House eleven months ago? Was it then swept under the proverbial rug? Is there any accountability what so ever in this Administration?
The debate (core of the article) is whether or not the White House planned to do anything after learning about it. Maybe, maybe not, just might have been an matter of time. But it appears that while the White House may or not have been draggin their feet, it was:
Congrats to Susan Brita(D), but I can't help but wonder why she blew the whistle on her own administration, and what will be her new position now that GSA Administrator Martha Johnson has resigned? In other words, what becomes of the Deputy when the Sheriff resigns?