Jim McElhatton
Articles by Jim McElhatton
Randy Minchew, Virginia delegate, omitted law firm ties in housing development defense
Virginia Delegate Randy Minchew fired off a pointed email last fall to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, pressing officials to explain their "grave concerns" about a proposed housing development not far from Washington Dulles International Airport. Published February 4, 2015
FedBid barred from any new government contracts
The federal government this week deemed FedBid, a politically connected reverse auction firm, "ineligible" for new government contracts, months after a scandal laid bare how the company tried to destroy the reputation of a senior Veterans Affairs official who ruled against it. Published January 28, 2015
Senate urged to ask Loretta Lynch about stock fraud case
More than two dozen conservative groups pressed the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday to look into whether the federal prosecutor's office run by attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch violated restitution and crime victim laws in a major stock fraud case. Published January 22, 2015
FedBid names former White House official as CEO
A troubled federal contracting company seeking to move beyond a political influence scandal said Tuesday it has promoted the White House's former top procurement official, Joe Jordan, to be its new chief executive. Published January 20, 2015
VA destroyed records, punished whistleblower in patient death, complaint alleges
Staff at the VA's Cleveland medical center destroyed records into the death of a patient to avoid unwanted publicity, then punished a whistleblower and put her under surveillance after she revealed lapses in the patient's care, the woman charged in a recent complaint. Published January 15, 2015
Dan Tangherlini, GSA chief, resigns; he was hired amid a scandal
The executive who took over the General Services Administration in the wake a conference scandal that wrought reforms across government announced his resignation Thursday. Published January 15, 2015
Army bribery case ‘sweetheart’ deal raises questions
A federal judge is questioning why the government wants to let an Army subcontractor off with just a fine, rather than pursue charges in a criminal case against the company whose founder doled out tens of thousands of dollars in bribes to a corrupt Army official. Published January 14, 2015
VA pharmacists unpunished for serious — even fatal — errors dispensing drugs
Pharmacists who made serious or potentially fatal errors dispensing drugs at the VA in New Jersey kept their jobs and often weren't even severely disciplined, according to testimony from their colleagues and other records. Published January 12, 2015
HUD still calculating fraudster’s damages
The Department of Housing and Urban Development is still trying to calculate the actual cost of fraud by former employee Brian Thompson, who is headed to prison this week after being sentenced to skimming money from sales of HUD properties. Published January 8, 2015
House demands that VA secretary release whistleblower’s documents
The chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs this week demanded that VA Secretary Robert McDonald turn over documents that would shed light on why his department suspended an employee who exposed the drug arrest of a high-ranking VA official. Published January 7, 2015
Former HUD loan official who slipped through vetting process is sentenced to 2 years in prison
A former Department of Housing and Urban Development loan official who secured the job despite a criminal record and then stole $843,000 was sentenced to more than two years in federal prison Wednesday. Published January 7, 2015
Pentagon employee tried to view porn at work
An employee at the Pentagon's accounting arm tried to access pornographic websites more than 12,000 times last summer, according to an internal memo. Published January 6, 2015
VA failed to vet dubious contractors
An internal VA study has found that an east coast office that handles about $4 billion in business each year didn't do enough checks to vet the backgrounds of companies to which it awarded contracts. Published January 5, 2015
Loretta Lynch questioned over secret deal depriving fraud victims of $40M
More than a year before President Obama nominated federal prosecutor Loretta Lynch to be attorney general, a former federal judge quietly called on Congress to investigate her U.S. attorney's office for trampling on victims' rights. Published January 4, 2015
Joseph Colon-Christensen suspended from VA job, won’t be terminated
A Department of Veterans Affairs credentialing official who said VA supervisors sought to fire him for reporting the arrest of a high-ranking VA executive has been suspended from his job but won't be fired. Published December 30, 2014
HUD scammer seeks credit for revealing crime
A former Department of Housing and Urban Development official who stole more than $800,000 from the agency says he never would have been caught if he hadn't helped reform the troubled loan office that hired him despite his own lengthy criminal record. Published December 29, 2014
Justice appealing ruling on DEA’s ‘reckless’ use of witness
The Justice Department is appealing a $1.1 million ruling against the Drug Enforcement Administration, asking an appeals court to throw out a ruling that the agency acted with "reckless disregard" for one of its most prized drug informants by sending her into an investigation after her cover had been blown. Published December 24, 2014
Background check fails as ex-convict lands HUD job, embezzles $800,000
Brian Thompson had a criminal record spanning more than two decades, but that didn't stop him from getting an office job at the Department of Housing and Urban Development earning nearly $90,000 per year. Published December 23, 2014
Veterans Affairs contracting office not told of ongoing investigation
The Department of Veterans Affairs acknowledged it received no advance notice before awarding a contract worth millions to a company recently named in a VA contract-steering investigation that has led to calls for the firing of the Treasury's senior procurement executive. Published December 22, 2014
Investigated procurement chief spoke highly of past performance, but VA red flags ignored
Iris Cooper, a top government procurement officer, said she was a big fan of scouring would-be contractors' past performance to see if they could do the job. But that's not what happened at the Department of Veterans Affairs while she ran its office of acquisition operations, where investigators say she steered about $15 million to a company with no track record that employed two of her friends. Published December 18, 2014
