Treasury IG to Resign

DAILY BRIEFING

Treasury IG to Resign

Treasury Department Inspector General Valerie Lau, who had been accused of contract improprieties, has told President Clinton she will resign in March, according to the Associated Press.

Lau had been under fire from Members of Congress for awarding contracts without competitive bidding and for conducting a criminal investigation of two Secret Service agents in connection with the White House FBI files controversy.

Lau told members of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee's investigations subcommittee last fall that she awarded a $90,000 contract to a longtime associate because of an urgent and compelling need to complete the study quickly. Lau said she contracted out a management study to Sato & Associates in 1994 shortly after she took office to get vital advice on managing and staffing practices. Sato & Associates is owned by Lau's longtime friend, Frank S. Sato, who recommended her to the White House for the IG post.

But a General Accounting Office auditor said the 20-page study was not urgent and should have cost far less.

Lau had been under investigation by the President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency, an IG oversight board. By law, only the President can remove inspectors general from their jobs. Lau told Clinton she would leave after her office issues an audit of Treasury's financial statement in March.

"Accountability in government has prevailed," Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, told the AP. Grassley had called for Lau's resignation last November.