Grand jury in probe of Iraq reconstruction watchdog issues subpoenas

A federal grand jury in Richmond, Va., has subpoenaed at least three witnesses in the investigation of alleged misconduct by Stuart Bowen, the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, which sources say appears to focus allegations that Bowen and his deputy, Ginger Cruz, improperly read office e-mails of their employees.

The subpoenas, which summoned the witnesses to appear before the grand jury in March, indicate prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Virginia, working with the FBI, are making progress in their probe of Bowen, who has served in his post since October 2004.

Three witnesses, and a fourth expected to be called by the grand jury soon, are former senior agency officials familiar with actions under investigation. They already have been interviewed by the FBI, sources said. Prosecutors, the FBI and the witnesses declined interview requests by CongressDaily, citing the secrecy of grand jury proceedings. But five people involved in the case have confirmed details of the investigation.

Bowen and lawyers familiar with his position said the federal probe is exploratory and predicted it will not result in criminal charges. "We are aware that it [the grand jury] continues to function and is proceeding with standard grand jury practices such as issuing subpoenas," Bowen said in a statement this week. "No SIGIR employee has been notified that he or she is a target."

But legal experts said by taking testimony from witnesses who were already interviewed, prosecutors are moving from data gathering to presenting information to a grand jury that could lead to charges. "It doesn't tell you that there will be an indictment," said Carl Tobias, a University of Richmond law professor who follows federal cases in Virginia. "But it shows that it is moving along."

Prosecutors are investigating matters including whether Bowen and Cruz misused agency funds for a book project and to cover their legal fees from a related administrative probe by an oversight body of federal inspectors general. But lawyers familiar with the grand jury investigation said it appears to focus especially on e-mail reviews by Bowen and Cruz between 2005 and 2007. Bowen has acknowledged reviewing e-mails, but said it occurred just four times in "appropriate" investigations of employee misconduct. That suggests the federal probe might be trying to determine the extent of e-mail monitoring and the legal authority of top agency officials to deal with employee e-mail.

SIGIR employees sign an agreement that their work e-mail can be read. But former employees said that does not allow what they claim was open-ended monitoring to assess their loyalty. Two former senior employees said in interviews that Bowen and Cruz began reviewing e-mail around late 2005 to identify employees who outlined for oversight agencies and the media allegations about Bowen and Cruz. The former officials said Bowen and Cruz at one point reviewed staff e-mail without knowledge of aides who previously objected and without permission from the Army, as required by the Defense Department, causing the Army to order the officials to stop. A SIGIR spokeswoman said that, as an independent agency, permission from the Army is not needed to review staff e-mail.