GAO official says political influence not isolated at Interior

Despite the resignation of one high-ranking Interior Department official last year over allegations of improper political influence, four more department officials might have interfered in endangered species decisions for political reasons, a Government Accountability Office investigator said Wednesday.

At a House Natural Resources Committee hearing to examine reported interference by Julie MacDonald, the former deputy assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks, who resigned last year, the GAO's Robin Nazzaro said the interference was far more widespread.

Nazzaro named four officials who she said might have put political pressure on career employees who were making decisions about endangered species cases: Craig Manson, a former assistant Interior secretary; Brian Waidmann, chief of staff to Interior Secretary Dick Kempthorne; Todd Willens, a former deputy assistant Interior secretary, and Randal Bowman, a special assistant in the Interior secretary's office.

Nazzaro did not directly accuse them of wrongdoing, but said memos, e-mails and other documents studied by GAO show they were involved in decisions later found to have been slanted by political pressure from MacDonald. She said the Fish and Wildlife Service had an opportunity to do a broader investigation but failed to do so. "If they had cast a broader net, they may have found others as well," she said.

In response to the allegations, Chris Paolino, deputy press secretary at Interior, said it should come as "no surprise that political appointees are involved in significant decisions; in many cases it is required by law and regulation.

"It is also worth noting that, during the months GAO employees conducted their investigation, they didn't feel it was important that they interview these four people whose names they had heard referenced, one of whom, Randal Bowman, is not even a political appointee, but a career employee," Paolino said in a statement.

Nazzaro said she had not formally investigated the four, but would do so if instructed by Congress. Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., said the best thing to do at this point is to wait it out until November when a new president will be elected who can initiate housecleaning at the department.

"At this point, the best hope for endangered species may simply be to cling to life until after January when this president and his cronies, at long last, hit the unemployment line," Rahall said.

While Democrats on the panel seemed outraged by the allegations, Natural Resources ranking member Don Young, R-Alaska, cautioned against bandying about accusations. "Before someone makes a statement that impugns someone else's character, they might look at the facts," Young said.