[Source: House Appropriations Followup] Q. A. BENTSEN/FOREMAN: WHY NOT ADVANCE MEETINGS NOTICE In light of the White House guidance cautioning against meeting with officials of independent regulatory agencies conducting or about to conduct investigations, why is it that neither you nor Mr. Foreman were given advance notice of these meetings? As I have said before, I have not engaged in my own fact-finding on these contacts. Mr. Fiske is doing the fact-finding and we're cooperating completely with his inquiries. I have asked the Office of Government Ethics to advise me on any ethics issues raised by the meeting, and they have told me that they will do so once they are notified by Mr. Fiske that it is appropriate to proceed. MARCH 20 DRAFT 47 Q. A. OGE STATUS: OGE STATEMENT When do you expect the Office of Government Ethics to report back to you on your request for their review? After meeting with the Office of the Independent Counsel, OGE has informed me that they have agreed not to take any action at this time that would jeopardize any investigation now being conducted by Mr. Fiske. Once Mr. Fiske's office notifies OGE than an administrative review of employee conduct in this matter may proceed, OGE will work with Treasury's Inspector General so that any information relevant to issues of the application of the Standards of Ethical Conduct to Treasury employees can be developed and included in a report to me from Treasury's IG. Based on that report, OGE will give me their views as I requested earlier this month. MARCH 20 DRAFT 48 [Source: House Appropriations Followup] Q. A. WHY OGE, NOT IG? Why did you ask the Office of Government Ethics to review this matter rather than Treasury's Inspector General? I have full confidence in the professionalism and integrity of the dedicated and hard-working public servants at Treasury who were involved in these meetings. I have simply asked the Office of Government Ethics to advise me whether these meetings raise any ethics or conflicts issues. Given the treatment these meetings have been given, and the suggestion by certain Congressional members that these meetings violated some rule or standard of ethical conduct, I think it is important that these meetings be examined from an ethical and conflicts perspective. MARCH 20 DRAFT 49 (Source: House Appropriations GEDOESN'T INVESTIGATE Q. A. Were you aware that the Office of Government Ethics does not conduct investigations; that in fact it relies on investigations of the facts that the agency in question conducts? Yes, I was aware of that, and I did not ask OGE to conduct an MARCH 20 DRAFT 50 (Source: House Appropriations Followup] Q. A. ASKING OGE MEANS WH INVESTIGATES? Did you know that by asking OGE to investigate this matter the result would be that OGE would review an investigation conducted by the White House? In fact, that is not what will happen. I asked the OGE to review the application of the ethics rules to the activities of Treasury officials, and I committed Treasury staff to fully cooperate with OGE in its work. The White House will not be responsible for developing any additional factual information that OGE needs to conduct that review. I understand OGE will use information developed by Treasury's IG to the extent that is necessary to supplement information the Independent Counsel develops. MARCH 20 DRAFT 51 |