For Immediate Release
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
WASHINGTON - Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa is asking the Securities and Exchange Commission for information that would shed light on decisions affecting the agency inspector general's office.
"All federal agencies need a high-performing, independent inspector general's office to hold the agency accountable and protect employees from unwarranted criticism," Grassley said. "The recent turmoil at the SEC inspector general's office raises questions about how well that office is functioning. Information from all sides is necessary to try to establish where things went wrong and what the agency can do to refocus its watchdog capacity."
Grassley's review so far has found that the commission suspended the chief investigator in the inspector general's office over allegations that he caused security concerns among some fellow employees, but the investigator's counsel contends the investigator was retaliated against for reporting allegations about the recently departed inspector general to an outside group for review. Allegations have also been made that the outside security firm that looked into the investigator was being investigated by the inspector general's office over contracting concerns.
In order to investigate those allegations, Grassley wrote to SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro, Acting Inspector General Noelle Maloney and Chuck Tobin, the president of At-Risk International LLC, the company that performed the security review.
The text of Grassley's letters are available here, here, and here.
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