Lafayette Panelists Are Appalled With The Secret Service & The GSA

The Pentagon launches an investigation into a Secret Service scandal. The controversy started over the weekend after a Secret Service agent allegedly refused to pay a Colombian prostitute while in the country along with President Obama who was attending the Summit of the Americas. Several agents have already had their security clearances revoked as a result.

Warren: ‘despicable’ these ppl are supposed to be professional form of extortion, supposed to be above that, high profile & if they dont have any more discretion… operationally stupid.

Mike: hotel was known for this, there’s a problem that is not confined to just govt ppl: rules dont apply to them, this problem has occurred b4…, sense of entitlement – most disturbing

Carrol: horrible lack of judgment, gotten worse & it’s very serious, they are not immune from the culture at large, this is culture-wide, Kessler’s book

Warren: they used to be immune bc if you weren’t you are fired, degradation on the whole process

After spending Monday grilling General Services Administration leadership about a controversial conference in Las Vegas, Congressional leaders will be back at it today. The GSA event in 2010 cost taxpayers more than 800-thousand dollars. Taxpayers paid for services including a mind reader and a clown in Vegas.

Carrol: the most frustrating thing: audio testifying taking the 5th, now finding out it was with good reason bc of everything that has come out, they wont get another dime out of taxpayers until they can prove that they can spend it well

Warren: one more thing out of control, explosion of hiring so much money thrown around and uncontrolled growth that nobody has a hand on it

Mike: something bigger in the culture, happening across the board, lack of accountability that is a cultural thing, breakdown happening in terms of responsibility that is troubling, not confined to the public sector

There’s a new report out that indicates numerous convicted defendants may not have been properly informed about flawed forensic work at the FBI lab that may have led to their gaining freedom. The “Washington Post” reports Justice Department officials have known for years that problem forensic work might have sent innocent people to prison but prosecutors did not notify those who were convicted nor their lawyers.

Mike: This is not TV, reality is a lot sloppier, FBI controlled the investigation all these convictions were based on bogus evidence, very wide-spread, innocent ppl as a result possibility stayed in prison

Warren: going back to the OJ Simpson trial era, FBI had actually fabricated data

Caller: it is a fallacy for us all to believe that just because it is federal its more professional

Carrol: so much of this has to do with the political ramifications, when the ramifications are that there is hell to pay when ppl tell the truth, we need some sort of moral or ethical behavior.

On Apr 17, 2012, at 9:05 AM, Bernie Lee wrote: