February 22, 2009: Obama Names Former Interior Investigator to Oversee Economic Stimulus Funds

President Obama names Earl Devaney to head the new Recovery Act Transparency and Accountability Board, a new agency designed to oversee the allocation and spending of the $787 billion economic stimulus plan. Devaney is a former Secret Service agent who, as the inspector general of the Department of the Interior, helped expose lobbyist corruption there; he will work closely with Vice President Joseph Biden, who will coordinate oversight of the stimulus spending. Devaney helped expose Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff’s dealings with the Interior Department, and helped finger former Deputy Interior Secretary Steven Griles, who later pled guilty to charges of lying to Congress over his acceptance of bribes. Devaney also led an investigation of workers at the Interior Department’s Minerals Management Service, where he discovered what he called a “culture of substance abuse and promiscuity” at the Denver and Washington offices of the service. [Associated Press, 2/22/2009]