Since I am not commuting to work at the moment, I’m not reading the Post every day. (I’m working at home as much as possible until d-day on the gestation project.) But while browsing the Post’s site online the other day I came across a curious article with a tantalizing headline: “Federal Group To Investigate N.Va. Corruption.” Hmmm… I think. What have they found? Well, the article is very oddly written and it seems to be that they have found … nothing! A few quotes from the article below.
The FBI unveiled a task force yesterday to investigate public corruption and government fraud in Northern Virginia, saying the poor economy and an influx of federal dollars into the region could tempt officials and business owners to take bribes or divert contracting dollars for their own use.
Ok – true so far, but also true for parts of Maryland and probably other regions of the country where big defense contracts (or generic pork of other sorts) is funneled. So what’s special about NoVA right now?
Federal officials said they have seen no evidence that public corruption is increasing in Northern Virginia, and federal prosecutors have brought only a handful of such cases in recent years. But the FBI said putting more agents in the field and educating the public will probably result in more prosecutions.
Sure it will – you get more of whatever you measure, after all, when it comes to stuff like this. But no evidence of an increase? Just a vague worry?
The conference was held at the office of the FBI’s Northern Virginia-based agents, which opened in February on a former horse farm in Prince William County.
Odd and random detail about the horse farm. Now, who’s involved in this task force? Eight agencies, we’re told, except for the one whose job it is to prosecute corruption cases in Virginia!
Members of the task force also include U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; the Internal Revenue Service; and inspectors general for the departments of Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security and the U.S. Postal Service.
The U.S. attorney’s office in Alexandria, which prosecutes public corruption cases in Northern Virginia, is not a member.
Check that out: “The U.S. attorney’s office in Alexandria, which prosecutes public corruption cases in Northern Virginia, is not a member.” Umm. Wha? Why not? The closing quote:
But, he said, “with that much money moving through the areas, there’s always the possibility that some of that money is diverted or misspent.”
Gee, ya think? On the one hand, it’s true that there likely is corruption, waste, fraud, and abuse (as the anti-gubmint folks like to rant), but this article was just weird. My guess — they have a target, it’s probably a politicized target (given the history of this administration, how could it not be?), and the U.S. attorney’s office in Alexandria refused to play along. TheGuy and I also have a guess as to who that target might be. (We both said the same name out loud when I pointed out the article to him.) But, this article was just very strange. It makes me wonder why it was printed at all.
Truly the ways of the Washington media and their buddies in the gubmint are mysterious.
