Issa Report: Failure, Corruption, Obfuscation (and Yosi Sargent!)

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Issa Report: Failure, Corruption, Obfuscation (and Yosi Sargent!)

You can take the 'Bama out of Chicago, but you can't take the Chicago-style corruption out of the 'Bama

Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA) has issued a 37-page report that accuses the Obama administration of using taxpayer resources to produce and disseminate propaganda. You can read the entire report here.

You may have read about alot of these incidents here at the good ol' Obama Fail Blog. Reading the report is highly recommended, but I'll do you a solid and list out the highlights from the public relations/propaganda section:

Failure#1: Using the National Endowment for the Arts to promote the Obama agenda

Synopsis: At the heart of this scandal is a hipster named Yosi Sargent, who was involved in a wide range of unethical and illegal activities while serving as Communications Director of the NEA. You can read about Yosi's exploits here, here and here.

Issa Report: The use of taxpayer dollars and federal employees to create an alliance whereby the NEA becomes the de facto strategic communications firm of the White House is unlawful. Using a government email account and government personnel and resources to host a call urging artists and arts groups to support the President’s agenda is a clear violation of federal law and the Hatch Act. Furthermore, it is inappropriate for representatives of the White House, NEA and CNCS to formally ask artists and entertainers to use their talents to support the President’s agenda because many of these people rely on NEA grants to subsidize their livelihoods.

Source: Analysis of the First Year of the Obama Administration: Public Relations and Propaganda Initiatives

Failure#2: Using a Justice Department Hack to Astroturf on Behalf of the Obama Administration

Synopsis: Tracy Russo was hired to be the "new media guru" for the Justice Department's Office of Public Affairs. As part of her role, this "guru" searched the web to find articles and blog posts that were critical of the Obama administration. When she found criticism, Ms. Russo attacked the author, using a pseudonym. Attorney General Eric Holder has been evasive when asked to respond to Ms. Russo's actions.

Issa Report: The deployment of Justice Department resources to generate clandestine comments on message boards and blogs is a highly improper use of the Department’s resources. The GAO has frequently ruled that covert propaganda violates federal law and appropriations riders. Title 5 U.S.C. § 3107, prohibits the use of publicity experts unless specifically appropriated for that purpose. Additionally, the Justice Department is held to an even higher standard of conduct than other agencies as it is tasked with enforcing the nation's laws in an objective, nonpartisan, and nonpolitical manner. The allegations that Department employees have engaged in a practice of clandestine commenting raise serious doubts about this Justice Department's ability to accomplish that task.

Source: Analysis of the First Year of the Obama Administration: Public Relations and Propaganda Initiatives

Failure #3: Using the Department of Education to Push the Obama Agenda

Synopsis: US Dept of Education official Massie Ritsch sent an email to colleagues urging them to support President Obama's student loan proposal. The email contained a two-page attachment that seems like it was written by a PR flack.

Issa Report: The intent of the e-mail is clearly to create grassroots support for the President’s education agenda by inappropriately leveraging Ritsch’s position as a DoEd employee. Because it was drafted and disseminated using Department of Education resources, and because it was designed or intended to influence Members of Congress while they consider the President’s federal student loan program plan, it is unlawful.

Issue #4: Using a White House Email Address to Trick/Confuse People into Supporting Obama

Synopsis: White House Office for Health Reform Director Nancy Ann-DeParle used her "whitehouse.gov" email address to send emails containing "raw partisan rhetoric" aimed at convincing people to support Obama's healthcare bill. Because the emails came from an official White House address, many recipients incorrectly assumed they were being officially called to action.

Issa Report: Criminal statutes prohibit Executive Branch officials from using appropriated funds to influence the legislative process. Title 18 of the United States Code, section 1913 prohibits federal employees from engaging in the very activities DeParle urges. Specifically, it bars the use of appropriated funds for activities that directly or indirectly are “intended or designed to influence in any manner a Member of Congress, to favor or oppose ... any legislation or appropriation by Congress....” Title 18 prohibits federal employees from using appropriations to pay for any “personal services, advertisement, telegram, telephone, letter, printed or written matter ....”72 Read strictly, a federal employee who unwittingly forwards DeParle’s email could run afoul of this Code section.

Source: Analysis of the First Year of the Obama Administration: Public Relations and Propaganda Initiatives

Failure #5: The Jonathan Gruber/ObamaCare Misdirection

Synopsis: During the great health care debate, MIT economist Jonathan Gruber was one of the most widely cited "experts" who supported ObamaCare. However, Gruber was also a paid consultant. Paid by whom? Obama's very own Department of Health and Human Resources (HHS)! So Gruber was speaking out for ObamaCare as an "expert," but he wasn't telling his audiences that he was a "paid consultant." Pretty slick, eh?

Issa Report: Using HHS appropriations to contract a highly-visible health care expert to advocate on behalf of Administration policies under the guise of providing “technical assistance” is inappropriate. HHS’ annual appropriations bills clearly provide that no appropriated funds may be used to pay the “salary or expenses of any grant or contract recipient, or agent acting for such recipient, related to any activity designed to influence legislation pending before the Congress….” The Administration’s failure to disclose Gruber’s status while touting his work product additionally violates GAO’s policy prohibiting covert propaganda.

Source: Analysis of the First Year of the Obama Administration: Public Relations and Propaganda Initiatives

Failure #6: Using the HHS Website to Produce and Disseminate Pro-Obama Propaganda

Synopsis: This one is pretty self-explanatory. The HHS website was used to promote ObamaCare during the healthcare debate. Read the report for more details.

Issa Report: HHS annual appropriations bills clearly provide that no appropriated funds may be used to pay the “salary or expenses of any grant or contract recipient, or agent acting for such recipient, related to any activity designed to influence legislation pending before the Congress….” Because the form letter is clearly designed to influence Members of Congress when considering health care reform, it would be impermissible for HHS to spend money from its annual appropriations to support its distribution. The website is impermissible by GAO standards because it amounts to “self-aggrandizement” and “puffery” of the agency.

Source: Analysis of the First Year of the Obama Administration: Public Relations and Propaganda Initiatives

Failure #7: Pimping Out Andy Griffith to Promote ObamaCare

Synopsis: This only happened a few weeks ago, so I won't go into much detail. You click the link toread the original OFB post about the Andy Griffith fiasco.

Issa Report: The GAO has held that the “publicity or propaganda” prohibition in appropriations laws forbids any public relations activity that is purely partisan in nature or does not disclose that federal funds paid for the activity. Federal agencies are further restricted from using appropriated funds for publicity activities by 5 U.S.C. 3107, which makes it illegal to use such funds “to pay a publicity expert unless specifically appropriated for that purpose.”95 Because HHS used appropriated funds to finance an ad targeted at seniors and designed to win votes for Democrats in November, the ad is unlawful.

Source: Analysis of the First Year of the Obama Administration: Public Relations and Propaganda Initiatives

BONUS FAILURE: Turning the Making Home Affordable website into a Pro-Obama propganda tool.

Synopsis: This one isn't in the report, but it was written about here at OFB a few weeks ago. The issue here is similar to the HHS website failure... Read the full story here.