Over the span of six months between 2013 and 2014, the intelligence community’s inspector general conducted more than two-dozen investigations and informed the White House that it’s looking into claims about a spying database that “improperly included US persons’ data.”
The probe was revealed by a Freedom of Information Act request filed by the Federation of American Scientists’ Steven Aftergood.
Aftergood’s query compelled the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) to hand over a redacted semi-annual report documenting the inspector general’s activities between October 2013 and March 2014. That dossier revealed the existence of 31 investigations of various ODNI programs, 21 of which were either closed or discontinued.
One investigation, sparked by a tip from “a civilian employee with the Army Intelligence and Security Command,” alleged that an “interagency data repository, believed to be comprised of numerous intelligence and non-intelligence sources, improperly included U.S. person data.” The IG says the complainant “reported he conducted potentially improper searches of the data repository to verify the presence of U.S. persons data”
“We are researching this claim,” the inspector general said.
It was one of two “oversight matters” the watchdog referred to the executive’s Intelligence Oversight Board during the six months.
Other closed cases were centered on “labor mischarging, employee misconduct, or misuse of government equipment.”
“Of those eight closed cases, three involved labor mischarging with potential recoveries of $180,000,” the report stated.
One investigation revealed that a contractor lied about credentials and had received masters and doctorate degrees “from a known diploma mill.” The matter was referred to management.
The inspector general also substantiated claims made by McClatchy News in 2012 that the National Reconnaissance Office “has been extracting polygraph confessions to crimes such as child molestation and child pornography” from contractors, and then neglecting to turn that evidence over to authorities to investigate.
“We determined McClatchy Company claims were partially accurate…neither admission was reported to local law enforcement in a timely manner,” the investigation found. An advisory was issued to the ODNI to “address the inadequacies” in the NRO’s polygraph and crime reporting program.
Also referenced in the report is a hotline for members of the intelligence community to “report fraud, waste, and abuse” to the inspector general. During the review period, the hotline received 135 “contacts,” mostly from the general public.
The intelligence community’s IG was an office created in 2010 with the authority to “initiate and conduct independent audits, inspections, investigations, and review of programs and activities within the DNI’s responsibility and authority.”
An inspection into “persistent misclassification of material” at ODNI, and an investigation into intelligence sharing before the Boston Marathon bombings are among the ongoing inquiries listed in the report.
All recommendations made to the Director of National Intelligence during the reporting period were redacted.
