Politics

Jeffrey E. Neely, the embattled General Services Administration regional commissioner who planned a lavish Las Vegas employee conference that cost more than $800,000, has left the agency, a GSA spokesman said.

Neely, the public buildings commissioner for the Pacific Rim region, had been on administrative leave since early April after an inspector general inquiry found rampant waste and abuse associated with the 2010 conference. At the time of the conference, Neely was acting regional commissioner.

News of the overspending on the conference led to the resignation of GSA Administrator Martha Johnson and the firing of her two top lieutenants. Nine other employees were placed on administrative leave.

“GSA is in the process of completing its review of activities associated with the Western Regions Conference and pursuing all available avenues for appropriate disciplinary action against those responsible,” the GSA spokesman said. “Jeff Neely was placed on administrative leave based on his involvement in the WRC. As of today, he’s no longer employed with GSA.”  

The inspector general’s office has asked the Justice Department to conduct a criminal inquiry into Neely’s activities and possible contracting violations.

Neely told investigators that he had set out to change the culture of the Pacific Rim region when he became acting administrator in January 2009. He said he sought high-quality services, even if contracting laws had to be fudged.

Things eventually went off track. An employee awards program, instituted in 2001, grew excessive under Neely’s watch, a separate inspector general’s inquiry found, including thefts, numerous violations of agency directives and misuse of government purchasing cards in the maintenance of the program.

A congressional inquiry into Neely’s management of GSA detailed several instances of personal travel expense charges. His wife, Deborah Neely, accompanied him on some of those trips.

“The guy set up a fiefdom,” said Rep. Tim Walz (D-Minn.), during a congressional inquiry last month. “Not since Jack Abramoff has someone walked with such swagger.”

Neely had planned for the 2010 employee conference to be “over the top,” according to the inspector general’s report. It included a magician and a $75,000 bike-building exercise, and questionable contracting practices.

Employees at the Pacific Rim region office described Neely as confident but arrogant and often abrasive in his management approach.

One employee told GSA investigators that Neely “squashed like a bug” a regional director who questioned his spending on conferences and travel.

Neely did not immediately return a call for comment Thursday.

The Supreme Court, which does not allow its proceedings to be televised and forbids electronic devices in the courtroom, is often portrayed as being in another era.

(Charles Dharapak - AP)

But the court has an active Web site that provides a visitor’s guide, electronic docket, links to current and past opinions and transcripts of its oral arguments

On June 1, the court announced, the site will be more friendly to those using mobile devices. The Web site “will now detect the mobile device being used and will automatically adjust the display based on the screen size and orientation,” the court announced.

“This website enhancement will make the court’s site easier to read on a mobile device and improve user navigation on the site.”

John Huston’s controversial World War II documentary about soldiers suffering from combat stress has been restored by the National Archives and put online to mark Memorial Day.

The film, “Let There Be Light,” was supressed by the Army and not shown to the public until 1980. The restoration has repaired the soundtrack, allowing viewers to hear once-inaudible conversations between the soldiers and the Army doctors treating them for what was then called shell shock and is now known as post-traumatic stress disorder.

“We hope that by making ‘Let There Be Light’ freely available — and by drawing attention to it — that the courageous documentary will find the audience it was intended to serve,” said Annette Melville, director of the National Film Preservation Foundation, which funded the restoration.

The film will be available on the foundation’s Web site through August.

(Courtesy of Peter Van Buren)

Peter Van Buren, a foreign service officer who wrote an unflattering book about his year leading reconstruction teams in Iraq, has received the support of the American Civil Liberties Union in his effort to keep his job.

In a letter last week, the ACLU urged the State Department not to fire Van Buren and said the agency is violating his constitutional rights by trying to terminate him.

President Obama on Wednesday nominated John F. Sopko, a partner at the Washington law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, to become Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction.

Sopko has more than 30 years experience in investigative and oversight work. He joined Akin Gump in January 2009 as an investigator after two years as chief counsel for oversight and investigations for the House Energy and Commerce committee. At the firm, he focuses on congressional and federal investigations.

From 2005 to 2007 he was deputy director of the Homeland Security Studies & Analysis Institute.

After receiving a law degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Law, Sopko became a prosecutor in Dayton, Ohio, where he battled organized crime. That work led him to the Justice Department’s Organized Crime and Racketeering Section, where he started in 1978. From 1982 to 1997, Sopko was deputy chief counsel at the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. After transferring to the Commerce Department he became minority general counsel and chief of investigations for the House Select Committee on Homeland Security, a position he held before his work at the Homeland Security institute.

The special inspector general investigates corruption allegations in the multibillion-dollar Afghanistan reconstruction effort.

The previous inspector, Arnold Fields, a retired Marine major general, resigned in January 2011 after a review by the Council of Inspectors General found that many of his office’s audits barely met minimum quality standards and that Fields had not laid out a clear strategic vision.

The position has been vacant for more than 470 days, according to an inspectors general vacancy tracker maintained by the nonpartisan, nonprofit Project on Government Oversight.

Steven Trent has been acting special inspector general since September 2011.

There are currently 10 inspector general vacancies across the government, which has drawn criticism from Congress.

Obama also appointed Jonathan Lippman, currently chief judge of the State of New York and chief judge of the New York Court of Appeals to the board of directors of the State Justice Institute, which awards grants to state courts.

“The extraordinary dedication these individuals bring to their new roles will greatly serve the American people,” Obama said in a statement. “I am grateful they have agreed to serve in this Administration and I look forward to working with them in the months and years to come.”

Sopko did not immediately return phone calls and e-mails seeking comment.