Marathon Pundit: Issa investigating allegations that GAO destroyed evidence from sloppy for-profit college investigation

Friday, February 04, 2011

Issa investigating allegations that GAO destroyed evidence from sloppy for-profit college investigation

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA)

The Daily Caller is reporting this evening that two House committees are demanding answers from the General Accounting Office regarding a report on for-profit colleges.

From the Daily Caller:

The latest salvo is a letter from House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, who announced in December that his committee would be looking into the GAO’s handling of an investigation into aggressive recruiting practices by for-profit colleges. Of particular interest: The GAO released an amended version of its original report in which it retracted numerous claims of impropriety by college recruiters.

"Our staffs have recently learned that a senior [Forensic Audit and Special Investigations Unit] management official told a group of FSI employees in an internal meeting that, but for the video recordings made in this investigation, the problems with the report would have never come to light," reads the most damning section in Issa's letter [PDF] to Comptroller General Gene Dodaro.

"According to information received, when speaking about the serious flaws in the report, the FSI management official downplayed them, characterizing them as merely mistakes."

The letter also states "we are alarmed about reports that work papers including video recordings related to the proprietary schools investigation and report may have been destroyed, effectively obscuring what actually took place."