Three auditors from the National Guard Bureau have touched down in Alaska. They’re here to dig into allegations of financial fraud. Here’s the statement from Gov. Sean Parnell’s office:
In August, Governor Sean Parnell called for an expanded investigation into allegations of fraud in the Alaska National Guard. Today, the governor announced that a team of three auditors from the National Guard Bureau has arrived in Alaska to determine the adequacy and management of federal resources handled by the Alaska National Guard.
“We take the allegations of fraud extremely seriously,” said Governor Parnell. “I called for an immediate investigation of these fraud allegations. Those found to have been engaging in fraud or misuse of official resources can and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent.”
The director of Internal Review, chief of Audit Operations, and a senior auditor assigned to National Guard Internal Review Office make up the team. The team will conduct an internal review audit of the management of federal fiscal resources in the Alaska National Guard. This internal review audit is directly related to the alleged theft and misuse of federal resources by service members.
The audit team will focus on types of funding, reimbursements, and the management of funds. The team will analyze all previous internal and external audits conducted in the areas of family programs and cooperative agreements, expenditures. The team will interview Alaska National Guard personnel as a part of the audit.
A draft report is due by mid–December.
This is a manufactured crisis aided and abetted by a very biased media. Unable to make any impression on the Governor’s popularity in substantive ways the loyal opposition on the left invented a crisis. With no data, no names and no substance a large institution and the four thousand employees of that institution have all been painted with the same brush.
As far as anyone can tell from even semi-public records there were only 9 formal complaints filed since 2009, a far lower percentage of incidents than the media is implying. Given the difficulty of dealing with personnel issues within state regulations it appears that significant movement has already happened. Given the Governor’s public record on domestic violence and sexual assault the implausibility of these attacks is rather transparent. The fact that the governor is not very adept at handling these “do you still beat your wife” questions should be irrelevant. This is all part and parcel of the national Democratic strategy of promoting a mythical Republican “War on Women.” There is more than a little irony that these tactics are being deployed in a state where women hold many high offices both in the legislature and the administration and the Governor of the state has devoted more time, money and attention to reducing sexual assault and domestic violence in Alaska than any other person in Alaska’s history. Only extreme partisanship and political cynicism can explain this strategy. As a Republican who has been married for a significant part of my life I can assure you that if there was ever such a war on women by Republicans we lost it a long time ago.
At the end of the day all of the he said/she said will be investigated by the appropriate agencies…in most cases this will end up being the civilian police departments where the alleged events took place and those complaints with substance will be referred to the District Attorney’s office for prosecution.
If there is such a thing as “poetic injustice” surrounding this Democratic pseudo crisis it will be in the fact that the husband of East Anchorage Democratic candidate Laurie Hummel is Col. Chad Parker, a National Guard Brigade Commander and one of the leadership team now targeted by the media.
Amanda, you and your fellow journalist’s are being manipulated for political purposes to report on a politically motivated manufactured crisis a la Ryan Holiday. Show a little maturity and demand that someone do the due diligence.
Straight,
You make a valid point that the feds are in the best position to audit the expenditure of federal funds. However, since the NGB Office of Complex Investigations apparently found sufficient evidence of malfeasance or misfeasance for the Governor to fire two Commissioners, how much additional non-judicial agency involvement is necessary before serious efforts involving law enforcement agencies can be taken? Bad guys, unless stupid, do not leave a clear audit trail and might even lie to an auditor, with no serious consequences, if not under oath.
That said, when does the serious investigation of purported rape take place? Again the Governor must have been convinced that something worthy of termination occurred in this facet of the scandal and apparently was not willing to accept the results of the original Anchorage Police Department effort. These allegations of rape and other crimes of a sexual nature and their cover up is not going to be effectively investigated without the direct involvement by professional law enforcement and judicial agencies.
And what about the statements of the Chaplains and other Officers and NCO’s against others? Are they true or was perjury committed? That also requires statements under oath and I don’t know if that can happen without law enforcement being involved.
The clock is running and the questions remain. We need a special prosecutor to conduct a comprehensive organized investigation to end this.
Thanks or posting this, Amanda. Seems ADN is only interested in covering items that bash the governor these days.
Lynn- makes sense to me to start with an audit by the feds who have the jurisdiction and understanding to know how their funds have been used or misused. I would guess they have the ability, independently of the state, to insist that federal charges be brought where appropriate. Would also give the AG the right info to pursue State charges where warranted.
Governor Parnell was warned years ago about this problem and did not act upon that information. That was his decision to make and he made it. Now, don’t try to convince me that perhaps the most powerful Governor in the United States who is the Military Commander in Chief of the Alaska National Guard and has the power to appoint both the State Attorney General and Commissioners who might have helped resolve this was powerless to help until just recently. I want to see this resolved for the sake of the soldiers and the organization and I am tired of the “spin” attempting to make dogs or heroes of our politicians.
Does the Parnell Administration have a comprehensive plan to resolve this scandal using various agencies and individuals working in a co-coordinated effort? Again another group from the National Guard Bureau, without subpoena or law enforcement authority, has been sent to look into this scandal.
Who exactly is looking into what? The Troopers have investigated the alleged misuse of military aircraft for hunting and found no evidence of a crime. Was that more of an investigation into violation of hunting regulations as I don’t understand how misuse of a federal aircraft can be within the jurisdiction (or concern) of the Alaska State Troopers. What other aspects of this guard situation might be handled by the State? Remember part of this investigation initially involved the Anchorage Police Department.
Regarding this audit, I perceive a substantial difference between tasks such as determining “the adequacy and management of federal resources handled by the Alaska National Guard”, and a relatively narrow scope of an audit that will: “analyze all previous internal and external audits conducted in the areas of family programs and cooperative agreements, expenditures”. What exactly are these auditors attempting to accomplish and who exactly will prosecute any offenders? Until we know more, is now the time to be selecting a replacement Adjutant General with issues still unresolved that might include the candidates for selection?
Much misinformation has been spread about the AK National Guard and the allegations of sexual misconduct. Here’s what not being said that is the truith:
The AK National Guard has developed a horrible and debilitating culture that allows abuse and misconduct. This culture didn’t start during Governor Parnell’s term. It is sommething that started years ago and unfortunately has been allowed to fester thru multiple adminiisitrations. It can now be described as a horrific mess of crisis proportion. Instead of buying into the hysterical rants of liberal criticism, I think a more preciise look and understanding of the problem(s) and the barriers to constructive re-alignment need to be considered. In doing so, I would argue that Parnell is acting first deliberatively and decisively. Ther are many legal and institutional barriers prohibiting the Governor from terminating some of the personnel that clearly need to go. In other words, the Governor does not In some cases even have the independent authority to do so. The media, for the most part, are clueless as to the procedures, rules, requirements and protocols that the Governor is faced and hampered with. Trust me, Governor Parnell when all the dust settles will be lauded for his initiatives and leadership in dealing with these matters.