WASHINGTON — The Pentagon's top investigator has resigned amid accusations that he stonewalled inquiries into senior Bush administration officials suspected of wrongdoing.
Defense Department Inspector General Joseph E. Schmitz told staffers this week that he intended to resign as of Sept. 9 to take a job with the parent company of Blackwater USA, a defense contractor.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Saturday September 10, 2005 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 3 inches; 102 words Type of Material: Correction
Pentagon investigator -- An article in Section A on Sept. 3 about the resignation of Joseph E. Schmitz, the Defense Department's inspector general, and accusations that he blocked investigations of senior Bush administration officials said the date of a letter from Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) was Aug. 8. The letter, inquiring about a false news release, was dated Aug. 12. The article also said an agreement concerning investigative authority was signed by John A. "Jack" Shaw, a deputy undersecretary of Defense. The agreement was signed by Shaw's superior, Michael W. Wynne, then acting undersecretary of Defense for acquisition, technology and logistics.
The resignation comes after Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) sent Schmitz several letters this summer informing him that he was the focus of a congressional inquiry into whether he had blocked two criminal investigations last year.
Grassley, chairman of the Finance Committee, accused Schmitz of fabricating an official Pentagon news release, planning an expensive junket to Germany and hiding information from Congress. Schmitz is the senior Pentagon official charged with investigating waste, fraud and abuse.
"I am writing to inform you that I intend to conduct an oversight investigation into allegations that you either quashed or redirected two ongoing criminal investigations last year," Grassley said in a July 7 letter obtained by The Times.
Grassley's office said Friday that the inquiry was continuing.
"Many questions need to be answered," spokeswoman Beth Levine said. Grassley has long acted as a watchdog over the inspector general.
The inspector general's office denied any connection between Schmitz's resignation and the inquiries, saying Schmitz had previously said he intended to leave after President Bush's first term.
A Schmitz spokesman, Gary Comerford, declined to comment on the allegations in Grassley's letters, saying: "This is a matter between the senator and the inspector general."
The first of the criminal investigations in which Schmitz allegedly intervened involved John A. "Jack" Shaw, the former deputy undersecretary of Defense for international technology security.
Shaw, who was the subject of a series of articles in The Times last year, tried to manipulate a lucrative contract in Iraq in 2004 to favor a telecommunications company whose board included a close friend, according to whistle-blowers who worked for the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq.
Shaw had signed an unusual agreement with Schmitz that gave him some investigative authority. Shaw told U.S. officials in Iraq that he was conducting investigations under that agreement during a trip to Iraq in December 2003. The results of those investigations were later used in his effort to push for contracts of firms tied to his friends and their clients, according to the whistle-blowers.
