In a brief response to written questions, Schmitz said it had been "an honor to serve the American people as inspector general of the Department of Defense." He listed a series of accomplishments, from eliminating three layers of management to establishing a "new mission, vision and core values."
Without giving specifics, Schmitz also said that some of The Times' questions "appear to include false or misleading assumptions and/or law enforcement sensitive information." He directed further inquiries to the inspector general's office, which declined to answer the questions.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Friday September 30, 2005 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 0 inches; 28 words Type of Material: Correction
Pentagon watchdog -- An article in Sunday's Section A about former Inspector General Joseph E. Schmitz misspelled the first name of his son, Philip J. Schmitz, as Phillip.
Schmitz's allies said he was being persecuted. One senior Pentagon official defended Schmitz by saying that he was concerned about protecting the reputation of senior officials in Washington, where political enemies can cause trouble with an anonymous hotline tip.
At a ceremony earlier this month, acting Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon R. England presented Schmitz with a distinguished public service award for "inspiring a culture of integrity, accountability and intelligent risk-taking." The White House said his five years in the Navy and 18 years as a reservist qualified him for the job.
Current and former colleagues described Schmitz, a former attorney for the Washington law firm Patton Boggs, as an intelligent but easily distracted leader who seemed to obsess over details.
They described a management style in which Schmitz asked for updates on personal projects -- such as a new bathroom in his executive suite or the hiring of a speechwriter -- while avoiding substantive issues such as tight budgets. Schmitz never won approval for the bathroom or the speechwriter.
He paid close attention, however, to the investigations of senior Bush administration appointees. At one point, investigators even stopped telling Schmitz who was under investigation, substituting letter codes for the names of individuals during weekly briefings for fear that Schmitz would leak the information to Pentagon superiors, according to a senior Pentagon official.
"He became very involved in political investigations that he had no business getting involved in," said another senior official in the inspector general's office.
The Times has previously reported on Grassley's allegations that Schmitz intervened in investigations of senior Bush officials. A review of e-mail messages and documents provides new details.
