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WASHINGTON, DC -- The Inspector General of the Department of Education today released the report on its investigation regarding a major public relations contract between the Department and Ketchum Communications and media commentator Armstrong Williams. Representative George Miller (California) requested the investigation in January after the arrangement was revealed by the news media. Miller, the senior Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce Committee, issued the following statement today in response to the report:
“The report of the Inspector General paints a very troubling picture of irresponsible – and potentially criminal – mismanagement of expensive contracts by the Department of Education. On page after page, this report documents a reckless waste of hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars on unqualified people who failed to produce what they promised, most especially Armstrong Williams.
“Every American should be outraged that concerns were raised at the highest levels of the Department and to the White House about the highly irregular nature of this contract. However, political pressure was obviously used to push the deal through anyway. Although White House officials had professed ignorance of the Armstrong Williams contract, this report makes it clear they were aware but failed to intervene.
“It appears likely that substantial sums were paid not only for commercials that were never produced, but for Mr. Williams’ political commentaries. The issue of whether the subcontract with Mr. Williams violated anti-propaganda laws will be determined by the Government Accountability Office. In addition, broader issues of other contracting failures, including violations of the anti-propaganda laws, will be addressed in the next phase of the Education IG’s report.
A PDF copy of the IG’s report is available at http://edworkforce.house.gov/democrats/pdf/igreport.pdf.
Background information on the Armstrong Williams contract is available at http://www.house.gov/georgemiller/propaganda.html.
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