The Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General confirmed today it “has been conducting an investigation of alleged payments for information by Drug Enforcement Administration personnel to an Amtrak employee.”  Sen. Chuck Grassley raised questions about the $854,460 in payments in a letter to the DEA last month.  Grassley made the following comment on today’s confirmation of an investigation.
 
“It’s appropriate for the inspector general to investigate.  If it’s accurate that the DEA was paying a secretary for information it could have received for free, that’s a waste of public money.  Bigger picture, it’s important for the Justice Department and the inspector general to determine whether payments like this happen regularly at DEA and other Justice Department components and if so, whether the money is going out the door with little or no oversight.  Accountability is necessary for this episode and any others like it to ensure the appropriate use of agency resources.”

More information on Grassley’s work on this issue is available here.   
 

-30-