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Jim McElhatton

jmcelhatton@washingtontimes.com

Jim McElhatton no longer works for The Washington Times.

Articles by Jim McElhatton

The Department of Veterans Affairs pushed ahead on a construction project even after learning that its project manager was under FBI investigation and had been fired from a previous job for embezzlement — a decision that's now entangled the agency in a multimillion-dollar lawsuit. (Associated Press)

Under investigation at VA, official sought move to Energy Dept.

The central figure in a Department of Veterans Affairs procurement scandal, whom investigators ​accused of ​strong-arm​​ing​ the agency to hire a well-connected firm then lying about it, ​was set to ​begin a new job overseeing contracts for the Department of Energy (DOE) ​starting ​next week​, according to an internal announcement​.

October 2, 2014
Safe passage: An American doctor exposed to Ebola while volunteering in Sierra Leone disembarks a Gulfstream jet in a Tyvek protection suit in Maryland. (Associated Press)

CDC spends $5 million to use Ebola jet it helped develop

As the Ebola virus spread quickly across parts of Africa in March, U.S. officials confronted a logistical nightmare: a complete lack of infrastructure in affected regions, no evacuation plans and air charter services that were unable or unwilling to fly into the region to transport seriously ill patients.

October 1, 2014
The nearly four-year investigation by the State Department's Office of Inspector General found that in one case, DynCorp paid more than $17,000 for "facilitation" services to subcontractor Speed-Flo Filters for visas for 15 people. Typically, the visas would cost about $3,000 in total, records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act show (State Department images via Associated Press)

Pakistani officials bribed by military contractors: IG

State Department investigators uncovered evidence that agents working for one of the largest U.S. military contractors paid tens of thousands of dollars in bribes to Pakistani officials to obtain visas and weapons licenses, but records show the government closed the case without punishing DynCorp.

September 30, 2014
Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki pauses as he speaks at a meeting of the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, Friday, May 30, 2014, in Washington. President Barack Obama says he plans to have a "serious conversation" with Shinseki about whether he can stay in his job. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Top VA contracting office slammed in auditor’s report

Investigators have recommended the government bar a Virginia company that employs a who's who list of former powerful federal officials from getting contracts after they found employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs improperly tried to steer business to the firm.

September 29, 2014
**FILE** Jeffrey Neely, the central figure in a General Services Administration spending scandal, sits at the witness table as the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform investigates wasteful spending and excesses by GSA during a 2010 Las Vegas conference, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, April 16, 2012. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

GSA ‘Hot tub’ man indicted on billing charges

The central figure in a General Services Administration conference scandal that forced agencies across government to rein in spending was indicted Thursday on charges he sought reimbursement for personal travel in Las Vegas and other vacation spots then lied about it.

September 25, 2014
House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Miller, Florida Republican, sent a letter to VA Secretary Bob McDonald demanding answers on what he called serious deficiencies in the Caribbean VA system, including the arrest of a top official and "inappropriate hiring practices." (Associated Press)

Caribbean VA health system under fire

The chairman of a House Veterans Affairs subcommittee demanded Thursday that new VA Secretary Bob McDonald explain serious deficiencies in the department's Caribbean Health Care System, including the arrest of a top official and a suicide note left by a veteran who said he wanted to end his life because of the poor treatment he was receiving.

September 25, 2014
(AP Photo illustration/Damian Dovarganes, File)

Porn-peeping federal workers rarely face time or attendance fraud charges

An employee at the U.S. Office of the Trustee — an arm of the Justice Department charged with overseeing the integrity of the bankruptcy system — spent up to five hours a day on the job looking at pornography, visiting more than 2,500 adult websites during 2011, investigators found.

September 24, 2014
Iraqis mark Police Day in Baghdad. The State Department's decision to close an investigation left unresolved accusations of whether DynCorp let a subcontractor solicit kickbacks from linguists at Baghdad's police academy as a condition of continued employment. The company was hired under a nearly $1 billion task order to provide linguists to work in three Iraqi cities. (Associated Press)

Iraq stymied State Department probe into military contractor kickbacks

State Department investigators last year quit probing kickback charges against one of the government's largest military contractors because they didn't want to go through the "lengthy" process of getting permission from the Iraqi government to interview its citizens, records show.

September 23, 2014
Federal contractor NT Concepts for years ran an online NCAA tournament gambling website, used by both workers of the firm and federal government employees, many of whose email addresses were publicly exposed as a result of the operation. (associated press)

Federal contractor hosted NCAA gambling site, exposed government email addresses

A federal contractor that helps support the government's sprawling background check operations for years hosted an NCAA tournament wagering website on one of its corporate servers, which has resulted in the public disclosure of hundreds of names and the personal, corporate and government email addresses of participants.

September 22, 2014
Secretary of State John Kerry rubs his eyes on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2014, during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on the US strategy to defeat the Islamic State group. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

State Department downplayed ISIS threat in Iraq, privately ramped up security

Weeks before the State Department assured Americans that things were operating "normally" at its consulate in the Kurdish capital of Erbil in August, concerned procurement officials were quietly saying the advance of militants of the Islamic State, also known as ISIL or ISIS, meant the government needed to shell out tens of millions of dollars to counter a "rapidly deteriorating" security situation.

September 17, 2014
Billionaire Democratic fundraiser Tom Steyer (Associated Press) **FILE**

Patriots Foundation seeks details on Treasury meeting with Steyer

A nonprofit group headed by a former top Iowa Republican Party official is suing the Treasury Department, saying the agency has ignored its request for records of a meeting between Treasury officials and the Democratic fundraiser and billionaire Tom Steyer.

September 15, 2014

Lawmaker pushes for subpoena of background check firm USIS

The ranking Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee said Monday that he wants to subpoena the head of a troubled government background check contractor to explain how they can continue to win government work after having been accused of fraud by the Justice Department.

September 15, 2014
Washinton Navy Yard shooter Aaron Alexis and Edward Snowden (TWT Photo Illustration) FILE - This June 9, 2013 file photo provided by The Guardian Newspaper in London shows National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden, in Hong Kong. Snowden says his "mission's already accomplished" after leaking NSA secrets that have caused a reassessment of U.S. surveillance policies. Snowden told The Washington Post in a story published online Monday night, Dec. 23, 2013, he has "already won" because journalists have been able to tell the story of the government's collection of bulk Internet and phone records. (AP Photo/The Guardian, Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras, File)

Feds fire firm that checked backgrounds of Snowden, Alexis

The federal government's largest background check company was fired by the Office of Personnel Management on Tuesday after a spate of bad news, including a Justice Department lawsuit, a cyberattack and congressional scrutiny over its vetting of Edward Snowden.

September 9, 2014
Edward Snowden. (Associated Press)

Background contractor USIS says it followed all laws

The contractor who performs the lion's share of background checks for the federal government defended its work on Monday, saying it followed the rules and provided complete reports in the cases of Edward Snowden and Navy Yard shooter Aaron Alexis.

September 8, 2014
Williama Bozeman was stunned was stunned when the government's central bank in 2017 went to war with him "out of nowhere" by filing a federal lawsuit and two challenges to his patents with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. (Associated Press/File)

Patent Office head to step down amid nepotism charge

A U.S. Patent and Trademark Office commissioner has announced plans to resign just months after a watchdog agency revealed that she'd pressured staff to hire the live-in boyfriend of an immediate family member over other qualified applicants.

September 8, 2014
This photo from Saturday, May 17, 2014 shows the Department of Veterans Affairs in Phoenix. The Veterans Affairs Inspector General's office said late Tuesday, May 20, 2014, that 26 facilities are being investigated nationwide — up from 10 just last week — including a hospital in Phoenix, Arizona, where 40 veterans allegedly died while waiting for treatment and staff there kept a secret list of patients waiting for appointments to hide delays in care. (AP Photo/Matt York)

High ranking VA official faced drug charge after DUI arrest

A high-ranking Veterans Affairs official who oversees nearly a dozen medical facilities was charged with drunken driving and possession of a controlled substance on a Florida roadside at nearly 2 a.m. one night in April, repeatedly refusing a Breathalyzer before he was taken to jail, records show.

September 7, 2014

Top EPA official accused of assault denies charges

A top official in the EPA's Homeland Security office accused of assaulting a federal agent and stonewalling the agent's investigation says he's been unfairly smeared in a "campaign of harassment" by the press and lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

September 3, 2014