Lawmakers and watchdog groups are ramping up the pressure on President Obama to fire the Commerce Department’s Inspector General Todd Zinser—amid allegations that the watchdog has retaliated against whistleblowers attempting to expose wrongdoing at this agency.
Last week, Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), the ranking Democrat on the House Science, Space and Technology Committee said she would be asking the president to remove Zinser from his top post at the IG’s office. Her statement on the House floor came after fresh allegations that Zinser had improperly given a cushy senior executive job to a woman with whom he was romantically involved.
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Now, independent organizations are joining calls for the IG’s head to roll.
In a letter sent to the White House on Thursday, the Project on Government Oversight, Government Accountability Project and National Whistleblowers Center raised serious concerns over the allegations against Zinser and his behavior toward the people his position is supposed to support and protect.
“Through his actions both before his appointment as IG and since, Mr. Zinser has proven that he is not fit for the position,” the letter said. "IGs are supposed to root out fraud, waste, and abuse—a job they would not be able to do without whistleblowers. If there is anyone in government who should understand the importance of utilizing and protecting whistleblowers, it is an IG."
Zinser has been under investigation for more than a year after he reportedly failed to discipline two of his employees who intimidated potential whistleblowers.
However, a separate probe by the Office of Special Counsel concluded that there was no direct evidence that could prove Zinser knew his two employees engaged in misconduct.
Johnson’s committee has demanded that Zinser explain what happened to the two deputies that were accused of retaliating against the Commerce Department whistleblowers. The lawmakers also requested details surrounding the hiring of the woman, who he is said to have been romantically involved with. According to that complaint, Zinser gave the woman a job in his office with a base salary of $150,000 plus annual bonuses.
Separately, the organizations charge that Zinser should never have gotten his job—since he had been accused of similar issues of whistleblower retaliation in the past at his old post at the Department of Transportation.
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“It has become increasingly clear that the Senate never should have confirmed Mr. Zinser for the IG position. Prior to confirmation, he had personally retaliated against a whistleblower when he was Deputy Assistant IG for Investigations in the Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General—a fact he did not disclose when nominated for the IG position,” the letter said.
Zinser has since responded to the watchdogs’ letter, saying that the House Science, Space and Technology Committee referred the current accusations against him to the Council of Inspectors General last year, according to The Washington Examiner.
"We cooperated with the review of the U.S. House science committee and we will cooperate with the Council of Inspectors General,” Zinser said.
The White House has not yet publicly addressed the request for Zinser’s removal.
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