Sofederal investigators found employees of the Minerals Management Service of the Interior Department were engaging in all kinds of hanky panky.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Government officials handling billions of dollars
in oil royalties improperly engaged in sex with employees of energy
companies they were dealing with and received numerous gifts from them,
federal investigators said Wednesday.The alleged transgressions
involve 13 former and current Interior Department employees in Denver
and Washington. Their alleged improprieties include rigging contracts,
working part-time as private oil consultants, and having sexual
relationships with — and accepting golf and ski trips and dinners from
— oil company employees, according to three reports released Wednesday
by the Interior Department’s inspector general.The
investigations reveal a “culture of substance abuse and promiscuity” by
a small group of individuals “wholly lacking in acceptance of or
adherence to government ethical standards,” wrote Inspector General
Earl E. Devaney. Devaney’s office spent more than two years and $5.3
million on the investigations.
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My super secret sources tell me suspicions first arose when employees flaunted what they were doing at work on the MMS website:
But investigations began in earnest after it was discovered that employees produced a video which explored the possibilities of selling royalties from alternative energy sources. The video—“Wheels Go Round Round Round–The Explosive Possiblities of Vibrational Kinetic Energy” was also posted to the website:
Here is that video:
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UPDATE:Oyster has a very good (and serious) post–“Hold me, thrill me, kiss me, drill me”–on this investigation and past Interior Department corruption.