IG Report That Scrubbed Panetta Disclosure Gets Award

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July 8, 2013

The inspector general team that wrote a report on the Pentagon’s cooperation with the makers of the film Zero Dark Thirty received a “Team of the Year” award despite the final report being scrubbed of any reference to former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta’s disclosure of top secret information, according to a Bloomberg article.

A draft copy of the report, which was first released by the Project On Government Oversight, said that Panetta disclosed top secret information about the raid that killed Osama bin Laden at a CIA event honoring those who took part in the raid. The event was attended by the writer of Zero Dark Thirty, though the draft report says Panetta was unaware he was in the crowd. The final copy of the report from the Department of Defense Office of the Inspector General contained nothing about Panetta’s disclosure.

The program for the 24^th Annual IG Awards ceremony said the team wrote a report “that is focused and timely and will potentially result in making a significant impact within the Defense intelligence enterprise.”

The Bloomberg story had some issues with that characterization of the report, calling it a “skimpy 14-page final report” and noting that the report was first requested by Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) in August 2011 but wasn’t released until June 2013.

POGO’s Adam Zagorin also questioned the award. From the Bloomberg story:

“Why give investigators an award and then fail to publish their results?” asked Adam Zagorin, a senior fellow with the Washington-based Project on Government Oversight, which made public the draft.

“After sitting on this and other significant material for close to two years, Panetta’s missteps and other key elements of the team’s conclusions were excised from the report’s final and official version,” Zagorin said in an e-mailed statement.

Read the full story at Bloomberg.

Image from the Department of Defense.

Topics: National Security

Related Content: Defense, DOD Oversight, Inspector General Oversight, Watching the Watchdogs

Authors: Andre Francisco

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