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Congressional Oversight Training Series
for Congressional Staff Only - Not Open to the Public
click here for 2007-2008 seminar details and registration information.
ABOUT THE TRAINING SEMINARS: The briefing seminars are designed to provide a way for Congressional staff to learn how to conduct effective oversight and investigations. The training seminars are co-sponsored by Senator Carl Levin (D-MI), Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ) and Rep. Christopher Shays (R-CT).
| 2007-2008 Series Review |
April 2008
Are your witnesses better prepared than you are?
Resource Handout:
Presenters :
- Mark Paoletta, partner with Dickstein Shapiro LLP, and head of its Congressional & Corporate Investigations Practice.
Listen to Mark Paoletta here.
- Michael Barrett, currently a consultant. Mr. Barrett was staff director and chief counsel of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of Chairman John Dingell (D-MI) for 10 years.
Listen to Michael Barrett here.
- Laura Strickler, Producer, CBS News Investigative Unit
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March 2008
How to Prepare For An Oversight Hearing
Resource Handout: Dos and Don’ts of and Oversight Hearing
Presenters :
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February 2008
You Are Not Alone:
Making the Best of Your Resources:
GAO, CRS, IG, NGO, & the media
Resource Handout: Checklist of Places to Turn to During an Investigation
Presenters :
- Louis Fisher,Specialist in Constitutional Law,
Law Library of the Library of Congress;
- Jonathan M. Gill, Senior Analyst,
Natural Resources and Environment Team, GAO
- Kris Kolesnik, Associate Inspector General
for the Department of Interior
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January 2008
Piercing the Corporate Veil:
Investigating Public and Private Corporations
Resource Handout: Piercing the Corporate Veil: Investigating Public and Private Corporations
Presenters :
- Emilia DiSanto, Chief Investigative Counsel and Special Counsel to Senator Grassley;
- Laura Stuber, Counsel with the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations;
- Adam Zagorin, journalist with Time Magazine.
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December 2007
Working With Insiders/Whistleblowers
Resource Handouts: Working with Insiders and Whistleblowers and National Whistleblower Center's Whistleblowers and Congressional Oversight: Best Practices
Presenters:
- Michal Ilana Freedhoff, Ph.D., Freedhoff spent her 1996 MRS/OSA Congressional Science and Engineering fellowship year working for Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-MA) and started a Bipartisan Task Force on Nonproliferation. In July 2001, Freedhoff returned to work for Rep. Markey (D-MA) and is now his Policy Director.
Listen to Michal Freedhoff here.
- Doug Pasternak, Prior to joining the Investigations and Oversight staff of the House Science Committee in September 2006, his reporting resulted in investigations by the Government Accountability Office, both the Department of Justice and Department of Defense’s Inspector General’s Office and congressional oversight hearings.
Listen to Doug Pasternak here.
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November 2007
Don't Let the Fine Print Bore/Scare You Out of Investigating the Contract
Resource Handouts: Dos and Don’ts of an Oversight Hearing and Federal Contracting: POGO’s Investigative Tips
Presenters:
- Sean Davis, Legislative Assistant for Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK), overview of using Past Performance Information Retrieval System (PPIRS) and other databases resources for contract oversight.
Listen to Sean Davis here.
- Robert O'Harrow, Washington Post reporter and author of Nowhere to Hide
- Margaret E. Daum, Counsel, House Oversight Committee
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October 2007
You've Got The Power: Congressional Rights to Access Classified, Proprietary and other types of information
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| 2006-2007 Series Review |
September 2006
Anatomy of Government Contracts: Examining Hurricane Katrina
This inaugural sminar will provide information about how to overcome roadblocks to overseeing government contracts and turn government contracting into an issue that motivates your boss and the public. Topics included:
- Why no one can see the forest or the trees. How to get around the roadblocks.
- What Congress needs to know about contracting to do its job well.
- Turning a boring government contract into an issue that motivates your boss and the public.
Resource Handout: Federal Contracting Resources
Training Staff and Facilitators for the seminar included:
- Michael McCarthy, Counsel, House Government Reform Committee.
- Kris Kolesnik, former investigator, Senate Judiciary Committee and Senator Grassley.
- Scott Amey, General Counsel, Project On Government Oversight.
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October 2006
How to Prepare for an Oversight Hearing
The seminar will include a mock hearing; pre-interviewing witnesses; making the best use of the Government Accountability Office, Inspectors General and CRS; and how to work with the media before/during/after the hearing.
- How to choose hearing topics
- Working with other investigators
- Engaging the media
Resource Handout: The Do's and Don'ts of Preparing for a Hearing
Training Staff and Facilitators for the seminar included:
- James Grimaldi, Pulitizer Prize winning investigative journalist for the Washington Post
- Peter Stockton, Senior Investigator for the Project on Government Oversight and former Investigator for the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
- Alan Slobodin, Deputy Chief of the House Energy and Commerce Committee
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November 2006
Hidden Gems: How to Root Out Documents from Uncooperative Agencies and Companies
The seminar will include breakout sessions where participants will grapple with one of four scenarios trying to get documents from a reticent national security or homeland security agency.
- Where to turn beyond the agency’s congressional liaison
- Attracting whistleblowers and insiders
- Working with the Inspector General’s office
Resource Handout: Checklist of Places to Turn To During An Investigation
Training Staff and Facilitators for the seminar included:
- Pablo Carrillo, Chief Investigative Counsel for the Senate Indian Affairs Committee
- Doug Pasternak, Professional Staff for the House Science Committee and former Investigative Producer for NBC
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January 2007
Piercing the Corporate Veil: Investigating Public and Private Companies
(part 2 of the last session: Hidden Gems: How to Root Out Documents from Uncooperative Agencies and Companies)
- How to stand up to corporate attorneys and lobbyists
- Getting a company to cooperate
- Understanding corporate jargon and procedures
Resource Handout: Piercing the Corporate Veil - Lessons Learned
Training Staff and Facilitators for the seminar included:
- Bob Roach, senior investigator, Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
- Eric Thorson, former Chief Investigator for the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations and Special Assistant to Senate Republican Leader on corporate fraud investigations.
- Danielle Brian, POGO’s Executive Director
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February 2007
Access and Classified and Other Restricted Information: Congressional Rights
- What each security clearance term allows individuals to access
- Exercising Congress’s Power to access classified information
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Understanding
State
Secrets Privilege
Resource Handout: Notes and Comments; Access to Classified and Other Restricted Information: Congressional Tip Sheet; Presidential Studies Quarterly, Volume 37, Number 1, March 2007.
Training Staff and Facilitators for the seminar included:
- Charles Tiefer, Professor of Law, University Baltimore. Prof. Tiefer is a former solicitor and deputy general counsel of the U.S. House of Representatives. Professor Tiefer served in 1996 as deputy minority counsel on the US House “Bosniagate” investigating sub-committee.
- Mickey Edwards, Executive Director, Aspen Institute-Rodel Fellowships in Public Leadership. Mickey Edwards, is a lecturer at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, and was a Republican member of Congress from Oklahoma from 1977 to 1992.
- Danielle Brian, POGO's Executive Director
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March 2007
Working with Insiders and Whistleblowers
- How whistleblowers can help you do your job better.
- Signs of trouble—conducting early due diligence.
- Inside the fishbowl—the first week in the life of a whistleblower.
- Steps to protect them when they contact your office.
Resource Handout: Working with Insiders and Whistleblowers
Training Staff and Facilitators for the seminar included:
- Dr. Michal Ilana Freedhoff, Ph.D., Senior Policy Associate for Representative Edward J. Markey, former staffer for the House Science and Technology Committee.
- Dean Zerbe, Tax Counsel and Senior Counsel to Ranking Member of Senate Finance Committee, former Chief Investigative Counsel for the Senate Finance Committee
- Danielle Brian, POGO's Executive Director
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April 2007
Framing Questions: Get the most out of your hearings and investigations by learning what to ask, how to ask it, and how to follow up
- How to ensure the most effective hearing possible
- Telling a story – how to keep the public interested
- How to organize your hearings
Resource Handout: Framing Questions: What to Ask, How to Ask It, and How to Follow Up
Training Staff and Facilitators for the seminar included:
- Ruth F. Fleischer, Esq. Adjunct Professor in the Legislative Practicum/Congressional Internship Program University of Maryland School of Law.
- Danielle Brian, POGO's Executive Director
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June 2007
Finding answers using open source databases
- What databases of government and corporate information are available?
- Where to turn to for government statistics
- Navigating complicated government filings.
Resource Handout: Finding Answers Using Open Source Databases Training Staff and Facilitators for the seminar included:
- Beth Daley, POGO's Director of Investigations
- Caleb Rowe, POGO Investigator
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