POGO Spokespeople


	Danielle Brian, Executive Director has been in charge of the Project On Government Oversight since 1993. She frequently testifies before Congress and appears on or is quoted in major national media such as NBC, CBS and Fox News; the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, and USA Today; and National Public Radio. She has conducted numerous investigations leading to major reforms and cuts in wasteful spending in such areas as oil industry fraud on public lands, drug industry influence on health policy, nuclear security, government secrecy, and defense contractor waste and fraud. Before becoming Executive Director, Ms. Brian worked with POGO from 1986-1990 as a Senior Research Associate and conducted investigations leading to the cancellation of the Army’s Sergeant York Division Air Defense Gun, one of the largest weapons cancellations ever. From 1990 to 1993, she worked first as a producer for television documentaries and then as a policy analyst at the Arms Control and Foreign Policy Congressional Caucus. Ms. Brian currently serves on the boards of Taxpayers for Common Sense and HALT: Americans for Legal Reform. Ms. Brian earned her Masters degree in International Relations from the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University in 1990. She received her Bachelors degree in Government from Smith College in 1985.

	Scott Amey, General Counsel, joined the Project On Government Oversight staff in 1993 as a Senior Research Associate at POGO. He undertook an investigation documenting the deaths of workers who had been exposed to hazardous waste emissions from burned open-air pits at the secret government facility, Area 51. Mr. Amey’s other investigations examined inaccuracies in the Federal Election Commission’s campaign contribution databases, monetary gains from settlements in lawsuits alleging fraud against the government, mismanagement of Boston ’s “Big Dig” highway project, and regulatory failures at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Mr. Amey left POGO in 1998 to attend law school, after which he clerked for the Honorable James A. Kenney, III, The Court of Special Appeals of Maryland. Mr. Amey’s experience includes work for the Circuit Court for Baltimore City and the Maryland Office of the Attorney General. Mr. Amey received a J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of Baltimore School of Law in 2001 and a B.A. in Political Science and Sociology from the University of Pittsburgh in 1993. Mr. Amey is licensed to practice law in Maryland .

	Beth Daley, Director of Investigations, has worked for public policy organizations in Washington, DC for 15 years. Since joining POGO in 1999, she has helped to lead investigations to reform the federal government’s collection of drilling fees which resulted in $70 million being collected more annually, conducted POGO’s investigation into protections for homeland and national security whistleblowers, and more. She has testified before Congress, been quoted or appeared in hundreds of news outlets including CNN, NPR, PBS, the Washington Post and the New York Times. Prior to joining the staff in 1999, Ms. Daley worked as a staff member or consultant for numerous nonprofits working to improve public policy. She earned a Bachelors degree in History from Northwestern University in 1989.

	Marthena S. Cowart, Director of Communications, brings 30 years of Washington , DC , experience in federal and public relations for both the governmental and nonprofit sectors. Most recently, she served as Senior Advisor and Assistant Inspector General for Congressional Affairs for Iraq Reconstruction. She has served as the Director of Communications for the US Consumer Product Safety Commission; as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs; as the Director of Public Liaison for the United States Information Agency; as the Special Assistant to the Administrator of the Veterans Administration (now the US Department of Veterans Affairs); as the Director of Media Logistics for the 1992 Commission on Presidential Debates; and Director of Public Outreach for the Common Good Institute. While at State Department, Ms. Cowart established its successful global satellite network, the American Embassy Television Network (AETN).

	Dr. Ned Feder, Staff Scientist, before joining POGO in September 2006, Feder was a scientist at the National Institutes of Health. He came to the NIH in 1967 as the head of the Section on Biophysical Histology, conducting basic research in cell biology. In the mid-1980s he and an NIH colleague began to study professional misconduct among biomedical researchers and found that violations of ethical standards were common. Published reports on their controversial observations drew attention in academia, in the press, and on Capitol Hill, particularly in hearings by a subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. In 1993, senior NIH officials directed Dr. Feder and his colleague to stop their ongoing studies of misconduct in medical research, and they were reassigned to administrative jobs unconnected with the examination of scientific misconduct. Over the years Dr. Feder has published articles in the scientific and lay press on a wide range of topics including histochemistry, cell biology, mycology, scientific misconduct, and conflicts of interest. He received an M.D. degree from Harvard Medical School in 1953 and was a faculty member of the Harvard Biology Department from 1961 to 1967.

	Beverley Lumpkin, Investigator, is a veteran journalist who has covered the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security for more than 20 years for the Associated Press, CBS News and ABC News. At ABC, Ms. Lumpkin was the chief reporter at the Justice Department, covering also the federal courts, high-profile trials, major Supreme Court cases, espionage and other national security stories, and the new Homeland Security Department. She also reported on breaking developments for “World News Tonight” and other ABC News broadcasts, filed on-air reports for ABC Radio, NewsOne, World News This Morning and online, and a weekly syndicated column, “Halls of Justice.” In 2002, Ms. Lumpkin was selected to be a New York Times Fellow and was recognized by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (“the Emmys”) for part of a team contribution to ABC’s “reporting of the momentous events beginning on September 11, 2001.” She also shared in the Joan Shorenstein Barone Award for exemplary Washington-based reporting and the Edward R. Murrow Award for coverage of a continuing story as a member of the ABC News team in 1998-1999.

	Nick Schwellenbach, Investigator,worked as a fellow for POGO in 2004 and became a full-time investigator in 2005. Prior to working at POGO, Mr. Schwellenbach was a researcher for the university watchdog group, UT Watch, where he promoted greater access to education and was critical of corporate influence in the public research sphere. Mr. Schwellenbach is a reporter-researcher for Neiman Watchdog, a project of the Neiman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University which seeks to stimulate and inform investigative journalism. He is also on the Steering Committee of Openthegovernment.org, a coalition of news organizations and nonprofits that challenges government secrecy. Mr. Schwellenbach has had numerous opinion pieces and articles published in news outlets such as the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, Houston Chronicle, the Detroit Free Press and the San Diego Union-Tribune. Mr. Schwellenbach earned a B.A. in History from the University of Texas-Austin in 2004.

	Peter Stockton, Senior Investigator, has thirty years of experience investigating waste and fraud throughout the federal government. From 1999 to 2001, Mr. Stockton served as Special Assistant to Department of Energy Secretary Bill Richardson as his personal troubleshooter on physical and cyber security in the nuclear weapons complex. Prior to that, for twenty-two years, Mr. Stockton was the senior investigator on the House Energy and Power and the House Oversight and Investigations Subcommittees of the Energy and Commerce Committee. During the 1970's, he investigated most of the major defense contractors and oil companies, the diversion of bomb-grade uranium to Israel, and the death of Karen Silkwood. In the 1980's and early 1990's, he investigated the security and effectiveness of the nuclear weapons production program and defense contractor fraud. His other investigations include the construction and operation of the Alaskan Pipeline, bribes made by U.S. corporate executives to foreign officials, and overcharging and Medicare fraud in the pharmaceutical industry. His investigations of mergers and acquisitions lead him to uncover insider trading and stock manipulation. Prior to his work in Congress, Mr. Stockton was a fiscal economist in the Bureau of the Budget in the Executive Office of the President during the Johnson Administration. He earned a Masters Degree in International Economics from Ohio State University .