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Staff Experts
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Media Contacts |
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To schedule an interview with one of POGO's staff experts, contact Joe Newman, Director of Communications |
Danielle Brian, Executive Director
Since 1993, Danielle Brian has been the Executive Director of the Project On Government Oversight, a nonprofit government watchdog organization. She frequently testifies before Congress and regularly appears on or is quoted in major national media. Under Ms. Brian’s direction, POGO has conducted numerous investigations that have resulted in major public policy reforms, including:
- Cutting Wasteful Spending. POGO’s investigations have led to the cancellation of some of the government’s largest contracts, including the Boeing tanker lease, the $13 billion Superconducting Super Collider, the $11 billion Army Crusader, and the Army’s Sergeant York DIVAD. POGO also was a leader in the fight to end production of the F-22 fighter.
- Exposing Oil and Gas Industry Fraud on Public Lands. POGO’s groundbreaking investigations into oil and gas industry fraud on public lands led to the Justice Department’s recovery of nearly half a billion dollars, rule changes to prevent future fraud, and the dismantlement of the Minerals Management Service into separate bureaus with strengthened ethics rules.
- Increasing Nuclear Security. POGO’s investigations into lax nuclear power plant security led to improved training and working conditions for guards. Their investigations into the U.S. nuclear weapons complex also increased security at the complex by reducing the number of vulnerable sites.
- Fighting Excessive Government Secrecy. POGO filed and won a lawsuit against then-Attorney General John Ashcroft for retroactively classifying FBI documents.
Under Ms. Brian’s leadership, POGO has also worked to strengthen the government oversight infrastructure through such programs as:
- POGO’s Congressional Oversight Training Series, monthly bi-partisan seminars that teach capitol hill staffers how to conduct oversight effectively and responsibly. Over 1000 have participated since 2006.
- Strengthening the Federal Inspectors General (IG) system, successfully pushing for reforms that bolstered both the independence and accountability of IGs.
- Creation of a Public Government Database Tracking Contractor Performance, modeled on POGO’s Federal Contractor Misconduct Database.
The Society of Professional Journalists has honored POGO for its investigations. Ms. Brian was inducted into the Freedom of Information Act Hall of Fame, ranked by Ethisphere magazine as one of the top 100 most influential people in business ethics, and received the Smith College Medal. Ms. Brian serves on the board of Taxpayers for Common Sense, and is the Chair of the Steering Committee for Openthegovernment.org.
Follow @daniellebrian
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Scott Amey, General Counsel
Mr. Amey rejoined the POGO staff in 2003 and directs POGO’s Contract Oversight investigations, including reviews of federal spending on goods and services, the responsibility of top federal contractors, and conflicts-of-interest and ethics concerns that have led to questionable contract awards. Mr. Amey has testified before Congress and federal agency panels, submitted public comments on proposed regulations, educated the public by working with the media, and authored reports, alerts, and blogs on contracting issues.
Mr. Amey previously worked at POGO in the mid-1990s as a Research Associate, and was one of the organization’s most prolific investigators. One of his most notable projects during that time was an investigation into Area 51 that resulted in the Air Force admitting the black facility’s existence and submitting to compliance with environmental laws. Mr. Amey also undertook investigations into Boston’s Big Dig project and safety concerns at nuclear power plants. Mr. Amey left POGO in 1998 to attend law school, after which he clerked for the Honorable James A. Kenney, III, at the Court of Special Appeals of Maryland from 2001-2003. Mr. Amey received a J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of Baltimore School of Law in 2001, and a B.A. from the University of Pittsburgh in 1993. Mr. Amey is licensed to practice law in Maryland.
| Click here for hi-res photo of Mr. Amey. |
Angela Canterbury, Director of Public Policy
Angela Canterbury, Director of Public Policy, is an experienced advocate, policy analyst, and public campaign strategist. Angela advances public policies to combat corruption and to promote openness and accountability in government. She has been instrumental in efforts that have improved the financial regulatory system, lobbying and congressional ethics rules, whistleblower protections, the Freedom of Information Act, and other open government initiatives. She has testified before Congress and been quoted or appeared in several news outlets. Prior to joining POGO, Angela served as the director of advocacy for Public Citizen’s Congress Watch division, and before that she worked with the League of Women Voters of the U.S. Prior to that she worked with democracy and civil society programs in Ukraine, and was formerly a campaign manager and political consultant. She graduated from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics, with honors and distinction.
Ned Feder MD, Staff Scientist
Before joining POGO in September 2006, Dr. 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, Walter Stewart, 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.
While at POGO, Dr. Feder has investigated and written about threats to public health in programs of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Benjamin Freeman, Ph.D., National Security Fellow
Dr. Freeman, POGO’s National Security Fellow, is an expert policy analyst and political researcher that produces cutting-edge research designed to answer the most pressing policy issues of the day. He specializes in Department of Defense personnel issues, weapons procurement, and the impact of lobbying by foreign governments on U.S. foreign policy. Dr. Freeman has presented research at several national conferences, been quoted in several media outlets, and has testified before the Senate. He also utilizes his expertise as an instructor in the School of Security and Global Studies at American Military University, where he teaches research methods and analytics.
Prior to joining POGO, Dr. Freeman was an instructor in the Political Science Department and the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University, where he taught quantitative research methods and foreign policy. He also just completed a book on lobbying by foreign governments in the U.S. titled The Foreign Policy Auction.
Dr. Freeman received a Ph.D. in Political Science from Texas A&M University, an M.A. in Political Science from the University of Central Florida, and a B.S. in Business Administration from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
Neil Gordon, Investigator
Neil Gordon joined POGO's Contract Oversight investigations in 2007. His chief responsibility is managing POGO's Federal Contractor Misconduct Database. He also works with the media, submits public comments on proposed regulations, and blogs on contracting issues and other public policy matters.
Prior to joining POGO, Mr. Gordon was a researcher and writer at the Center for Public Integrity, working on the Center's investigations of prosecutors, U.S. contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan, state legislators and lobbyists, and international corruption. From 1995 to 2000, Mr. Gordon practiced law in Maryland. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science from the University of Delaware and a law degree from the University of Baltimore.
Joe Newman, Director of Communications
A veteran journalist and media strategist, Mr. Newman joined POGO in January 2011. He serves as POGO spokesman and oversees the organization's media strategy, working closely with investigators and policy analysts to publicize their work across print, broadcast and online media, as well as social networks.
Before joining POGO, he served as Deputy Director of Communications at Public Citizen, a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. At Public Citizen, he developed and implemented the organization's social media strategy, creating Public Citizen's flagship blog, Citizen Vox. He also shot and produced videos for the Web and helped develop online and email activism campaigns. An accomplished writer and editor, Mr. Newman moved to Washington, D.C. in 2007 after working many years as a reporter and editor at Florida newspapers. As a member of the Orlando Sentinel's Enterprise Reporting Team, he wrote extensively on demographics, urban design and the environment. He also wrote about local and state politics at the St. Petersburg Times and The Palm Beach Post. Mr. Newman graduated from the University of Florida with a B.S. in Journalism and Communications.
Nick Schwellenbach, Director of Investigations
Nick Schwellenbach rejoined POGO in 2010, and oversees POGO’s investigations. In addition, Mr. Schwellenbach conducts investigations into national security-related corruption, incompetence, and waste; transportation safety; government secrecy policies and practices; and the effectiveness of government oversight.
Prior to rejoining POGO, Mr. Schwellenbach was a staff writer at the Center for Public Integrity from 2008 to 2010, where he wrote about congressional ethics and defense spending. He and the Center were finalists for the 2009 Scripps Howard Raymond Clapper Washington Reporting award for investigative work on the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. He also assisted in the direction of a Knight Foundation-funded News21 team of eleven graduate students from around the country working on an investigative series on transportation safety.
Previously, Mr. Schwellenbach was an investigator at POGO from 2004 through 2008. His work on lavish Air Force accommodations for generals was one of three POGO investigations cited by the Society of Professional Journalists when they awarded POGO its prestigious national Sunshine Award for improving government transparency. He has testified before Congress on the need for stronger whistleblower protections in order to improve congressional oversight. From August 2006 through February 2007, Mr. Schwellenbach was a reporter-researcher for the Nieman Watchdog, a project of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University, that seeks to improve the quality of American journalism.
Mr. Schwellenbach earned his M.A. in Journalism and Public Affairs from American University and his B.A. in History with a minor in Economics from the University of Texas-Austin.
Michael Smallberg, Investigator
Michael Smallberg was as an Everett Public Service Intern with POGO in the summer of 2006. He joined the POGO staff full-time that fall. As an investigator, Mr. Smallberg is currently examining the government's bailout programs, with a focus on excessive secrecy, a lack of accountability for the firms receiving government assistance, and conflicts of interest among bailout contractors. He is also investigating the government's financial regulatory system and formulating recommendations that would make regulators such as the Securities and Exchange Commission more independent and accountable. Last year, he was the major contributor to a report that highlighted POGO's top five recommendations for quickly increasing federal revenue and cutting costs, which would generate over $100 billion in revenue and savings for the government.
Mr. Smallberg has worked with the national media, including the The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal, and has appeared on CNN. Prior to joining POGO, Mr. Smallberg interned at the National Archives. He earned a B.A. in American History from Brown University.
Peter Stockton, Senior Investigator
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 1970s, 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.
Jake Wiens, Investigator
Jake Wiens, Investigator, joined the Project On Government Oversight staff as a fellow in 2007. As a fellow, he undertook an investigation into a grant program at the Department of Justice (DOJ), exposing conflicts of interest and patronage in the awarding of DOJ’s discretionary grants. His investigation led to the report, Getting Byrned by Justice: Favoritism in the Department of Justice Byrne Discretionary Grant Program. Mr. Wiens also aided in the research and planning of a number of POGO’s investigations, including an evaluation of the Inspector General system.
As an investigator, Mr. Wiens is looking into lobbying activities on behalf of foreign governments and analyzing of the effectiveness of the Department of Housing and Urban Development's foreclosure policies. Mr. Wiens is also engaged in a year-long project in partnership with the Aspen Institute's Rodel Fellowship program to identify good government indicators that transcend all levels of U.S. government.
Prior to joining the staff in 2007, Mr. Wiens interned at the Department of the Interior (DOI), where he helped edit and draft DOI’s FY2005 Performance and Accountability Report. He earned a B.A. from Bluffton University in 2007, where he was the most distinguished scholar in Sociology.
