July 14, 2009 -- Defense Department Inspector General Gordon Heddell has notified congressional leaders about a new investigation into a Rumsfeld-era public outreach program under which defense officials reportedly enlisted retired military analysts to speak favorably about the national security policies of the Bush administration on national television.
Word of renewed efforts in the case comes after Donald Horstman, then the deputy inspector general for policy and oversight, wrote in a May 5 memo that officials had opted to drop further investigations into the matter, despite the admission that a January 2009 report was so full of inaccuracies that it had to be withdrawn.
The report, which is no longer available on the inspector general's Web site, found no wrongdoing among those involved in the program.
Heddell, on May 28, appointed his deputy for intelligence, Patricia Brannin, to conduct a “special administrative review” of the original report, he wrote in a June 23 letter to Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI).
InsideDefense.com obtained a copy of the letter.
“I have already assembled a team to address whether findings can be made, based upon the work previously performed, regarding the structure and policies that governed the Public Affairs Outreach Program, the type of access given to retired military analysts, and whether judgments can be made, or if there are lessons learned, regarding the establishment of a similar program in the future,” Heddell, then the acting IG, wrote.
“Renewed efforts will be made to interview former senior officials as well as all 70 retired military analysts,” he added. “The name of those individuals who decline to be interviewed will be provided to you,” Heddell told Levin.
Officials previously complained to senators that they were unable to subpoena testimony from former DOD officials involved in the program during their original investigation (DefenseAlert, July 10).
An April 2008 New York Times report revealed what the article characterized as a concerted effort by public affairs officials under then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to enlist retired military analysts who would deliberately cast thorny policy issues, including the war Iraq and the Guantanamo Bay prison, in a positive light. The analysts, some of whom had jobs in the defense industry, were routinely given access to high-level Pentagon meetings, according to the Times report.
The revelations stirred concerns among lawmakers that defense officials had executed what would effectively amount to a domestic propaganda effort. In addition, lawmakers wanted to know whether the exchange of information between officials and analysts constituted a violation of policies.
Gary Comerford, a spokesman for Heddell, today could not say when IG officials will publish their new report. But the issue “is a priority, and it is getting a lot of attention,” he said. -- Sebastian Sprenger
7142009_july14f