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FBI Searches New Fed CIO Kundra's Former Offices
Posted by
timothy
on Thu Mar 12, 2009 03:11 PM
from the rent-seeking-behavior dept.
from the rent-seeking-behavior dept.
CWmike writes "While new federal CIO Vivek Kundra gave a speech here this morning on his vision for the US government's use of technology, the FBI conducted a search of the District of Columbia's IT offices — where Kundra worked until last week — and arrested an employee and another person who works for an outsourcing vendor, say reports. There was no indication that Kundra was connected in any way to the FBI's raid, which was part of a bribery sting operation. And if Kundra was aware of what was going on at his former offices or concerned about the raid, it wasn't evident during his speech at FOSE 2009, a trade show focused on government IT. The FBI would not comment on the reports. President Barack Obama last week appointed Kundra to be the federal government's first official CIO."
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Politics: DC CTO Vivek Kundra Named To Top Federal IT Job 105 comments
DCTechCzar writes "The Obama administration plans to announce it has appointed Vivek Kundra, the District of Columbia's chief technology officer, to take the top information technology post in the federal government, according to a source. Kundra, who has deployed advanced applications to improve the performance of public services during his nearly two years as CTO for the District, will replace Karen Evans as administrator for e-government and information technology in the Office of Management and Budget. The position effectively serves as the federal government's chief information officer. The administration could announce Kundra's appointment as soon as Thursday."
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America's New CIO Loves Google 208 comments
theodp writes "On Thursday, Barack Obama tapped Vivek Kundra for the post of Federal CIO, giving him responsibility for establishing and overseeing enterprise architecture across the federal government. So what might that look like? Well, little more than a month ago Kundra was slated to sing the praises of Google Apps to government officials in a webcast. A Kundra quote from the presentation slides: 'Why should I spend millions on enterprise apps when I can do it [with Google] at one-tenth cost and ten times the speed? It's a win-win for me.' You can follow Kundra's love affair with Google on YouTube, from his announcement of the Google-Washington DC partnership he brokered through a co-starring role with a Google attorney on a video pitching Google-enabled technology for the Obama Administration. Not surprisingly, some say Obama's choice of a Google-party-goer who worships Google could cause big headaches for Microsoft."
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Federal CIO Kundra Takes Leave of Absence After Woes 193 comments
CWmike writes "The fallout from Thursday's arrests of a District of Columbia IT security official and contractor quickly raised questions about the fate of Vivek Kundra, the new federal CIO who until recently ran the office now mired in bribery allegations. Appointed by President Barack Obama as CIO less than two weeks ago, Kundra was CTO for the District of Columbia. But yesterday, Kundra's former office in a downtown government building was a crime scene. A White House official, speaking on background, confirmed today that Kundra took a leave of absence from his new CIO job shortly after federal investigators arrested two men in the DC government office on bribery charges. The official would not elaborate on the reasons for the leave; there were no indications yesterday that Kundra was involved in any wrongdoing. Kundra's decision could slow his plan to create a 'revolution' in the federal government's use of technology."
[+]
DC Fires Tech Contractors, Puts Employees On Leave 51 comments
theodp writes "After Gov. Tim Kaine intervened on his behalf, Vivek Kundra was quietly reinstated to his Federal CIO post on Tuesday after a brief leave following an FBI raid on Kundra's former DC office (Kundra was not implicated). Now, the Washington Post reports that the City of DC plans to fire 23 Technology Office contractors and place 4 employees on leave in the aftermath of the arrests of a Security manager and contractor on bribery charges last week. Another government employee has since been arrested for his role in the scam, and the mayor has promised that the tech office will undergo a 'full and formal review.'"
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More (Score:2, Insightful)
Par for the course? (Score:5, Funny)
Okay, so a bunch of his underlings got arrested for a spot of corruption while he was either (a) ignorant or (b) had plausible deniability. I like this guy already. I think he's got a very good handle on what it takes to be a good IT manager. My only other question: Was the soda machine out of Mountain Dew? If so, we have a winner.
Choices... (Score:5, Insightful)
Is Obama just making really bad choices, or is everyone at that high a level in .gov just corrupt?
Re:Choices... (Score:5, Insightful)
Is Obama just making really bad choices, or is everyone at that high a level in .gov just corrupt?
They're puppets who may or may not falsely believe that they have anything like a will of their own or ideas of their own. The real political power is not the President but the corporations and old-money families who put him into office. They don't put a President into office unless he has views that they find to be either favorable or convenient. That's not a conspiracy theory so much as a proposition that entrenched power tends to act in its own interests, and as such, it should be self-evident.
I cannot prove this but I will offer some speculation: the more I have heard of his speeches and his intentions and his beliefs, the more I think that John F. Kennedy was a fluke. He was a fluke because he really did want to represent the people and not the interests that got him into office. I believe that is why he was assassinated -- to those interests, this represented a betrayal or a "double-crossing" and they made an example. Certainly the Mafia could arrange such an event, and I will say that I believe that the monied interests who truly run this country make the Mafia look like a bunch of amateurs, though they prefer to buy people off rather than use brute force. Most people's princples are indeed for sale if the price is high enough, and they know this because they know what corruption is. It's just that occasionally there comes someone who cannot be bought and against whom they don't have some other form of leverage.
I apologize that I do not know the time or place, but this is a quote from a speech delivered by JFK:
The very word 'secrecy' is repugnant in a free and open society. And we are, as a people, inherently and historically, opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths, and to secret proceedings. We decided long ago that the dangers of excessive and unwarranted concealment of pertinent facts far outweigh the dangers which are cited to justify it. Even today, there is little value in opposing the threat of a closed society by imitating its arbitrary restrictions. Even today, there is little value in ensuring the survival of our nation if our traditions do not survive with it. And there is very grave danger that an announced need for increased security will be seized upon by those anxious to expand its meaning to the very limits of official censorship and concealment. That I do not intend to permit, to the extent that it's in my control. And no official of my administration, whether his rank is high or low, civilian or military, should interpret my words here tonight as an excuse to censor the news, to stifle dissent, to cover up our mistakes, or to withhold from the press or public the facts they deserve to know.
An open government of the sort he advocated is quite terrifying to the powers behind the throne. So, I think Obama or any other President probably cannot help but to make bad choices or to have corruption. Even if he himself is a sincere man, he is working within a system that is not designed for sincerity.
Parent
Re:Choices... (Score:5, Insightful)
Just like JFK, Barack Obama is a product of Chicago Political Machine(TM) — easily the most corrupt [heritage.org] local political system in the nation (think Blagojevich [thepeoplescube.com])... I'd rather JFK and Obama were both flukes — having the nation's President come from such gutters as a rule is rather disgraceful...
Were you as forgiving towards the previous President? More importantly, were the moderators?
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
The GGP said: "any other President". Hence it was logical to wonder, if he was as tolerant towards corruption under Bush (who, BTW, had no problems appointing cabinet members without problems of tax-dodging).
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
The GGP said: "any other President". Hence it was logical to wonder, if he was as tolerant towards corruption under Bush (who, BTW, had no problems appointing cabinet members without problems of tax-dodging).
Understanding corruption and accepting the reality of it is not at all the same thing as feeling "tolerant towards corruption" (or excusing it, as you seem to imply), and on that basis I believe you have misunderstood me. I was attempting the former, not the latter.
I find it useful to understand that this sort of corruption is systemic. We'd like to believe that it's the fault of $ONE_GUY, with the exact identity of $ONE_GUY varying depending on whom you ask. Most people you ask will select someone th
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Why the hell is this marked troll?
It's a valid question.
How many of Obama's choices have had either tax problems or scandals?
Seriously, troll is 100% wrong moderation.
Re:Choices... (Score:5, Interesting)
I don't know what's going on with moderation here, but I'll throw my hat in the ring.
Why is this modded Troll?
Why are som of the other posts moderated down?
The politicizing that seems to be going on here is worrisome.
Parent
Re:Choices... (Score:5, Funny)
The politicizing that seems to be going on here is worrisome.
You must be new here.
Parent
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
TFS comprehension fail. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200. Enjoy the country your stupidity has gotten you.
How the hell is this interesting? How did the parent poster fail to comprehend the story?
Since you didn't bother quoting it, and for those too lazy to hit "parent" twice, the original was:
Is Obama just making really bad choices, or is everyone at that high a level in .gov just corrupt?
So, after appointing the guy who underpaid his taxes and blamed it on TurboTax to head the IRS, we have the guy who worked in an office which has been hit by a federal investigation into bribery working as CIO.
Considering that a CIO has purchasing power, it seems to me to be quite a coincidence that our new US CIO's former
Re: (Score:2)
No shit. I am busting my everliving ass to get as many negative mods in this thread as I can, and some jackass comes along and mods me intersting. Trust me, you're nowhere near as unhappy as I am right now.
To answer your other questions, read my other posts around here.
Re: (Score:2)
Just curious: if you really meant that and were not just being facetious, then what is the purpose? That's not intended as sarcasm or a put-down or anything like that; I really want to know.
Offtopic topic? (Score:4, Insightful)
arrested an employee and another person who works for an outsourcing vendor, say reports. There was no indication that Kundra was connected in any way to the FBI's raid
So... what's the big deal?
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Re:Offtopic topic? (Score:4, Insightful)
Hmmm. Let's rewrite it slightly.
While new republican CIO John Doe gave a speech here this morning on his vision for the US government's use of technology, the FBI conducted a search of the Texas's IT offices â" where Doe worked until last week â" and arrested an employee and another person who works for an outsourcing vendor, say reports. There was no indication that Doe was connected in any way to the FBI's raid, which was part of a bribery sting operation. And if Doe was aware of what was going on at his former offices or concerned about the raid, it wasn't evident during his speech at FOSE 2009, a trade show focused on government IT. The FBI would not comment on the reports. President George Bush last week appointed Doe to be the federal government's first official CIO.
Change anything? IMO, it would have. "Look at the corruption, George Bush is now appointing a CIO of the entire USA from a corrupt Texas IT department that is involved in bribery and sting operations!"
Oh. But this is Obama's administration. Who cares if several appointments of his weren't honest about their taxes (oh, sorry, "forgot" about certain items. Admittedly, in some cases, it did look innocent; but sometimes, not so much, especially for someone that you'd think would know these sorts of things...), that his CIO worked in an IT department that had bribery sting deals going on, or whatever...
Eh. I know Bush administration wasn't good and that most all government is corrupt, blah blah. But that doesn't mean I should just ignore this because it happens to everyone or whatever. If the place he worked has people getting busted for bribery or whatever, then investigation should continue; no, not because she is guilty until proven innocent, but because I think government officials should be held to a pretty high standard. Especially since, in the last 100 years, they've tended to be dishonest.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
There was no indication that Doe was connected in any way to the FBI's raid, which was part of a bribery sting operation.
Which reduces this to a story about a couple of low-level employees getting arrested over nothing. Which is about as far from FP Slashdot fare as you can get.
Boring.
And then Timmeh slaps in a quick reference to Obama for the Hell of it.
Lame.
I'm not one to bash Slashdot and its "declining
Re:Offtopic topic? (Score:4, Interesting)
And that's supposed to make us feel good?
The guy was/is the head of that office. He either didn't know about the corruption (as the frigging FEDERAL CIO for the country, that might be a think he'd be expected to know about corruption in his own office) or he was in on it.
Either way, for me, this is 100% a bad sign and should raise a huge red flag.
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
He either didn't know about the corruption... or he was in on it.
Above post has serious blinders on. Other possibilities:
Any of these is quite likely, and the last is, exactly the kind of action I would want to see a CEO take if in the course of his work he became aware that something suspicious was happening in his business. What would be the alternative? "I'm firing you two because I'm pretty sure that you're guilty of crimes in my
Re: (Score:2)
Well, it sure sounds like you got upset, whether or not we expected you to. ;)
Meh, not sure what the stereotype mention is doing for the argument.
Omniscience from department heads, no. But whether or not he really knew about it is a rather important question at this point, is it not? No, he's not guilty now, and probably won't be, but we should probably make sure. Which it looks like the FBI is doing. And until they conclusively say something about it, I'm not going to defend him and say he's innocent a
Re:Offtopic topic? (Score:5, Insightful)
Not, it's got nothing to do with Dems or Repubs.
No, it doesn't. But, the GP's point is correct: if this had been a member of Bush's administration, this article would already have 500 comments of wailing about how it was Bush's fault, Cheney's fault, and the fault of neo-cons, the Illuminati, FBI, CIA, RIAA, MPAA, etc....
Can you say "partisan"? I knew you could.
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
Change anything?
No. Answer is the same: *yawn* Let me know when he's implicated in any way, then I'll care.
If Scooter Libby hadn't actually done the Perp Walk, I wouldn't care about him either.
First order of business: (Score:2, Interesting)
Take a pay cut, show the world that you're not in it for the money, you're in it for the future of technology in the USA.
Then call the BSA, report software piracy in a government office, collect the rest of your salary as the "reporting bonus".
Or, in another thought: It really had nothing to do with him. Just because you work with someone who does something stupid/illegal doesn't immediately make you guilty of also being involved in the stupidity/illegalities. Doesn't mean it doesn't, just means it doesn'
Band of thieves (Score:3, Insightful)
Is there even one person in Obama's administration that isn't a crook, in the same field they are appointed to oversee?
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Hypocrite.
( just like those who moderated that post as a troll. )
Re:Band of thieves (Score:4, Insightful)
That sight you list is partisan and very pro-Obama. How can they mark 'no earmarks' as a compromise?
I thought it was going to be a good sight to follow until I started seeing things like the above.
Parent
Oh Gee, lots of bibliography. (Score:2, Informative)
...gad zooks!: A ComputerWorld Blog; the writer of whom gets his information from...
...gad zooks!: A political blog; the writer of whom gets his information from...
...his ass.
Nice trail.
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
...gad zooks!: A political blog; the writer of whom gets his information from...
...the Washington Post [washingtonpost.com].
FTFY.
You might not like the Washington Post, but it hardly qualifies as "his ass."
There's also the AP [google.com] and, well, plenty of other hits on Google [google.com].
It's easy to fool people (Score:3, Interesting)
Flatter them.
Promise them big ideas and big, vague solutions.
Tell them that everyone is equally important.
That's how you make a Crowd happy. Of course, to do that you, you have to be a cynical bastard. That's why most Revolutionary leaders are corrupt people who plunge their countries into New Dark Ages.
Obama, coming from the most corrupt political machine in North America (the Chicago machine), is undoubtedly aware of all these things, and knows how to manipulate them for personal gain. Again, very cynical. But that's the RealPolitik(tm) when you have a huge crowd of people out there who vote with their emotions, based on the appearance of realities they're too lazy to research.
Hope! Change! Hope! Change!
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This could be unrelated. He hasn't been arrested yet. However, there does seem to be an early stigma on Obama's appointees and corruption. Obama better hope this guy is clean.
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Re:Sigh... (Score:4, Informative)
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/02/03/washington/AP-Obama-Killefer.html [nytimes.com]
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/03/opinion/03tue1.html [nytimes.com]
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/05/us/politics/05richardson.html [nytimes.com]
That is four appointees tied to corruption issues, so the CIO would be the fifth if that were the case.
Then, there is the Blagojevich scandal, which the media was adamant from day 1 that Obama had no knowledge about, and zero possible connection. The media can't know that for certain. Obama may very well be innocent there, but there is a perception of stigma regardless.
Now Obama's replacement, Burris may be charged with perjury and there are calls for him to resign.
Again, Obama probably doesn't know Burris very well, and had no control over whether or not Burris perjured himself, but none of this is good PR.
Parent
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Now Obama's replacement, Burris may be charged with perjury and there are calls for him to resign.
Last I knew, Obama wasn't a support of Burris and wanted him to resign.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Please read the full post where I said Obama probably doesn't know the guy very well, and probably has no connection to his perjury.
The point is however, that so long as the issue continues to blow up, it will continue to create bad PR.
After all, there is a slight chance that Obama did have some knowledge that Blagojevich and his wife were both on the take. Burris apparently lied about not knowing. Obama was cleared of wrongdoing before any investigation was done, or any facts came out. Literally, the da
List of Obama appointees who've had to withdraw (Score:5, Interesting)
For future reference, the list so far:
People who haven't withdrawn, but have had major issues:
Will Vivek Kundra be next on the list?
Parent
Re:List of Obama appointees who've had to withdraw (Score:4, Interesting)
It should also be noted that Daschle said initially he wouldn't resign over the tax charges, and that Obama said he still stood behind him despite the tax charges. There was some speculation that he changed his mind later because there was more dirt that might come out. Who knows.
My big question with Daschle is that he isn't a laywer, and he claims that he isn't a lobbyist, and Obama promised not to appoint lobbyists, but the tax scandal was part of 2 million dollars in salary (plus perks) given to him by a law firm that specializes in lobbying.
What exactly was Daschle doing for the firm as a non-lawyer and non-lobbyist that he was paid 2 million plus perks?
Parent
Re:List of Obama appointees who've had to withdraw (Score:5, Insightful)
I've been told in Australia, members of Parliament are very well paid to encourage bright minds to work in government (as opposed to private sector failures), but at the same time, it is illegal for them to take any outside money.
Ross Perot suggested such a system a few years ago, and Congress responded by keeping him out of public debates.
People wonder why the government is so poorly run, and why our economy has issues, but when successful businessmen with a good mind for economics suggest common sense changes (like Forbes and Perot) Congress tries their best to make sure you never hear of it.
Everyone is caught up in the spin that the right is evil, or the left is evil to the point that they miss the message. No one in Washington is working for you. They all protect themselves and their special interests.
My concern is that there is so much hope and trust placed in an Obama administration, that Americans will tune out and assume everything is going to be fine.
No matter the leader, a democracy is best served with informed voters who pressure their government to serve them.
Parent
Re:List of Obama appointees who've had to withdraw (Score:4, Insightful)
I really hope that soon he starts doing the things he said he would do and get moving on the major spending problem this country has had with Clinton and Bush.
He said he would never allow earmarks: broken campaign promise. He said he wouldn't appoint any lobbyists: broken campaign promise. He said he would fight against NAFTA: broken campaign promise. He said he would fight against wiretapping: broken campaign promise.
But you are still convinced he isn't another corporate shill like Clinton or Bush. I'm sure he attends Bilderberg because he is looking out for the little guy.
Parent
Re:List of Obama appointees who've had to withdraw (Score:4, Funny)
No wonder the Democrats always want to raise taxes. They don't pay anyway!
Parent
Re:Sigh... (Score:5, Insightful)
After the FIRST guy getting outed on tax irregularities you would think they would be a LOT more careful. But no... another...
I would love to see the Obama administration succeed in many ways for many reasons, but mostly because his success might also lead to the nation's success. But with all this crap coming down, you would think that Obama would have a team of investigators to vet these appointees with a fine-tooth-comb. Can Obama really be that dumb?
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
I love that I get modded troll for DEFENDING the guy and saying he hasn't been arrested yet.
It is just common sense that if Obama's appointees are charged with corruption, that isn't good PR for him. How is that trolling to say Obama better hope he is clean?
Re:Sigh... (Score:5, Funny)
Q: What is the difference between Jesus and Obama?
A: Jesus could build a cabinet.
Parent
Re:Sigh... (Score:4, Insightful)
Hey, from what I've been seeing and reading, IL politics make LA's look VERY clean and innocent!!
And say what you will about Jindal's TV thing the other night, but so far, he has done a great job down here...a lot of corruption has been ferreted out down here, many people on state and local levels going to jail. It doesn't feel quite like the 'banana republic' it used to be Pre-K.
Parent
Re: (Score:2, Troll)
Yes he is.
but if you deny it you are clearly trolling or obviously ignorant)
Speaking of disingenuous, you might also want to mention, in the interests of not trolling, of course, that the man was not convicted of any crime whatsoever and that thye word "Terrorist", thanks to the valiant efforts of team Bush, no longer has the same cachet it had 8 years ago.
Re:Terrorism? Bribery? What's next? (Score:4, Interesting)
Speaking of disingenuous, you might also want to mention, in the interests of not trolling, of course, that the man was not convicted of any crime whatsoever and that thye word "Terrorist", thanks to the valiant efforts of team Bush, no longer has the same cachet it had 8 years ago.
Why would we want to mention those things? Ayers admits everything he was accused of. Why would the important consideration be that he was never convicted, rather than the fact that he was guilty and admits it? And why would it matter that the term terrorist gets bandied around a lot and applied to some less-than-terrifying activities when Ayers himself was the genuine article - the kind of terrorist who wanted to randomly murder innocent people?
Parent
The emperor's tailor couldn't have said it better (Score:2)
"Forgetting for just a moment that one of President Obama's best friends is a well known terrorist (not going to list all of the sources on this, but if you deny it you are clearly trolling or obviously ignorant);"
Actually, you're wrong on both counts. Bill Ayers isn't one of Obama's best friends and prior to the last presidential campaign, hardly anyone under the age of 55 had ever heard his name.
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How long before "news for nerds" includes fashion and beauty stories?
Re: (Score:3, Funny)