Nothing Beats a Good Coverup

I'm sure there were tons of legitimate purposes for issuing this order:

The Environmental Protection Agency is warning its pollution enforcement officials not to talk directly to congressional investigators, reporters and even the agency's own inspector general, according to an internal e-mail provided to The Associated Press.

Rick Perlstein can be a cynical as he wants to be about Richard Nixon and the founding of the EPA, but at the end of the day the upshot of Nixon's EPA-related cynicism was real improvement in the state of American environmental policy. The Bush administration has shown us that there are other ways of doing business.

Comments

Can someone explain why this isn't just straightforwardly illegal?

Posted by Ted | July 29, 2008 11:52 AM

I understand trying to expand "Executive Privilege" to cover everything that happens in government. I don't agree with it, of course, but when you're paranoid and you want to expand your powers, you're paranoid and you want to expand your powers. What are you gonna do? Anyway, I particularly love the part about not even talking to the agency's own inspector general. That's starting a fresh sheet in the history of power hungry paranoia.

Or would if John McCain's campaign hadn't gotten there first with McCain not speaking for McCain.

Most peculiar, Momma.

Posted by Jeffrey Davis | July 29, 2008 11:55 AM

I'd have to say the distinction would be the Nixon Administration wasn't bad for the environment, but it is a stretch to say Nixon as a person was (which is usually how it is couched: "Nixon wasn't such a bad guy, look at how he started the EPA."

Here's a more detailed argument:

http://books.google.com/books?id=aXYqkGLKJOYC&pg=PA30&dq=the+seventies+schulman+epa&ei=Hz6PSNeUOIf8jgGPiYg-&sig=ACfU3U0D29zkyAeCb7uyssLZhjDgY8VyTw

Posted by Rick Perlstein | July 29, 2008 12:01 PM

And, for the most part, the mainstream media has let him/them get away with this!

Posted by angellight | July 29, 2008 12:06 PM

As awful as Bush has been re: the environment, the fact that McCain has a ZERO rating from the League of Conservation Voters doesn't give me much in the way of confidence that he'll be any better...

http://weblog.xanga.com/choponic/664193078/white-house-puts-the-screws-to-the-epa-again.html

Posted by chop1 | July 29, 2008 12:06 PM

All inspectors general are essentially Danny Kaye, who has an obvious liberal bias.

Posted by Njorl | July 29, 2008 12:30 PM

How is it not REALLY, REALLY ILLEGAL to order people not to talk to the IG?

Sounds like someone needs to go to the IG about that one...

Posted by calipygian | July 29, 2008 12:33 PM

Who are they allowed to talk to?

And I echo the "isn't this illegal?" queries.

Posted by Deborah | July 29, 2008 12:48 PM

It is indeed illegal to take any retributive action against a federal employee for exposing waste, fraud or abuse unless such exposure is in itself a violation of a law passed by congress. Evan an executive order can not outlaw such an exposure unless it is deemed a matter of national security.

However, I have no idea if it is illegal to tell employees not to make such exposures. It could well be true that supervisors can instruct employees not to talk to the IG, and the employees are perfectly free to ignore them without fear of retribution, or legal retribution anyway.

Posted by Njorl | July 29, 2008 1:21 PM

"an executive order can not outlaw such an exposure unless it is deemed a matter of national security."

What's funny is that if there were any declaration that climate is a matter of national security (as I suspect there probably is), then it too, would have been covered up, with investigative action blocked because of so-called "executive privilege" (which, btw, sounds incredibly communist to me)

And so the swirly vortex of corruption perpetuates itself...

Posted by Kenny B. | July 29, 2008 2:30 PM

Poll: How many times will MY type "at the end of the day" by the end of the day?

Posted by godoggo | July 29, 2008 3:22 PM