[Vision2020] The Plot (Snowden) Thickens

[Art Deco]

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   Company allegedly misled government about security clearance checks By Tom
Hamburger<http://www.washingtonpost.com/tom-hamburger/2012/03/05/gIQABXKfTS_page.html>and
Zachary
A. Goldfarb<http://www.washingtonpost.com/zachary-a-goldfarb/2011/03/09/AB1OHIQ_page.html>,
Published: June 27

Federal investigators have told lawmakers they have evidence that USIS, the
contractor that screened Edward Snowden for his top-secret clearance,
repeatedly misled the government about the thoroughness of its background
checks, according to people familiar with the matter.

The alleged transgressions are so serious that a federal watchdog indicated
he plans to recommend that the Office of Personnel Management, which
oversees most background checks, end ties with USIS unless it can show it
is performing responsibly, the people said.

Cutting off USIS could present a major logistical quagmire for the nation’s
already-jammed security clearance process. The federal government relies
heavily on contractors to approve workers for some of its most sensitive
jobs in defense and intelligence. Falls Church-based USIS is the largest
single private provider for government background checks.

The inspector general of OPM, working with the Justice Department, is
examining whether USIS failed to meet a contractual obligation that it
would conduct reviews of all background checks the company performed on
behalf of government agencies, the people familiar with the matter said,
speaking on the condition of anonymity because the investigation has not
yet been resolved.

After conducting an initial background check of a candidate for employment,
USIS was required to perform a second review to make sure no important
details had been missed. From 2008 through 2011, USIS allegedly skipped
this second review in up to 50 percent of the cases. But it conveyed to
federal officials that these reviews had, in fact, been performed.

The shortcut made it appear that USIS was more efficient than it actually
was and may have triggered incentive awards for the company, the people
briefed on the matter said. Investigators, who have briefed lawmakers on
the allegations, think the strategy may have originated with senior
executives, the people said.

Ray Howell, director of corporate communications at USIS, declined to
comment on Thursday.

In a statement last week, USIS said it received a subpoena from the
inspector general of OPM in January 2012. “USIS complied with that subpoena
and has cooperated fully with the government’s civil investigative
efforts,” the statement said. The company would not comment on the Snowden
case.

It is not known whether USIS did anything improper on its 2011 background
check of Snowden, the 30-year-old who leaked documents about the inner
workings of the NSA and is now the subject of a global drama. He gained
access to those documents after he was cleared to work at NSA contractor
Booz Allen Hamilton.

Last week, Patrick E. McFarland, the inspector general of OPM, said he has
concerns about Snowden’s background check. “We do believe that there may be
some problems,” he said.

The broader concerns about background checks are not limited to USIS.
McFarland’s office has 47 open investigations into alleged wrongdoing by
individuals in the background checks industry, according to a statement
from the inspector general's office. Separately, since 2006, the watchdog
has won convictions in 18 cases in which employees claimed to have verified
information that ultimately turned out to be false or not even checked.

“There is an alarmingly insufficient level of oversight of the federal
investigative-services program,” McFarland said last week in congressional
testimony. “A lack of independent verification of the organization that
conducts these important background investigations is a clear threat to
national security.”

McFarland’s office declined to comment on the details of the investigation.
“We have never indicated whether the case was criminal, civil, or
administrative,” a statement from the office said.

Last week, Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) said USIS is the subject of a
criminal probe as a result of a “systematic failure” to conduct background
checks. She did not elaborate. A spokesperson said Thursday that the
senator stands by her statement.

Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), who chairs a Homeland Security subcommittee,
said he plans to introduce legislation within two weeks to increase
oversight of the security clearance process, including giving inspectors
general more power to audit funding and other aspects of the massive effort
to provide 4.9 million Americans with authorized access to classified and
other sensitive government information.

“I cannot believe that this is handled in such a shoddy and cavalier
manner,” Tester said in an interview Thursday. “I personally believe that
if you are under criminal investigation, you should be suspended from the
process until it is resolved.”

Tester added: “We have spent hundreds of billions in this country trying to
keep classified information classified and to keep people from outside
coming in. And what we see here is that we have a problem from the inside.”

USIS, which was spun off from the federal government in the 1990s, has
become the dominant player in the background checks business. It does about
45 percent of all background checks for OPM, according to congressional
staffers. USIS has 7,000 employees.

USIS has been under financial pressure in recent years because of federal
cutbacks and less generous contracts from the government, according to
financial analysts working at Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s. The firm’s
parent company, Altegrity, is owned by Providence Equity Partners, a
private equity firm. USIS has two main competitors, KeyPoint Government
Solutions and CACI.

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-- 
Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox)
art.deco.studios at gmail.com
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