
Obama Puts New CIO Vivek Kundra On Suspension - madh
http://www.businessinsider.com/obama-puts-new-cio-vivek-kundra-on-suspension-2009-3
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timf
_"placed on leave out of 'an abundance of caution'"_

The headline seems misleading since "suspension" implies a punitive action.

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TomOfTTB
When the raid story first broke here I wrote this comment in that thread...

"More to the point, the Obama administration could have the worst vetting team
in the world and they'd still be smart enough to ask the FBI if they had any
active investigations on the appointee. It's too rudimentary a step to skip."

I'm still sure the vetting team checked specifically into Mr. Kundra but I
have to admit this makes them look a tad incompetent. They may not be the
worst vetting team but the fact that the President seemingly didn't know this
was coming does not reflect well on them or the Administration.

(In my original comment I assumed the vetting team knew this raid was comming
but disregarded it because there were no direct ties to Kundra)

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rbanffy
Can the vetting team ask the FBI for information on an active investigation on
one of its job candidates? The FBI should never answer such a question and the
mere idea they ever could is a bad sign the Bush administration did some very
serious institutional damage.

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DanielBMarkham
Last I checked, the FBI was part of the Executive Branch and answered
completely to the president.

There's no special agency that doesn't answer to anybody. As president, Obama
is also responsible for enforcing laws. He has every right as part of the
vetting process to give law enforcement agencies veto ability (or not).

There are some special rules for the Office of Public Accountability, but
they're for investigating officials already in power. Even then, I don't think
you get around the Executive Branch running the FBI. The president, as chief
law enforcement officer, can muck around in any ongoing investigation he deems
he should.

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mattmaroon
That's not true at all. I'm guessing the last you checked was never, since a
simple Wikipedia query would dispel that notion.

Despite being part of the criminal division of the DoJ (and therefore under
the Attorney General who is appointed by the President) the FBI's governing
body is Congress.

However he does have some pretty broad vetting tools. I believe that is
generally coordinated by the Secret Service, who has access to all levels of
police report. It's therefore almost inconceivable that they didn't know about
this.

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DanielBMarkham
Okay I checked just now.

The FBI was created by the Justice Department. It is entirely inside the
Executive Branch. Its leader, like other cabinet officials, is appointed by
the president and confirmed by Congres, although he serves a 10-year term. As
Nixon clearly demonstrated, the heads of these agencies serve at the pleasure
of the president ([http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
srv/national/longterm/water...](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
srv/national/longterm/watergate/articles/102173-2.htm)) More recently, Clinton
got rid of Sessions <http://www.slate.com/id/2066861/>

Like all Federal Agencies, the FBI has close relations with Congress, which
approves its budget, tells it how to operate, and investigates any wrongdoing.
But policy decisions -- how to execute the laws in place -- are made solely by
the President.

But none of that looking told me anything I didn't already know.

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njharman
It seems impossibly hard to find "clean" upper level government employees in
Washington. This should really be more of a concern talking point with us
citizens.

