Part of an interview with Clark Kent Ervin, former Inspector General (watchdog) at the Department of Homeland Security. Mr. Ervin wrote a number very critical reports about DHS:
ZAHN: At any point during your two years of service as inspector general, did anybody try to silence you or mute your criticism?
ERVIN: Happened all the time, and I resisted it very, very fiercely.
ZAHN: Clark, can you explain to me how pressure was put on you to mute your criticism along the way?
ERVIN: There were times I was urged not to release reports.
ZAHN: By whom? Would these be members of Congress?
ERVIN: Not by members of Congress but by senior members of the department. It happened on a number of occasions. And I resisted each time. The good news is that the law gave me the authority to do just that.
ZAHN: So you say you felt pressure from high-ranking members of the Department of Homeland Security?
ERVIN: Yes.
ZAHN: Did Tom Ridge ever come to you personally and say, “You can’t do this, Clark. This is making us look bad”?
ERVIN: To his credit, the secretary never did that. He did not. There’s no question that on a number of occasions, there were hard-hitting reports about very, very sensitive topics that the senior leadership in the department — I don’t want to personalize this or name names — would just as soon had not been released publicly or to the Congress.
Upper-tier Bush administration officials attempting to silence realistic assessments of how effectively government policy is working? I’m shocked.
Mr. Ervin is doing interviews now because the administration refused to reappoint him; apparently he was doing his job too well.