No Evidence of Ethics Violations by USBR Managers

The OIG investigated allegations that a former Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) manager influenced the award of a $21 million environmental consulting contract to a firm that employed him after he left the USBR. The allegations further stated that a USBR supervisory contract specialist had a conflict of interest with managing the contract process because of her romantic relationship with the USBR manager. We found no evidence that the manager personally or substantially participated in the contract or that he influenced the award while he was employed by the USBR. We also investigated whether the manager violated post-Government employment restrictions with his employment at the firm, whether he used his position to gain employment, or whether he shared sensitive information with the firm. We found no evidence that the manager violated any restrictions, that he used his position to gain employment, or that he shared sensitive information with the firm. We also found no evidence that the supervisory contract specialist had a conflict of interest with managing the contracting staff, or that she should have recused herself from the contract process. The contract was deemed invalid and canceled because the award exceeded the contracting officer’s warrant authority. That decision was unrelated to this investigation.