[VIDEO] How did federal agency get $500M from stimulus? ‘We misled Congress,’ ex-official says

On paper, it sounded like a true government success story: The Social Security Administration in September opened a "state-of-the-art" data center in Maryland, housing wage and benefit information on almost every American, "on time and under budget." 

However, six years after Congress approved a half-billion dollars for the project -- the largest building project funded by the 2009 stimulus -- a whistleblower says the center was built on a lie. 

"We misled Congress," Michael Keegan, a former associate commissioner who worked on the project, told FoxNews.com. 

Officials originally claimed they needed the $500 million to replace their entire, 30-year-old National Computer Center located at agency headquarters in Woodlawn, Md. But Keegan says they overstated their case -- the agency has no plans to replace the center, and only moved a fraction of the NCC to the new site. 

Keegan's claims were first heard last week at a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing, where he testified on alleged retaliation he faced as a whistleblower. Though two watchdog agencies previously discarded his complaints, documents submitted to Congress and obtained by FoxNews.com along with congressional records appear to back him up, at least in part. They show:  

1) SSA officials told Congress in 2009, and as late as 2011, they planned to "replace" the National Computer Center, using $500 million from the stimulus. 

2) That never happened. Rather, the agency built a new data center called theNational Support Center, in Urbana, Md. This now houses data center functions from the National Computer Center, and is what was touted inSeptember 2014. But the original, supposedly outdated NCC continues to operate, and hundreds still work there. And transcribed depositions from Keegan's lawsuit against the agency show top officials indeed have no plans to replace the entire NCC. 

Keegan maintains the agency didn't have to move anybody out of the NCC, and could have simply renovated the floor holding the old data center. 

"The data center occupies one half of one floor in a four-story building," he told FoxNews.com. "We didn't need to build [the new center] to begin with." 

Agency leaders disagree, and forged ahead. Yet the records show while officials originally talked about replacing the building, there are no plans to do so now. 

Via: Fox News

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Repeating History: Obama Administration Ignored Warning Signs On Another Green Energy Company

The Department Of Energy Failed To Disclose Concerns That ECOtality, A Green Tech Company Awarded $135 Federal Funding, Was Headed Toward Bankruptcy. “The Department of Energy failed to disclose concerns about a green-technology company that won $135 million in federal funding but ended up filing for bankruptcy in September, according to a watchdog report released this week.” (Josh Hicks, “Energy Dept. Failed To Report Concerns As Green-Tech Firm Was Heading For Bankruptcy,” Washington Post , 11/7/13)

ECOtality Is Still Due To Receive $26 Million In Funding. “DOE Inspector General Gregory Friedman noted that the firm, San Francisco-based Ecotality, is still due to receive $26 million from the agency for testing electric vehicles.” “The the agency has suspended firm’s Recovery Act money, but not a $26 million award for vehicle testing. The Energy Department is not required to pay for the latter unless the work is done.” (Josh Hicks, “Energy Dept. Failed To Report Concerns As Green-Tech Firm Was Heading For Bankruptcy,”Washington Post , 11/7/13)

The Administration Knew As Early May That ECOtality Was Not On Schedule To Meet An Important Milestone. “The report said the DOE knew in May that Ecotality was not on track to meet an important milestone for a grant to install charging stations and that agency officials failed to disclose that information for an audit that the inspector general’s office released roughly two months later.” (Josh Hicks, “Energy Dept. Failed To Report Concerns As Green-Tech Firm Was Heading For Bankruptcy,” Washington Post , 11/7/13)

Inspector General Gregory Friedman: “We Are Deeply Concerned Because The Information Directly Related To The Objective Of Our Audit, To Determine Whether The Department Had Effectively Awarded And Managed Funding To ECOtality.” “‘We are deeply concerned because the information directly related to the objective of our audit, to determine whether the Department had effectively awarded and managed funding to Ecotality,’ Friedman said in the latest report.” (Josh Hicks, “Energy Dept. Failed To Report Concerns As Green-Tech Firm Was Heading For Bankruptcy,” Washington Post , 11/7/13)

ECOTALITY, WHICH RECEIVED OVER $100 MILLION IN STIMULUS FUNDS, FILED FOR BANKRUPTCY IN SEPTEMBER

In September 2013, ECOtality, Inc. Filed For Bankruptcy. “On September 16, 2013, ECOtality, Inc. (the ‘Company’) and its U.S. subsidiaries (collectively with the Company, the “Debtors”) each filed a voluntary petition for relief (the ‘Bankruptcy Filing’) under chapter 11 of title 11 of the United States Code (the ‘Bankruptcy Code’) in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Arizona (the ‘Bankruptcy Court’). The Debtors have proposed to jointly administer their chapter 11 cases under the caption In re Electric Transportation Engineering Corporation, dba ECOtality North America , Case No. 2:13-bk-16126-RJH (the ‘Chapter 11 Case’).” (ECOtality, Inc., Form 8-K, Filed 9/16/13)

Via: gop.com

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