CFTC IG Gets Suspended For Worse Even Than WSJ Covered

Forbes Business Policy CFTC IG Gets Suspended For Worse Even Than WSJ Covered Charles Tiefer Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. I cover government contracting, the Pentagon and Congress. Following May 7, 2023, 02:09pm EDT | Press play to listen to this article! Got it! Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin A Wall Street Journal banner headline announced this week, “CFTC Suspends Its Inspector General.

” As the WSJ explained, a council of inspectors general (“CIGIE”) conducted a major investigation and found the CFTC-IG engaged in “substantial misconduct. ” But the WSJ overlooks some of the most sobering parts of the CIGIE investigation. It focuses on whistleblower disclosure and fund waste.

All true. But, the CIGIE report contains other very serious findings that deserve attention. For one thing, the CFTC-IG, A.

Roy Lavik, seems to have literally thrown away the rule manual about how to conduct proper inquiries. The report finds “IG Lavik grossly mismanaged his office by creating, promoting, and executing a climate of non-compliance with professional oversight standards. ” Whoa.

How did he do that? Well, one of his important inquiries was the “Stress Testing Inspection. ” Sounds like an important inquiry. But the assigned CFTC IG staff did not initially understand they were conducting an inspection.

Nothing is more basic for an IG inspection or investigation than a workplan. Workplans are required by professional standards. Only, the CFTC-IG did not have a workplan.

He admits it! He said it was “not relevant to an economic review. ” Lavik preferred to call matters “reviews” because then, as mere “reviews,” they are not subject to professional standards. Oh yeah, the old “it’s just a mere review, don’t need to do it right” scam.

I know that one. When I am driving cross-country, and someone asks if I have a plan, I say “it’s not relevant to just a mere informal little drive. ” So where does the IG get his guidance, if not from professional standards.

He follows, he says, the “simple ass standards” I kid you not. The “simple ass standards. ” Lavik’s own term.

How did the WSJ miss that one? MORE FOR YOU WWE Backlash 2023 Results: Winners And Grades From San Juan Puerto Rico WWE Backlash 2023 Results: Cody Rhodes Bloodies And Beats Brock Lesnar WWE Backlash 2023 Results: Bad Bunny Beats Damian Priest In Star-Studded Street Fight Another very serious finding is that that he “violated CFTC IT Security Policy by sharing passwords. ” “IG Lavik improperly shared his usernames and passwords with CFTC OIG staff and contractors, who used that information to log into CFTC IT systems and perform official actions. ” Like what? Well, he is supposed to approve leave slips for his deputy.

He, and only he. That is why it takes his own logging in with his own username and password to approve the leave slips. But, he could not be bothered.

So in total disregard for the firmest and most vital IT security, he turned over to his deputy his own username and password, meaning she could go into accounts she is not supposed to be in, do things she is not supposed to do, and do so with his blessing. It is not merely what she specifically did that matters. It is that he compromises his whole system by throwing open the iron-locked door.

I have a similar, if greatly less high-stakes, iron-clad rule as a professor on my own account. There are student grading sheets in there. If I compromise my account I compromise the grades.

The compromise of my grades, because of this, would cause a huge scandal and, frankly, my butt would be in a sling. Now multiply that by ten thousand because of the very high stakes in the IG investigation world and you have some idea. This is such a big violation that even Lavik, who seems shameless, could not bring himself to say this aloud.

He was asked about this by the office doing the investigation and report, the FCC IG. When asked whose account his deputy went into to do this, he said, he “does not know whose username and passwords” she “used to log into the time and attendance system. ” He does not know? Whose does he think she used? Not her own.

Not yours or mine. Harry Potter’s? I was Commissioner of Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2008-2011. Sometimes I was very impressed by the work of the top IGs, sometimes I thought they could have been a little tougher on some contractors I deemed profiteers.

But violating standards like this? I never saw anything like it. This was a very strong CIGIE report about a very reprehensible character. Charles Tiefer Editorial Standards Print Reprints & Permissions.