12/28/11 & Earlier Emails to Energy Dept. and
Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board
Re: Senator McCaskill Letter Confirming DOE
Paying Contractor Litigation Defense Costs
is Retaliation
Discredited:
Energy Secretary
Chu's Safety Culture Assertions to Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety
Board
[DOE &
Inspector General Retaliating & Concealing Battelle Fraud,
Perjury & Security Breach]
|
----- Original Message -----
From: Philip Pulver
Sent: Wednesday,
December 28, 2011 10:40 PM
To: Madden, Ray ; Friedman,
Greg [DOE-IG] ; Deputy
Sec. Poneman ; Energy
Secretary Chu
Cc: Hartman, John [Deputy IG for
Investigations] ; Hass,
Ricky [Audit & Inspections] ; SANFORD.PARNES@hq.doe.gov ; Romeo, Charles ; thomas.dagostino@nnsa.doe.gov
; RICKS@DNFSB.GOV ; Andrewt@dnfsb.gov ; Glenn Podonsky [HSS]
Subject: Update re:
Senator McCaskill 12/21/11 Letter; DOE-IG Misconduct Supplement to 11/3/11
Email re: DOE Response to Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board
Discredited...IG complicit in suborning perjury & leaking Pulver/DOJ
docs. to Battelle/DOE legal team
|
Ray Madden [DOE-IG Hotline],
This update is response to Senator Claire McCaskill’s letter
sent to DOE last week in which
she informs DOE that reimbursing contractor defense legal costs is in
itself retaliation against whistleblowers and thus contravenes DOE
protections against reprisal, policies that IG Friedman often cites to
Congress [despite his 8-year retaliation documented
at InspectorGeneralMisconduct.info].
Her letter reads in part:
“On December
6, 2011, the Subcommittee [on Contracting Oversight] held a
hearing regarding whistleblower protections for government contractors. At the hearing, Dr. Walter Tamosaitis, who was the Research and Technology Manager of the Waste
Treatment Project at Hanford Nuclear Facility, testified that Bechtel Corporation, the contractor
against whom he had brought a whistleblower reprisal claim, is being
reimbursed for its legal expenses.
If true, this raises serious concerns. The federal government relies on whistleblowers to report information about waste,
fraud, abuse, and mismanagement of taxpayer dollars and has mandated whistleblower protections, including protections for employees of contractors of the
National Nuclear Security Administration, to ensure
that employees are not retaliated against for their disclosures. Reimbursing a contractor's legal
costs for defending against these types of claims appears to contravene
these policies.”
The
Senator in-effect validates my repeated
assertions [via emails]
to you, Friedman and many DOE senior officials that paying
tax-exempt Battelle legal costs to churn and fight me in court rather
than be held accountable by DOE, is blatant retaliation. Moreover, the
following acts of misconduct in the Pulver/Battelle case,
authorized/funded by DOE’s Friedman, Chu, Poneman, Koonin/Brinkman,
Orbach et al., are more egregious/willful forms of retaliation that will
further concern or outrage her, others in and out of Congress and DNFSB:
• DOE funding PNNL scientist to give perjured testimony [falsified cargo explosives research & ventures] to conceal smoking-gun evidence
• IG Investigations agent
leaking complainant confidential info. and providing legal advice to DOE/Battelle team resulting
in perjury; Oak
Chief Counsel colluding with IG and
suborning Battelle litigation fraud/perjury to hide criminal misconduct,
while churning taxpayers
• IG condoning cover-up instead of holding repeat-offender
Battelle accountable for defrauding small business assistance & violating False Claims Act [Prior IG
recommended criminal sanctions against Battelle
for “theft, conspiracy and false statement”; taxpayers soaked
over $1M]
Summing Up: Senator McCaskill’s concern over DOE’s
retaliatory practice of paying contractor legal costs is dwarfed in
comparison to DOE & Battelle churning
taxpayers $1M in Pulver
case by directing/authorizing/funding perjury by Q-Clearance lab
scientist, research falsification, IG field agents colluding against
small business whistleblower/plaintiff, and Friedman misusing his IG
office as vehicle for retaliation against those complying with his DOE Order 221.1 to report contractor fraud, waste & abuse in $30B DOE nuclear complex.
Further details on DOE/Friedman/Battelle
retaliation are in the emails and linked evidence sites below.
Sincerely,
Philip C. Pulver
CCOL Inc.
2415 South Garfield St.
Kennewick, WA 99337
(509) 586-3051 (509) 528-9212 cell
NationalLabSafetyRisk.com PNNLfraud.com NationalLabSmallBusiness.com NationalLabSecurityThreat.com AirCargoThreat.com
PatentFraud.org InspectorGeneralMisconduct.info OfficeOfScienceFraud.com NationalLabFraud.com CounterTerrorismResearch.com
PS. The Senator’s concern/outrage
over this retaliatory DOE practice is shared by others as cited in a
12/21 Washington Post article:
Is the government reimbursing companies facing
legal actions by whistleblowers?
“DOE’s financial cushion for
contractors to fight whistleblower lawsuits is unique, in GAP’s
experience,” said Tom Devine, legal director of the Government
Accountability Project, a nonprofit whistleblower advocacy organization.
“The practice is so outrageous that in the 2005 Energy Policy Act,
Congress passed a law requiring re-payment when there is a judgment
against the contractor in whistleblower cases.”
|
----- Original Message -----
From: Philip Pulver
To: Madden, Ray
Cc: Friedman,
Greg [DOE-IG] ; Hartman,
John [Deputy IG for Investigations] ; Romeo, Charles ; Deputy Sec. Poneman ; SANFORD.PARNES@hq.doe.gov ; Energy Secretary Chu ; Hass, Ricky [Audit & Inspections]
; RICKS@DNFSB.GOV
Sent: Monday, December
19, 2011 10:34 PM
Subject: IG's Follow
up Response re: DOE-IG Misconduct Supplement to 11/3/11 Email re: DOE
Response to Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board Discredited...IG
Investigations complicit in suborning perjury & leaking Pulver/DOJ
docs. to Battelle/DOE legal team
|
Ray Madden [DOE-IG Hotline],
This message is in response to your email
below regarding my documented allegations against DOE’s Office of
Inspector General, e.g., collusion/retaliation in contractor litigation
fraud by leaking complainant Pulver’s confidential attorney-client
information [sent to DOJ] to Battelle’s taxpayer-funded 3-part
legal team. As detailed below, DOE documents themselves substantiate all
my citations of IG and DOE misconduct that [if allowed to continue by
Sec. Chu, Poneman and White House] confirms that the current IG
retaliates against those reporting fraud [per DOE Order 221.1] by
colluding with and ‘protecting’ the accused contractors via
litigation fraud/perjury, at expense of taxpayers, small business, courts
and national security. [Note, underlined text below are Web links
to documents at evidence sites, e.g., NationalLabSafetyRisk.com & PNNLFraud.com] For your convenience, I also attached some
of the key documents that are cited or linked below.
Attached and downloadable is the comprehensive FOIA--Emails-IG-Retaliation-ColludingWithBattelleLegal.pdf document that contains DOE and IG documents explicitly
substantiating these and other relevant facts:
- IG Investigations agent leaked complainant confidential
info. and provided legal advice to DOE/Battelle Team.
Part 1: 9/23/10 DOE Oak Ridge letter includes Investigations agent
Newton’s emails [Documents 15-16
of Enclosure 2] with text redacted/withheld because it
was “considered attorney-client
communications in accordance with 5 U.S.C. §552(b)(5).” Clearly, DOE would NOT have withheld such legal
communications if they were harmless and didn’t implicate Newton
and the Office of Inspector General in colluding with Battelle’s
legal team, at taxpayer expense, against small
business owner Pulver who filed fraud/abuse complaints with OIG in good
faith per DOE Order/Directive 221.1 promulgated by Friedman et al. Therefore, DOE
itself certified that Newton’s email was legal input to Battelle
legal team; Pulver is merely citing, not alleging that fact.
- It is self-evident that the email Newton sent to Battelle/DOE
legal team was confidential from Pulver’s attorney.
Part 2: Pulver was copied
on letter to US Attorney that Newton forwarded with his legal
advice/input [redacted per
above].
- DOE itself explicitly confirmed that Oak Ridge Attorney(s)
are part of Battelle legal team opposing Pulver.
Part 3: Attached to DOE’s 8/23/07 letter to Pulver was
a “Litigation Report” for Pulver
et al. v. Battelle et al. explicitly stating that Counsel for
Battelle/DOE consisted of 3 entities [Battelle counsel (Jackson –
Richland), Outside counsel (Miller) & Oak Ridge (Attorney Carter)] and Opposing
Counsel was Ivey [Pulver’s attorney]; notably in his 12/9 email below, IG
staff [Madden] concurs [“Battelle's legal team (including Schneider & Carter)”]. Therefore, by the
IG Investigations agent leaking Pulver-attorney’s email [sent to DOJ] to Carter and Schneider [DOE Chief Counsel], he willfully divulged it to
Battelle/DOE’s legal team.
Notably, other DOE emails reveal
intensive interaction between Battelle and Oak Ridge attorneys Carter and
Schneider, the latter providing litigation updates to IG at
Friedman’s request, thereby showing he acknowledged her as part of
Battelle’s legal team. This now explains why Friedman ignored
Pulver’s Nov. 2009 complaint [attached] against
Carter which stated in part:
“Ms.
Carter’s complicity in such violations was clearly confirmed in a
May 6, 2009 phone call with Pulver in which she admitted to being the DOE
attorney who has been [pro-actively] “advising” and “overseeing” this
litigation [Battelle v. Pulver] since its inception in 2005. When Pulver
broached the issue of the ongoing litigation fraud/perjury, she quickly
terminated
the conversation. Thus, she did not refute the ongoing litigation fraud
and perjury.”
In sum, by
leaking “attorney-client communications” to Oak Ridge Chief
Counsel [Carter and Schneider] and providing legal “attorney-client”
input/advice, DOE-IG-Investigations staff colluded with Battelle/DOE
legal team against complainant Pulver.
- 4 weeks after IG agent leaked letter and gave legal advice,
Battelle perjury [falsifying research & ventures] began.
Part 4: Court filings with excerpts show that, starting in July 2006,
Battelle submitted perjured declarations and testimony to the federal court and has continued unabated despite
Pulver’s smoking-gun evidence of litigation
fraud/perjury and national security breach that Friedman not only ignored but
willfully continued to authorize, costing taxpayers ~$1M as DOE confirms.
Closing Points & Questions
• DOE and IG implicate themselves
by refusing to release agent Newton’s “attorney-client”
email sent to DOE/Battelle legal team. If such communication was harmless, not
“attorney-client” privileged and cleared IG of
collusion/retaliation, the email would NOT have been withheld. A Congressional subpoena appears the
only way to obtain the email and further expose IG complicity in covering
fraud, false claims and other misconduct by Battelle against small
business, the court & patent
office.
• As cited
above, DOE documents, Carter’s statements to Pulver,
Carter-Schneider-Battelle emails, and IG staff all confirm that Oak Ridge
attorneys are part of Battelle’s legal team. Your 12/9 email indicates Friedman and Investigations [Hartman] assert that IG staff may divulge
complainant confidential emails to non-contractor federal officials who
are actually members of Battelle’s litigation team and actively
collaborate with Battelle’s in-house attorneys who work with
outside counsel. Such a bold assertion
is an absurd attempt to justify IG agent Newton’s
collusion/retaliation cited above. Moreover, it
reveals that, so long as
Friedman remains IG, his staff will retaliate against hot-line callers
reporting contractor fraud by leaking confidential material to an accused
contractor’s legal team that [as Pulver case
shows] is allowed to use litigation fraud/perjury to obstruct
justice, conduct discrediting DOE’s
safety/confidentiality/retaliation claims to Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board [DNFSB].
• The substantiated allegations cited here and at 25 evidence sites,
not only provide warning to those contemplating calling the DOE-IG hotline to report contractor misconduct
but also show the DNFSB that ongoing threats [to DOE site staff, national
security, small business, oversight, confidentiality,
taxpayers, health/safety/security and research
integrity] are due in
large part to Friedman’s ongoing collusion [e.g., leaks, perjury…] and retaliation to conceal Battelle fraud and other criminal
misconduct.
• Given the
clear evidence, why isn’t special agent Newton being held
accountable for his complicity in covering up Battelle fraud and repeat False Claims Act violation? Why should anyone trust/contact the DOJ
that interacts with corrupt, thuggish IG agents like him who leak
confidential information to accused contractors and obstruct justice? [His conduct isn’t surprising given
his belligerent tone in 2005; he made accusations against me that were
refuted by Battelle officials in 2008 depositions!]
• How can the
President legitimately/truthfully campaign on supporting small business and job
creation while allowing DOE’s Chu and Friedman
to continue defrauding taxpayers by covering up billion-dollar contractor
Battelle’s fraud and IG retaliation against a small business
entrepreneur in the worst economy since the Great Depression? How can DNFSB take seriously Poneman and Chu’s
letters while they condone/fund such misconduct and instead reward
Battelle with a $500M Stimulus
and by extending the 48-year PNNL contract to pre-empt GAO investigations
by other bidders that DOE identified in 2007?
• Further evidence of IG misconduct
in $30B DOE complex and its adverse implications [re: taxpayers, whistleblowers,
health-safety, Friedman/Battelle v. SEC/Madoff, small business, Solyndra…] is in 11/30 email below; visit InspectorGeneralMisconduct.info chronicling Friedman’s 8-year complicity in concealing
Battelle-PNNL’s fraud and repeat
violation of the False Claims Act.
Sincerely yours,
Philip C. Pulver
CCOL Inc.
2415 South Garfield St.
Kennewick, WA 99337
(509) 586-3051 (509) 528-9212 cell
NationalLabSafetyRisk.com PNNLfraud.com NationalLabSmallBusiness.com NationalLabSecurityThreat.com AirCargoThreat.com
PatentFraud.org InspectorGeneralMisconduct.info OfficeOfScienceFraud.com CounterTerrorismResearch.com
----- Original
Message -----
From:
"Madden, Ray" <Ray.Madden@hq.doe.gov>
To: "'Philip
Pulver'" <pulver@bmi.net>
Sent: Friday,
December 09, 2011 10:19 AM
Subject: Follow
up.
Phil:
Good afternoon and
greetings!
Thank you for your
most recent courtesy copy emails regarding your allegations of misconduct
by the DOE OIG, specifically related to the alleged improper disclosure
of confidential information. We have carefully read these submissions and
take your allegations very seriously. With this in mind, we have several
follow-up questions.
You wrote, in
part, that (1) a DOE OIG agent "Divulged Pulver Confidential Letter
to DOE-Battelle Legal Team (Schneider & Carter)," and (2)
"DOE documents implicate http://inspectorgeneralmisconduct.info/FOIA--Emails-IG-Retaliation-ColludingWithBattelleLegal.pdf an IG Office of Investigations armed
field agent in leaking confidential case material that Pulver sent to a
US Attorney regarding legal matters and evidence of contractor
fraud." You also alleged that a DOE OIG official provided legal
advice to Battelle's legal advisors.
I am seeking clarification
and information, as follows:
(1) To assist in
our evaluation, please provide any evidence-including emails, documents,
correspondence, etc.-which specifically supports your basis for asserting
that a DOE OIG
official improperly disclosed any information to Battelle or Battelle's
legal team (including Schneider & Carter), or otherwise allowed or
authorized such a disclosure to occur. The communications you provided-specifically, emails-appear
to be between Federal officials, not contractors or outside counsel. Nor
do the provided documents appear to contain any communications between
any DOE OIG officials and Battelle's legal team.
(2) Please clarify
the specific basis for your assertion that a DOE OIG official provided
Battelle's legal advisors legal advice. As best we can determine, the
documents you provided-specifically, emails-do not contain any
communications between a DOE OIG official and Battelle or Battelle's
legal team.
I look forward to
receiving your reply. I hope you are enjoying a good day.
Ray
|
----- Original Message
-----
From: Philip Pulver
To: Friedman, Greg [DOE-IG]
Cc: Deputy Sec. Poneman ; Energy
Secretary Chu ; Jen Stutsman [DOE] ; Glenn
Podonsky [HSS] ; RICKS@DNFSB.GOV
Sent: Wednesday, November 30, 2011 11:59 PM
Subject: DOE-IG
Misconduct Supplement to 11/3/11 Email re: DOE Response to Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board Discredited...
IG Investigations Office is complicit
in suborning perjury and leaking Pulver/DOJ documents to Battelle/DOE legal
team
Attachment: ltr_2011113_17871[Nov2011PulverLetterToDNFSB--DOE-MisconductByGregFriedman(IG)-EtAl.pdf
CCOL Inc.
2415 South Garfield Street
Kennewick, Washington 99337
NationalLabSafetyRisk.com
[Evidence Site]
November 30,
2011
Greg
Friedman, Inspector General
Office of
Inspector General
U.S.
Department of Energy
Forrestal
Building
1000
Independence Ave., S.W.
Washington,
DC 20585
Dear Mr.
Friedman,
Subject: 11/3/11 Email re: DOE 2nd Response to
Board Discredited: (1) Chu rewards Battelle misconduct by extending the 48-year
PNNL
contract [Preempted bid protests and GAO
investigation]; (2) Inspector
General Office of Investigations is complicit in suborning perjury and leaking Pulver/DOJ documents to Battelle/DOE legal team; and
(3) HSS [Health Safety Security] ignored
security breaches.
Forwarded are my public comments [multi-part
email] sent to the Defense
Nuclear Facilities Safety Board [DNFSB] that detail how ongoing misconduct by Battelle and
Energy Dept. officials [including you] not only discredits Secretary
Chu’s assertions to DNFSB of DOE promoting a strong safety culture
across the $30B complex but also shows safety and
security is materially compromised due to DOE ignoring misconduct and
retaliating against those reporting it. These excerpts from Part 5 cite
your 8-year complicit role in covering up contractor fraud against a small
business, the courts, and patent office:
“DOE
documents implicate an IG
Office of Investigations armed field agent in leaking
confidential case material that Pulver sent to a US Attorney regarding
legal matters and evidence of contractor fraud. The
agent not only divulged that material to Battelle's legal advisors but also
provided them legal advice; 3 weeks later, Battelle’s perjury began
and continues with Friedman’s consent. Such
collusion shows the current IG retaliates against complainants and protects
contractor interests at expense of oversight, confidentiality, taxpayers,
health/safety/security, research integrity etc. Friedman’s 8-year complicity detailed
at InspectorGeneralMisconduct.info”
“Friedman
exposes his complicity in concealing misconduct by his abject refusal to investigate
credible allegations that his agent colluded with an accused contractor and
General Counsel against a complainant reporting fraud per DOE
Order 221.1.”
“Because
the IG himself authorizes DOE contractors, at taxpayer expense, to conceal
evidence, perjure and make false statements to government officials, it
follows that DOE will suppress/misrepresent safety-related information to
DNFS…
In
sum, Friedman’s misusing IG office has these and other
implications for [those] exposing
contractor misconduct:
- “DOE contractor staff are
directed to obstruct justice…suborning perjury
by…top-secret Q clearance holders accessing classified material from
any US government agency (DHS, DOD, DOE, State, White House…)”
- “Taxpayers
and complainants/plaintiffs will be financially drained/churned by
DOE-funded protracted litigation [e.g.,
appeals] via Friedman-condoned perjury…and retaliation against
those reporting misconduct.”
“Acting on Solyndra, he yet
‘protects’ Battelle that also received $500M
Stimulus (Att. 4) but costs taxpayers over $5B yearly and has prior
fraud finding (by DOJ).”
Normally, ending the email here and referring you to the one below
would be appropriate. However, ongoing threats [to DOE site personnel, national
security, small business…] due to your continued collusion to conceal
Battelle’s fraud and criminal misconduct necessitates adding summary
points to (1) Show how you corrupted the IG office
and jeopardized complainants calling the hotline, (1a)
Cite resulting impacts, and (2) Stress need for your resigning or
being removed by the President who purportedly supports small business
entrepreneurs and national security. These points will further
demonstrate/clarify to law enforcement, the White House and others of the
imperative for your being held accountable for covering up misconduct by
Battelle that operates five national labs costing over $5B annually [10 times the one-time Solyndra charge].
Summary Points [Re: Friedman Covering Up Battelle Fraud/Perjury, Retaliating
and Breaching Security (Classified Mat.)]
By obstructing justice to conceal
contractor fraud against small business, patent office and courts, Friedman
betrayed the trust placed in the IG office by many: (1) Whistleblower
complainants [reporting fraud per DOE
Order 221.1] against whom he
retaliates for reporting misconduct, e.g. leaking confidential info. back
to accused contractor; (2) Congress that, per statute, obligates him to detect,
prevent and prosecute fraud instead of
concealing it via perjury by contractor staff with or without Q
clearances; (3) Taxpayers who
rightfully expect oversight across the $30 billion complex, i.e.,
holding contractors accountable for fraud, security-safety breaches or
other violations, and NOT, as Friedman is doing, authorizing DOE-funded perjury [falsifying
search and hiding ventures] to
cover-up fraud; (4) Small business entrepreneurs [whom DOE
encourages to work with its national labs] who trust that (a) Federal technical/research
assistance programs are administered on their behalf [not withheld/skimmed from them], (b) Contractors won’t
misuse such programs as “feeder funds” for their ventures, and (c) Office of
Science and IG wouldn’t cover-up fraud via perjury and
endless litigation to churn them and taxpayers.
Making Friedman’s 8-year misconduct
in $30B DOE more egregious is the following: (1) Ignoring Battelle’s
prior incident of fraud [False
Claims Act violation for which prior IG
recommended criminal sanctions for “theft, conspiracy and false
statement”], (2) Disregarding ongoing security
breach due to PNNL scientist [implicated
in federal crimes] accessing
classified work, (3) Whitewashing
DOE-FOIA evidence of his investigations agent leaking Pulver/DOJ documents
and colluding with Battelle/DOE legal team, (4) Setting precedent & policy
giving green light for DOE contractors to obstruct justice [perjury or
false statements] to avoid
civil/criminal prosecution, (5) Deceiving Congress with “fraud
detection/prevention” testimony
while covering up Battelle fraud,
colluding & retaliating, and (6) Already
soaking taxpayers nearly $1M to conceal billion-dollar contractor fraud
against small business while Battelle, like Solyndra, received $500M in Stimulus funds.
Friedman/DOE conduct re: Battelle is far worse than SEC re: Madoff.
While the public and Congress
lambasted the SEC for failure to catch Madoff before he confessed, DOE
misconduct is more serious because Friedman/DOE, unlike the SEC, (1) Suborned
perjury to cover up fraud and false claims by Battelle running many labs which, unlike Madoff,
costs taxpayers billions yearly, (2) Breached national security laws as cited herein, (3) Ignored that tax-exempt Battelle, unlike Madoff,
is repeat offender with prior
fraud finding by DOJ and (4) Concealed misconduct having
broader impact, effecting national security, integrity of taxpayer-funded
research, law enforcement
[obstructing justice], patent integrity, whistleblowers, staff health/safety/security,
small businesses, etc. [Link to
DOE/Battelle v. SEC/Madoff detail in email below]
Battelle is further emboldened to
misuse/steal/skim federally-funded small business assistance as Madoff-like
feeder fund for
corporate ventures and when sued, falsify research [perjury] to conceal False Claims Act
violation, research & patent fraud, security
breach and other
misconduct. Facing no real risk due to Friedman’s
corrupting the IG office to protect them via taxpayer-funded cover-up and
costly litigation, Battelle and DOE-Science are now more encouraged to defraud
small business entrepreneurs, the very entities that Sec. Chu and President
encourage to work with national labs. See NationalLabSmallBusiness.com. In short, Friedman authorizes Battelle to
again violate the False Claims Act, i.e., misusing funds appropriated by
Congress for technical assistance to small businesses by withholding the
research [intellectual property] and pocketing it for its corporate
ventures.
Until Friedman leaves, DOE systemic contractor fraud will
continue to the detriment of taxpayers, whistleblower/plaintiffs,
small business, safety and national security, e.g., (1) IG corruption/retaliation against complainants
that report misconduct, (2) Chu & Poneman
covering up fraud by Battelle operating 5 labs costing over $5B yearly, ten-times that of one-time Solyndra debacle, (3) DOE ignoring Battelle admitted patent
fraud and (4) IG & HSS [Health Safety Security] ignoring ongoing security breach [10 CFR §710] by PNNL scientist [implicated in criminal
misconduct], accessing
cargo explosives and other classified research. Unless the
President holds Friedman accountable for this 8-year cover-up of billion-dollar
contractor Battelle defrauding federally-funded small business assistance,
the patent office and the courts, his own statements supporting small business and national security will not be
credible to the electorate.
In sum, Mr.
Friedman, you have corrupted and breached the integrity of the DOE Office of
Inspector General by misusing it as vehicle for collusion to protect
wrongdoing contractors and for retaliation against complainants
reporting fraud, health/safety/security breach, or any misconduct per DOE
Order 221.1 that you promulgate throughout the $30B
complex, obviously under false pretenses. Such misconduct blatantly defies and
contradicts the President, who for 3 years, has made many speeches
asserting that his administration values and promotes policies advocating [not defrauding] small business entrepreneurs in the worst
economy since the Great Depression.
Sincerely,
Philip C. Pulver, Owner
NationalLabSafetyRisk.com www.InspectorGeneralMisconduct.info PNNLfraud.com
NationalLabSecurityThreat.com OfficeOfScienceFraud.com
PatentFraud.org
PDF
of Email Below: http://www.dnfsb.gov/board-activities/letters/public-comment-091911-doe-response-recommendation-2011-1-110311-email-phi-0
|
|
-----
Original Message -----
From: Philip
Pulver
To: Andrewt@dnfsb.gov
Cc: catherinef@dnfsb.gov ; Rick Schapira
Sent: Thursday, November 03, 2011 8:55 PM
Subject: Public Comments to DNFSB re: DOE
Response
CCOL Inc.
2415 South Garfield Street
Kennewick, Washington 99337
NationalLabSafetyRisk.com [Evidence Site]
November 3,
2011
Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board [DNFSB]
625 Indiana Ave NW Suite 700
Washington, DC 20004
Dear Andrew L. Thibadeau,
Subject: DOE 9/19/11 Response to
DNFSB 8/12/11 Letter [Re:
Recom 2011-1] Lacking
Credibility Due to its Ongoing 8-Year
Cover-up of Contractor
Battelle Misconduct via DOE Retaliation & Witness
Tampering [Perjury
to Suppress Evidence]
by Office of Science [HQ, Pacific Northwest & Oak Ridge], Office of General Counsel & Office of Inspector General [IG].
Energy
Dept. 9/19/11
response to DNFSB 8/12/11
Letter [Re: DOE 6/30/11
response to DNFSB Recommendation 2011-1 regarding
WTP
safety,
security, witness tampering, tech. information suppression, retaliation,
confidentiality and Tamosaitis-v-Bechtel issues] lacks
credibility
because
DOE [with Inspector General’s consent] continues
churning taxpayers by funding litigation fraud/perjury, retaliation,
security
breach, and other violations to cover up Battelle’s criminal
misconduct [False Claims (31
USC §3729), False
Statements
(18
USC §1001), Perjury (18
USC §1621), False Declarations (18
USC §1623), and Security Breach (10
CFR §710 - Accessing Classified Mat.)].
For
the benefit of DNFSB, taxpayers and those
reporting misconduct and to illustrate current
health/safety/security risks at DOE sites,
this
ongoing cover-up of contractor misconduct by DOE senior officials [Chu,
Poneman, Podonsky, Koonin and Friedman (IG)] necessitates
a factual public comment consisting of the following
sections presented below with attachments and links to evidence of
misconduct:
|
1. DOE’s safety assertions in its 9/19/11
letter to DNFSB
are
discredited by its ongoing 8-year cover-up of contractor
misconduct [condoned by IG]. DOE is funding abusive personal-injury
defense lawyer tactics [condemned by courts]
and suborning perjury [falsifying research & ventures] to suppress technical information
from the federal courts, e.g.,
evidence of research fraud, false
claims, security breach and other violations by Battelle [Operating
6 DOE national labs].
2. For 5 years, HSS [Podonsky…] disregarded contractor
security/safety violations. Such conduct further discredits DOE assertions of safety [e.g., “given our steadfast
commitment to safety…That is why we have asked HSS to conduct
follow-on safety culture review at WTP as part of its broader
extent-of-condition review across the DOE complex.”] All of Pulver emails to HSS were ignored as shown by DOE continuing to suborn perjury by PNNL scientist doing classified work.
3. Comments on Specific “Safety Culture” Assertions Refuted by DOE Cover-Up of Contractor Misconduct
& IG Retaliation
4. Aug. 2011: Chu rewards the ongoing 8-year
fraud by extending the 48-year-uncompeted PNNL contract to Battelle,
thereby preempting GAO investigations and protests by 3+ bidders previously identified by DOE. Such complicity
to conceal criminal misconduct,
security breaches, and taxpayer-funded perjury [to suppress technical information]
negates DOE assertions that it’s
strengthening “efforts
to promote a strong safety culture…across the DOE complex.”
5. Aug. 2011: Friedman rebuffs Pulver FOIA evidence sent to DNFSB implicating IG Office of Investigations in
complicity
in contractor perjury, leaking DOJ documents, cover-up & retaliation, thus refuting Chu
assertion of strong safety culture.
6. Closing Points Re: DOE Discredited/Disingenuous
Safety-Related Assertions/Responses to DNFSB 8/12 Letter
|
1. DOE’s safety assertions in its 9/19/11 letter to
DNFSB are discredited by ongoing 8-year cover-up of contractor
misconduct [condoned
by IG]. DOE is funding abusive
personal-injury defense lawyer tactics [condemned by courts] suborning perjury [falsifying research & ventures] to suppress technical info. from federal courts, e.g.,
evidence of research fraud, false
claims, security breach & other violations by Battelle [Running
6 labs]. Some relevant details:
1a. Prior Misconduct to Conceal – Then,
DOE-funded counsel
Miller’s firm was fined/sanctioned [record $325K] by WA Supreme
Court for discovery abuse, i.e., concealing smoking-gun evidence of
dangerous toxicity of a drug that permanently brain damaged
a 3-year old. His firm was later fined by a federal judge
for withholding
NHTSA
personal-injury data for a
Subaru seatback design.
Now, Battelle’s
own evidence shows that DOE is funding (i) This attorney to repeat such abuses and
(ii) Battelle to
suborn perjury
[falsify research & hide ventures] to suppress evidence [technical info. & software] that implicates
it in again violating
the False Claims Act [defrauding/skimming small
business assistance research] and falsifying
inventions to patent office. [Attach.
5 details abuses & cites news
articles.]
1b. DOE 8-Year Suppression – By authorizing such abusive/fraudulent concealment
tactics, DOE has confirmed its practice of
misappropriating taxpayers by funding litigation fraud/perjury against
individuals or small businesses suing contractors due to fraud, negligence,
or other misconduct. Notably, the GAO reports [04-148R] that most lawsuits against DOE contractors pertain to
“radiation
and/or
toxic exposure, personal injury and wrongful discharge.”
Thus, DOE's
cover-up [~$1M] of Battelle misconduct via litigation fraud [Authorized by Friedman, Chu, Poneman…] has dangerous implications for those suing for injury,
HAZMAT/radiation exposure, wrongful
termination or other tortuous/negligent contractor
misconduct at Hanford or any site in the DOE complex. [Details at evidence
site]
2. For 5 years, HSS [Podonsky…] disregarded contractor security/safety violations. Such
conduct further discredits DOE assertions
of safety [“given our steadfast commitment to safety…That is why we have asked HSS to conduct
follow-on safety culture review at WTP as part of its broader
extent-of-condition review across the DOE complex.”] All Pulver emails to HSS were ignored as shown by DOE
continuing to suborn perjury by scientist doing classified work. Key
examples:
2a. 2010 Security Violations –
Chu & Podonsky ignored Pulver’s 1/13/10
email regarding (i) 2009 Christmas Day bombing and (ii)
Security breach, i.e., Battelle granting access to counter-terrorism and other classified research by PNNL scientist implicated in criminal
violations [e.g., perjury, false claims (pocketing
DOE-funded research from small business) and falsifying inventions to
patent office]. Excerpts are as follows:
“Many compelling
reasons necessitate that DOE
address the issues detailed in emails below and hold Battelle accountable
for
criminal misconduct [False
Claims (31
USC §3729), False Statements...Perjury (18
USC §1621) & violating 10
CFR §710 (Accessing Classified Mat.)].”
“The 12/25/09 terrorist
attack underscores that Science is putting national security at risk by
covering up Battelle’s misconduct by
funding and suborning
perjury of top-secret Q-clearance holder Kevin Dorow who’s involved
with DHS air cargo
explosives and other classified work; in an 8/27/08 email [below], Science refused to
take any action on this security breach, thus violating 10
CFR§710.
Its complicity
to ‘protect’ its largest contractor is far worse than the
systemic failure situations of DHS [Detroit(12/25/09) & SEC[Madoff]”.
“DOE’s refusal to
revoke/suspend Dorow’s clearance emboldens Battelle nationally to
suborn perjury [or possibly espionage] by
top-secret clearance
holders when ‘needed’ to protect/promote its corporate
interests (domestic/foreign).”
2b. 2009
Safety/Security Concerns to HSS –
Excerpts of Pulver’s 11/23/09
email,
ignored by HSS and Science are as follows:
“Congress has been concerned/outraged that DOE reimburses litigation costs for wrongdoing contractors. [GAO
Report d04148r]
In this case, DOE Office of Science has gone a giant step further by funding
Battelle and attorney Miller to willfully misrepresent
research [RPMP], hide commercial investments and invoke litigation
fraud/perjury to conceal smoking-gun evidence. [See Doc.
5 citing
Miller’s prior firm sanctioned for…withholding
toxicity data on a drug causing
brain damage to a 3-year old.] With this ongoing cover-up,
DOE set a precedent that jeopardizes
others who may later file lawsuits for injury, illness, cancer, toxic or
radiation exposure, hostile work environment, wrongful termination [whistleblower]…due to
Battelle’s conduct at Office of Science labs.”
“Sources show distinct parallels
between DOE/Battelle
and SEC/Madoff. However, DOE conduct is more
egregious because it is…
Funding-directing Battelle’s
litigation fraud to obstruct justice [conceal evidence]…churning
taxpayers…Unlike Madoff, Battelle’s
violations threaten
national security, research & patenting integrity, economic development,
entrepreneurs, whistleblowers, and
other issues relevant to safely
running a national lab.” [See details including oversight
concerns/outrage by Congress (hearings).]
2c. 2008
Health/Safety Warnings to HSS –
HSS
[Podonsky et
al.] ignored
this 9/29/08
email which stated in relevant
part:
“Staff health/safety/security at Office of
Science labs is at greater risk going forward. DOE’s authorizing
Battelle to violate
48
CFR 970.5228-1 [Litigation in
“good faith”] via “personal-injury defense” tactics to
withhold smoking-gun evidence is relevant to staff
at DOE labs which entail HAZMAT, radiation,
machinery, high-temperature apparatus, and other work hazards. These abusive
fraudulent litigation tactics put at risk staff that may later file
lawsuits for wrongful injury, illness, cancer, death, termination or
other causes of action due to Battelle’s negligent or tortuous
conduct…Your decision eliminates/mitigates Battelle’s
legal and financial risk of violating staff health/safety/security
procedures…incents them to relax procedures to increase profit [See
Westbrook--Battelle-ORNL case in 8/24
email (radiation dose
alarm levels)]…employees at the five national labs run
by Battelle could be adversely effected.”
In sum, as shown by Battelle/DOE
ongoing perjury [research falsification] since, HSS ignored these and all
evidence-based emails.
This many-year disregard
of security/safety concerns discredits the HSS “extent-of-condition review across the DOE
complex”. For
8 years, DOE put Battelle corp. interests ahead of safety; Tamosaitis case
and DNFSB interviews show DOE’s now doing this for Bechtel.
3. Comments on DOE
Assertions of “Safety Culture” [Negated by Cover-Up of Contractor
Misconduct and IG Retaliation]
3a. Excerpt: “…Safety
Culture at
the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP). As you know, because
this issue is of
such great
importance
to the Department of Energy, I have designated Deputy
Secretary Poneman as the Responsible Manager
for this Recommendation,
and he has already begun our efforts to address the issues our staffs have
discussed.”
Comment: The record shows Poneman & Chu permit contractor safety/security breaches; they
ignored my detailed 4/28/10
email
showing the
Inspector General authorized practices with adverse health and safety
consequences as shown by this excerpt:
“Doesn’t Friedman
[IG] realize he’s jeopardizing health/safety at DOE labs by waiving oversight of litigation
fraud and allowing Science
to retain injury defense lawyers with records of
concealing evidence [e.g.,
radiation dosage, HAZMAT, equipment safety
maintenance records, surveillance logs] or witness
tampering if Battelle is sued for exposure, injury or wrongful death
due to negligent or other misconduct?
[Now knowing that…Battelle may relax
health/safety procedures to increase lab profits.]”
2011 DOE cost data confirms
Poneman [et. al.] continues
funding litigation fraud/perjury [witness tampering] and security breach.
His complicity-in-concealing refutes Chu’s argument that Poneman’s lead role shows
that safety is of “great importance” to DOE.
3b. Excerpt: “In
developing our Implementation Plan on Recommendation 2011-1, DOE therefore will continue
to work to establish a strong safety culture” and “are enthusiastic
about our work toward the shared goal of safety excellence throughout the DOE complex.”
Comment:
Logically, DOE
can’t work to establish a strong safety culture while it continues
covering up contractor fraud and security breaches cited above, i.e.,
funding injury defense lawyer tactics to
falsify technical information and suppress evidence of fraud by Battelle. [See also Attach.
5 (DOE Repeating Tactics Used to Suppress
Technical Safety-Related Docs)]. DOE’s
ongoing cover-up to hide evidence of contractor misconduct renders absurd
statements that DOE is enthusiastically establishing a
“strong safety culture”.
4. Aug. 2011: Chu rewards the ongoing 8-year fraud by
extending the 48-year-uncompeted
PNNL contract to Battelle,
thereby preempting GAO investigations and protests by 3+
bidders previously identified by DOE. Such complicity
to conceal criminal misconduct, security breaches, and
taxpayer-funded perjury [to suppress technical information]
negates DOE assertions that it’s strengthening
“efforts to promote a strong safety culture…across DOE
complex.”
Despite
receiving
prima facie evidence implicating Battelle-PNNL in
criminal misconduct & security breach that would disqualify all
other
bidders, Chu extends [Att.
2] this national lab contract, un-competed since 1964 [longest
in nation - All others re-bid since 2000.].
By
handing the contract to Battelle, he denied the opportunity to others
expressing interest to bid PNNL [Att.
3] and instead continues
the
cover-up after warned [in 2009
email] of consequences of competing PNNL while
funding & concealing Battelle’s misconduct:
“Battelle’s ongoing DOE-funded
litigation fraud will trigger bid protests, lawsuits, media/watchdog
scrutiny & GAO investigations when
Battelle is awarded PNNL…Losing
bidders, after spending millions competing in good faith, will conclude that
Battelle keeping the lab
was a pre-determined result because DOE site
offices funded a cover-up of the following misconduct that would disqualify
any other
bidder: Misrepresenting PNNL’s
largest project [RPMP] to
conceal fraud; withholding technical assistance research from small
business;
false
declarations & perjury by
Q-clearance holder accessing classified
work [e.g., DHS air cargo explosives detection]; patent
fraud;
obstruction of justice; and, other violations contrary
to managing a national lab.” [See other Pulver-DOE emails
at the evidence
site.]
Washington Post ["Stimulus
dollars going to accused contractors" ] has
similar concerns about Chu, citing Battelle as prime example.
5. Aug. 2011: Friedman rebuffs Pulver FOIA evidence sent to DNFSB implicating IG Investigations Office in complicity
in contractor perjury, leaking DOJ documents, cover-up/retaliation → refuting Chu assertion of strong safety culture.
▪ Greg Friedman, in response to
Pulver’s 8/7/11
email
[Re: comments to
DNFSB], refused to
investigate any of his substantiated
allegations, e.g., suppressing & falsifying technical information,
admitted patent fraud, witness tampering (perjury), forcing taxpayers
to fund abusive injury defense
lawyer tactics, violating national security, breaching confidentially of
complainants, and DOE
retaliation.
▪ DOE
documents implicate an IG
Office of
Investigations armed field agent in leaking confidential case material that
Pulver sent to
a US Attorney regarding legal
matters and evidence of contractor fraud. The agent not only divulged that material to
Battelle's legal
advisors but also provided them
legal advice;
3 weeks later,
Battelle’s perjury began and continues with Friedman’s consent.
Such
collusion shows the current IG retaliates against complainants and protects
contractor interests at expense of oversight, confidentiality,
taxpayers, health/safety/security, research integrity, etc. [Friedman’s 8-year complicity detailed at InspectorGeneralMisconduct.info (Att. 1)]
▪ Friedman exposes his complicity
in concealing misconduct by his abject refusal to investigate credible
allegations that his agent
colluded with an accused
contractor and General Counsel against a complainant reporting fraud per DOE
Order 221.1.
[A proper IG would
diligently address such concerns to preserve trust in his office by
whistleblowers, taxpayers, Congress and the President.] His refusal
(a) Confirms DOE will continue funding litigation
fraud/perjury, retaliation or other tactics to hide contractor abuse
exposed by Pulver,
Tamosaitis, Westbrook, Laul et al. and (b) Negates/contradicts DOE claims of strengthening efforts to “promote strong safety
culture”.
▪ Because the IG himself authorizes DOE contractors, at taxpayer
expense, to conceal evidence, perjure and make false statements
to gov. officials, it follows
that DOE will suppress/misrepresent
safety-related information to DNFSB in order to protect its contractors.
In sum, Friedman’s misusing
IG office has these & other implications for Tamosaitis
or others exposing contractor misconduct :
•
DOE contractor
staff are directed to obstruct justice [e.g., perjured testimony to conceal evidence from courts or
law enforcement.]
[This
includes suborning perjury by national lab top-secret Q clearance holders
accessing classified material from any US government
agency
(DHS, DOD, DOE,
State, White House…), thus violating 10
CFR §710
and jeopardizing
national security at any of these agencies.]
•
Complainant/plaintiff’s
confidential case documents [sent to DOJ et al.] will be leaked back to the accused contractor’s legal
team.
•
Taxpayers and
complainants/plaintiffs will be financially drained/churned by DOE-funded protracted litigation [e.g., appeals]
via
Friedman-condoned perjury,
suppression and retaliation against those reporting contractor safety
violations or other misconduct.
6. Closing Points Re: DOE Discredited/Disingenuous
Safety-Related Assertions/Responses to DNFSB 8/12 Letter
▪ DOE’s assertions of promoting and
improving a strong safety culture is soundly discredited by Sec. Chu,
Poneman, Friedman
and Koonin who continue as
accessories to Battelle’s taxpayer-funded perjury, material
suppressions, national security breach,
research misconduct and false
claims, all done to conceal contractor fraud against a small business,
courts, patent office, et al.
▪ DOE’s suborning perjury to protect Battelle’s interests demonstrates it
will similarly suppress technical safety information and
engage in witness tampering to
protect Bechtel’s interests, e.g., keeping WTP performance bonus. DOE's nearly-decade-old
cover-up of misconduct by
Battelle emboldens Bechtel to repeat such taxpayer-funded litigation
fraud/abuse against Tamosaitis.
▪ Instead of holding tax-exempt
billion-dollar contractor Battelle accountable for misconduct proven by PNNL & DOE evidence,
Sec. Chu and senior staff, with
consent of the IG, are churning taxpayers [~$1M] in protracted litigation [via perjury by Q-clearance
holder] in an attempt to financially bury
and retaliate against a small business who reported fraud per DOE
Order 221.1
in 2003.
▪
While Friedman is
IG, DOE statements to
DNFSB re: contractor health/safety can’t be
trusted and must be independently verified.
Acting on Solyndra, he yet ‘protects’
Battelle that also received $500M
Stimulus (Att.
4) but costs taxpayers over $5B yearly and has prior
fraud finding
(by DOJ).
▪ Chu/Poneman/Friedman & General Counsel misconduct
confirms there’s no independent oversight of contractors in $30B DOE.
Mr.
Thibadeau, if you or other members of the DNFSB have questions or need more information, please contact me.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Philip C. Pulver, Owner
[NationalLabSafetyRisk.com OfficeOfScienceFraud.com PNNLfraud.com NationalLabSecurityThreat.com
PatentFraud.org]
Attachments [Click to Download]
|
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Prior DNFSB-Related
Emails with DOE Senior Officials: 7/27/11
– 8/07/11
-----
Original Message -----
From: Philip Pulver
To: Madden, Ray
Sent: Sunday, August 07, 2011 9:39 PM
Subject: Re: Chu and Poneman safety/security/non-retaliation statements
to DNFSB: Discredited by DOE Office of Science witness tampering
[perjury] and security breach to conceal Battelle-PNNL defrauding
entrepreneur, violating False Claims Act and admitted patenting fraud
|
Ray,
Per our call on Friday, I
send this email to summarize the salient points supporting the allegations
cited in my 7/20/11 email [below] to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board.
Department of
Energy’s statements/claims to the Defense
Nuclear Facilities Safety Board regarding safety, security,
non-retaliation, suppression of technical information, witness tampering [e.g.,
perjury] confidentiality and other related matters in the Tamosaitis/Bechtel case are tainted or invalid so long
as DOE continues engaging in the following taxpayer-funded
contractor-related misconduct:
▪ Suppressing/Concealing
Technical Information [Evidence] –
DOE Office of Science under Koonin [$5B
budget] continues forcing US taxpayers to fund
Battelle’s litigation fraud/perjury via research falsification
and concealing technical development commercialization projects to
block/suppress evidence of fraud/misconduct against my small business.
▪ Witness
Tampering [Perjury] – Since
2006, Office of Science has been funding & suborning perjury by
Q-clearance holder PNNL scientist Dorow who has consistently falsified
research and fraudulently concealed Battelle’s commercial
ventures. He did this to deceive the
court into blocking release of smoking-gun evidence implicating Battelle in
misusing the Technical Assistance Program [I04RS007], violating False
Claims Act, making false declarations to the court, and
misrepresenting/falsifying DOE-funded inventions to the US patent office. DOE's many-year witness tampering
[perjury] to cover up fraud by contractor Battelle [running 6 national
labs] will now embolden Bechtel to repeat such tactics against Tamosaitis
to 'protect' its corporate interests.
▪ Funding
Personal-Injury Defense Lawyer Abuses – DOE is funding Battelle outside counsel whose
prior firm was fined/sanctioned [record $325K] for discovery abuse, i.e.,
wrongfully concealing smoking-gun evidence of drug toxicity that
permanently brain damaged a 3-year old girl; their attorney repeated such
abuses by having Battelle falsify research [Radiation Portal Monitoring Project] and hide commercial ventures to suppress evidence [technical
information (software)] from the court.
This DOE attorney's firm was also fined by federal judge for
suppressing Subaru crash test data done by National Highway Transportation
Safety Administration. As shown by the 8-year
Pulver case, if a contractor is sued for injury or wrongful death, DOE will
invoke such tactics to obstruct justice, conceal misconduct and ensure the
contractor escapes accountability, thereby nullifying DOE's claim of having
a strong/diligent regard for safety at its sites.
▪ Ignoring
National Security Threats by Contractor – Sec. Chu and HSS Chief Podonsky ignored Pulver's
email sent 1/13/10 regarding the 2009 Christmas Day bombing and
Battelle. It pertained to ongoing
violation of 10 CFR 710 re: unauthorized access to classified air cargo
explosives research by PNNL scientist implicated, by evidence and PNNL testimony,
in perjury, False Claims Act violation [pocketing research funded by DOE
technical assistance program], and patent fraud. Thus, by his
looking other way on security breaches, HSS [Podonsky] claims to DNFSB
asserting DOE's strong safety culture are undercut by such blatant
inconsistency. And, Science
continues breaching national security by suborning perjury of Q-Clearance
scientist accessing classified information (e.g., counter-terrorism air
cargo explosives).
▪ Ongoing
Retaliation – Instead of
holding Battelle accountable for misconduct proven by Battelle/DOE
evidence, DOE-Science is endlessly churning
taxpayers in protracted litigation [via perjury by Q-clearance holder
accessing top secret classified material] to financially bury and thus retaliate
against Pulver who dutifully reported fraud to the IG per Order 221.1 in
2003. In May 2009, Julie
Erickson, the manager of PNNL site office [PNSO], flatly told Pulver that
DOE will continue funding the litigation despite the evidence of ongoing perjury
to suppress evidence implicating Battelle. Note, I filed a complaint with the IG that year regarding
PNSO willful complicity in this taxpayer-funded litigation fraud/perjury.
▪ Breaching
Confidentially – Pulver
sent confidential case material to the US Attorney [DOJ] regarding
Battelle-PNNL misconduct, evidence implicating Battelle, and Pulver legal
strategy/analysis. FOIA documents
produced in late 2010 explicitly confirm that an
IG Office of Investigations field agent not only divulged this material to
Battelle's legal advisors but also that agent provided legal work
product/advice on behalf of Battelle! This undercuts DOE's claim it
safeguards confidential information of those dealing with its contractors;
the IG breaching such confidentiality is clear retaliation and raises the
concern that IG staff is acting in the interests of DOE contactors instead
of taxpayers or national security.
When/if you need more
information or documents/evidence substantiating these allegations that DOE
conduct in the ongoing Pulver case invalidate its assertions to the DNFSB,
please let me know. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Philip C. Pulver
CCOL Inc.
2415 South Garfield St.
Kennewick, WA 99337
(509) 586-3051 (509) 528-9212 cell
www.NationalLabSafetyRisk.com
www.NationalLabSecurityThreat.com
www.OfficeofScienceFraud.com
|
-----
Original Message -----
From: Madden, Ray
To: 'Philip Pulver'
Sent: Wednesday, August 03, 2011 10:55 AM
Subject: RE: Chu and Poneman safety/security/non-retaliation
statements to DNFSB: Discredited by DOE Office of Science witness tampering
[perjury] & security breach
to conceal Battelle-PNNL defrauding entrepreneur, violating False Claims Act
and admitted patenting fraud
Phil:
Good afternoon and greetings!
This is to acknowledge
receipt of your e-mail message in which you alleged DOE is covering up
Battelle misconduct, DOE has no credibility to assert open safety/security
culture, and statements in the Tamosaitis/Bechtel case are tainted. This
allegation has been assigned IG Hotline Predication Number P11HL488.
Since I am going to need some additional information
from you, please call me, at your earliest convenience, on the IG Hotline,
telephone number 1-800-541-1625, press option #5. I will be covering the
Hotline until 2:15 p.m. EST today and will have it all day tomorrow and
Friday.
I hope you are enjoying a
good day.
Ray
-----
Original Message -----
From: Philip Pulver
To: Energy Secretary Chu ; Deputy
Sec. Poneman ; Friedman, Greg [DOE-IG]
Cc: Jen Stutsman [DOE] ; Steven Koonin [DOE-Science] ; Glenn
Podonsky [HSS]
Sent: Wednesday, July 27, 2011 2:59 PM
Subject: Chu and Poneman
safety/security/non-retaliation statements to DNFSB: Discredited by DOE
Office of Science witness tampering
[perjury]
and security breach to conceal Battelle-PNNL defrauding entrepreneur,
violating False Claims Act and admitted patenting fraud
|
Dept. of Energy
Officials,
FYI. Below is
the original email [with attachment] of my 7/20/11 public comments sent to the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board which posted
them in PDF, a format omitting the original embedded links to
evidence.
As cited below, until DOE
ceases its 8-year investment [~$1M] in
covering up Battelle misconduct and instead holds it accountable for misusing/defrauding
small business technical assistance, perjury [research falsification
and hiding ventures], patent fraud, security breach [classified
info.] and other violations, DOE [Chu,
Poneman, Koonin, Podonsky, Friedman et al.] has no credibility to assert that it (i) Promotes an
open safety/security culture, (ii) Doesn’t
suppress technical information, (iii) Condemns retaliation toward those raising
issues, (iv) Doesn’t do witness tampering or suborn
perjured testimony, and
(v) Holds
contractors accountable for negligent or tortuous conduct. Meanwhile, any safety/security-related assertions
by DOE [or Battelle] to the DNFSB, the public, the President or Congress
are therefore disingenuous, misleading, suspect and deceitful.
Regarding the
vit. plant, Dept. of Energy’s statements/actions in the Tamosaitis/Bechtel case are tainted so
long as DOE Offices of Science, Inspector General and General[Chief]
Counsel perpetuate perjury to suppress evidence and conceal criminal and
civil misconduct by Battelle that operates six national labs. This includes PNNL that has the
nation’s longest uncompeted M&O contract [47 years] and the
unique & lucrative Use Permit [private
work done on public property] that’s (i) Prohibited
everywhere else and (ii) Motive [example] behind Battelle’s
many-year fraud against my small business, federal courts, taxpayers [False
Claims again] and the
patent office [admitted].
As debt talks
intensify in DC, the economy sputters, vit. plant safety & budget concerns grow, DOE seeks more
funding to “win the future”, and Sec. Chu solicits
entrepreneurs to license from Battelle [that’s misused small business assistance as Madoff-like
feeder fund for corporate ventures], DOE flagrantly misappropriates
research funds by investing in
perjury to conceal fraud, classified security breach, and criminal acts by tax-exempt Battelle.
Finally, DOE's ongoing complicit conduct in Pulver-v-Battelle is
harbinger of its tactics to be used in Tamosaitis-v-Bechtel which
will further reinforce
findings of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board and the
growing concerns of the House Appropriations Committee ["These
revelations are both alarming and disturbing and should be interpreted by
the secretary of energy as a call to action."].
Sincerely,
Philip C. Pulver
CCOL Inc.
2415 South Garfield St.
Kennewick, WA 99337
(509) 586-3051
(509) 528-9212 cell
www.PNNLfraud.com www.NationalLabSecurityThreat.com
www.OfficeofScienceFraud.com www.ResearchBudgetCut.com
www.EnergyResearchFraud.com www.PatentFraud.org
www.InspectorGeneralMisconduct.info/GregFriedman
[For
more evidence sites re: DOE/PNNL, Google "Pulver Chu PNNL
Battelle..."]
|
-----
Original Message -----
From: Philip
Pulver
To: Andrewt@dnfsb.gov
Sent: Wednesday, July 20, 2011 3:29 PM
Subject: Comments to DNFSB Report Safety Culture at the
Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant
Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board,
This email consists of Part 1 [Feedback on
Report Excerpts] and Part 2 [Other Relevant Points].
Attached is a document pertaining to DOE's ongoing funding of
an attorney whose firm was
condemned by the WA Supreme Court for suppressing toxicity
evidence on a drug that
brain damaged a three-year old girl. In my case, DOE is
now repeating such tactics to
suppress evidence in order to conceal contractor Battelle
civil and criminal misconduct.
Feel free to forward these comments as you deem appropriate.
If you have any questions, please let me know. Thank
you.
Sincerely
Philip C. Pulver
CCOL Inc.
2415 South Garfield St.
Kennewick, WA 99337
(509) 586-3051
(509) 528-9212 cell
|
Comments to the
DNFSB Report [Safety Culture at the Waste Treatment and
Immobilization Plant]
Part 1: DNFSB Report
Excerpts
Report Pg3:
“The
Board's investigation found significant failures by both DOE and contractor management to
implement their roles
as
advocates for a strong safety culture…Finding One: A Chilled
Atmosphere Adverse to Safety Exists”
Comment: My ongoing case lends credence to the
Board’s findings. DOE is funding personal-injury lawyer litigation
tactics to hide Contractor Misconduct – Office of Science is paying outside counsel [Miller] to engage in
discovery abuse by defrauding the court into blocking smoking-gun evidence
implicating Battelle in violating False Claims Act [misusing small
business technical assistance] and falsifying inventions to patent office [18 USC §1001]. His litigation team was unanimously
condemned [fined-sanctioned] by WA State Supreme Court and federal judge
for discovery abuse, i.e., concealing drug toxicity evidence on
chemical that brain damaged 3-year old girl and hiding NHTSA crash injury
data. DOE’s continued funding such tactics to
suppress evidence rebuts Chu and Poneman’s claim of strong
health/safety/security culture at DOE sites; see also attached PDF re:
suppression of toxicity and crash data.
Report Pg4: “There is a firm belief among WTP
project personnel that persisting in a dissenting argument can lead, as in
the case of Dr. Tamosaitis, to the employee being reassigned to other
duties. As of the writing of this finding, Dr. Tamosaitis sits in a basement cubicle in Richland with no meaningful work.
His isolated physical placement by contractor management and the lack of
meaningful work is seen by many as a constant reminder of what management
will do to an employee who raises issues that might impact budget or
schedule.”
Comment: The fact
that Poneman and Chu allow this ongoing treatment of Tamosaitis [Basement
Cube] by their billon-dollar Hanford contractor [and sub-contractor] undercuts
the thesis of their letters to the Board, i.e., DOE has a strong safety
culture, encourages open discussion, and condemns retaliation toward those
raising issues impacting contractors. Such DOE complicity is quite
typical,
e.g., my case and the Laul case where DOJ found Battelle
defrauded DOE [False Claim]
and Hanford cleanup was impacted.
Report Pg4:
“The investigative record shows that the DOE Office of River
Protection Employee Concerns program is not effective. One safety expert
explicitly testified that employees would not and did not use the program,
and believed that individuals running the program would “bury
issues'' brought to them.
Report Pg5: “Although the HSS report stated that
most WTP personnel did not share these opinions, the Board notes that
personnel interviewed by HSS were escorted to their interviews by
management. The Board's record shows that involving management with the
interviews clearly can inhibit the willingness of employees to express
concerns. In its own way, DOE's decision to allow
management to be involved in the HSS investigation raises concerns
about safety culture.”
Comment: DOE ignores
this conflict of interest which consistently results in a sham
investigation comprised of cover-up, material suppressions, excluding
personnel and even outright perjury in ensuing litigation that costs
taxpayers millions in legal fees.
The current IG [Friedman] encourages
such investigations that suppress/bury contractor
wrongdoing, intimidate/pressure a subject
to be a team
player, and omit/exclude individuals that are not
‘helpful’.
Report Pg5: “Finding Two: DOE and
Contractor Management Suppress Technical Dissent
Report Pg6:
“…The
testimony of several witnesses confirms that the expert witness was
verbally admonished by the highest level
of DOE line management
at DOE's debriefing meeting following this session of the hearing. Although
testimony varies on the exact details of the verbal interchange, it is
clear that strong hostility was expressed toward
the expert witness whose testimony strayed from DOE management's
policy while that individual was attempting to adhere to accepted
professional standards. Testimony by a senior DOE official confirmed the
validity of the expert witness' concerns.
In addition, the expert witness testified that they felt pressure to change their testimony, but
refused to do so.”
Comment: Such strong
hostility and witness tampering [to change testimony] has been occurring in
my 8-year case for which DOE has soaked taxpayers ~$1M to fund litigation fraud [discovery abuse]
and suborned perjury by Q-clearance scientist to
suppress evidence of defrauding small business, falsifying inventions to
patent office, and breaching national security [re: classified
information]; see details at http://nationallabsecuritythreat.com.
Part 2: Other Relevant
Points
▪ Dr. Winokur’s decision to withhold the
investigation record from DOE was very prudent as such a release would have
subjected “non-team playing” interviewees to exposure by DOE to
contractor management resulting in admonishment and retaliation. In my case, FOIA documents confirm that
the DOE-IG divulged confidential information back
to the contractor’s [Battelle] legal team, e.g., detailed
confidential emails that I sent to US Attorney regarding Battelle’s
criminal misconduct. Given such breach of confidentiality [helpful to
contractor] is condoned by the Inspector General himself, it plausibly
follows that such misconduct and de-facto retaliation is pervasive among
all DOE officials involved in oversight and investigations of its
contractors.
▪ Receiving
extensive emails, DOE’s Koonin, Poneman & Chu have been quite
aware of the ongoing litigation fraud/perjury and witness tampering since
2009; Friedman IG himself has known
and asked for such evidence since 2006.
Despite preponderance of evidence of
Battelle’s fraud and national security breaches, DOE response is
continuing to fund perjury [e.g., research falsification & concealing ventures] to
suppress evidence of contractor wrongdoing.
Given its multi-year tactics to “protect”
interests of contractor Battelle, DOE-and-contractor retaliatory conduct
and chilled safety culture cited in your report is thus no surprise.
▪ In a 2/25/11 letter to DNFSB, Poneman stated “As
you are aware, the Department of Energy is reviewing its safety and
security directives to assure these requirements provide effective and
efficient protection for workers, national security assets, the
public…”. This assertion, however, is contradicted by DOE [Chu,
Podonsky et al.] ignoring my 1/13/10 email [sent
3 weeks after 2009 Christmas Day bomber]
regarding Battelle-PNNL’s breaching national security pertaining to classified information [10 CFR 710],
e.g., air cargo explosives. Again, such
placing contractor corporate interests above national security lends
credence to your report that DOE similarly puts contractor management
interests ahead of an open, intellectually honest safety culture;
recall, Tamosaitis
concerns endangered a multi-million dollar bonus to Bechtel.
▪ For more
information on how my case shows a pattern of DOE/IG/contractor hostility against those
reporting security, safety, fraud and other contractor misconduct,
visit extensive evidence sites at either www.PNNLfraud.com, www.OfficeofScienceFraud.com, www.NationalLabFraud.com, www.AirCargoThreat.com, www.PatentFraud.org or www.ResearchFraud.com.
▪ I raised
the safety issue in a 2008 email to DOE Office of Science regarding oversight
of the national labs and adverse implications
of
DOE Office of Chief (General) Counsel suborning perjury [witness
tampering] to suppress evidence of Battelle's fraud. An excerpt
relevant to your report three years later is as follows:
“Staff
health/safety/security at Office of Science labs is at greater risk going
forward.
DOE’s authorizing Battelle to
violate 48 CFR 970.5228-1 [Litigation in “good faith”] via
“personal injury defense” tactics to withhold smoking-gun
evidence is relevant to staff at DOE labs which entail HAZMAT, radiation,
machinery, high-temperature apparatus, and other work hazards. These abusive/fraudulent litigation
tactics put at risk staff that may later file lawsuits for wrongful injury,
illness, cancer, death, termination or other causes of action due to
Battelle’s negligent or tortuous conduct. [GAO
confirms that most DOE contractor lawsuits pertain to radiation, toxic
exposure, personal injury, and/or wrongful discharge. See 8/24
email.] Your decision eliminates/mitigates Battelle’s legal & financial
risk of violating staff health/safety/security procedures, ignoring DEAR,
and thwarting whistleblower protections.
It will likely incent them to relax such procedures to increase
profit [See Westbrook ORNL case in 8/24 email.]; thousands of employees at
the five national labs run by Battelle could be adversely effected.”
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