Dale Jones, who has been reassigned outside enforcement, and his superiors at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have repeatedly insisted that the document shredding was benign, a routine purging of files scheduled before the Commerce Department inspector general's investigation was announced.
Now, doubts about that claim have emerged from an unlikely source — the scripted orchestration of the NOAA plan for responding to questions about the document shredding. The text of the "Roll Out Strategy for IG Report on Shredding" was released in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.
An agency official wrote questions and answers that might be thrown back at NOAA from reading the only chapter that has not been released to the public in the IG's 11/2-year investigation, triggered by the angry reaction a reported NOAA enforcement vendetta against the Gloucester Seafood Display Auction. He crafted questions that the press might ask if the media had access to the report.
They suggest the document shredding was not as benign as NOAA and Jones have insisted it was.
"According to the IG report," the first question began, "an employee changed his story at least twice regarding his knowledge of the shredding activities. Do you believe that employee was pressured to change his story and what caused him to recant once he was questioned under oath?"
The prepared answer read, "We cannot speculate on what conclusions the IG reached during the course of his investigation."
The second question introduced John Oliver, the deputy assistant administrator for operations. Oliver was the immediate superior to Law Enforcement Director Jones and reported to Eric Schwaab, who had recently been appointed to head the National Marine Fisheries Service by Lubchenco.
Oliver has, for some time, been a key figure in shaping fisheries policy for New England. In February 2008, he had taken a hard line against using a $13.4 million earmark for emergency relief for the region, obtained by Massachusetts' Sens. the late Edward M. Kennedy and John Kerry to sustain fishermen.
Instead, Oliver, in a letter to Paul Diodati, the state director of marine fisheries, argued the money would be better served buying out fishermen. "Capacity reduction" was the policy goal. Oliver also suggested the displaced fishermen could have their "counseling" financed by the earmark.
"According to the IG report," read the question drafted by Winer, "John Oliver learned in December 2009 or January 2010 that OLE (the Office of Law Enforcement) had shredded documents during the pendency of the initial IG investigation, but he did not advise anybody above him about this activity. Does NOAA intend to discipline Mr. Oliver, or conduct a further review of his negligence in handling the matter?"
"Due to privacy issues," was the draft answer, "NOAA cannot comment on any personnel actions."
Read the complete story from the Gloucester Times.
Read the NOAA roll-out strategy for the Inspector General's report on document shredding.
Read the NOAA roll-out strategy for the Inspector General's report on document shredding.