Congressman John Tierney has urged Commerce Secretary John Bryson to "freeze all expenditures" from the NOAA's Asset Forfeiture Fund — made up of fines paid by fishermen — until deficiencies in controls outlined by the department's Inspector General and dramatized by actions in NOAA's Seattle law enforcement office are eliminated.
Tierney also pressed Bryson with questions about the misuse of the fund by NOAA's Seattle Office of Law Enforcement, which drew $300,787 from the fund in 2008 to acquire a 35-foot luxury cabin boat with flat screen TV and built-in bar for undercover operations — then used it mostly for pleasure cruising in Puget Sound by law enforcement officials, friends and family, the Inspector General found.
NOAA conceded that the purchase violated the "spirit" of federal procurement law; The Inspector General's report described the events as involving "misconduct."
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