Brown Calls For Termination Of DOJ Officials Responsible For Waste, Abuse Of Taxpayer Dollars

U.S. Senator Scott Brown (R-MA) issued the following statement on the recent inspector general audit of the Department of Justice which exposed rampant waste and abuse of taxpayer dollars:

"The outrageous expenditures are an insult to every taxpayer, and a symbol of exactly what is wrong with Washington. The individuals responsible for allowing this flagrant abuse of taxpayer dollars should be fired immediately, and those who failed to adequately respond to prior reports of waste and abuse must be held accountable so this never happens again."

Background
Audit Report 11-43: "Audit of Department of Justice Conference Planning and Food and Beverage Costs," U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General, Audit Division.

Politico: Audit: DOJ's Costly Dining
On the menu: $65 dinners, $76 lunches, $41 breakfasts, $16 muffins, $32 per person snacks at a single break and beef Wellington appetizers that cost $7.32 per serving. For a beverage break at one conference, attendees sipped on coffee and tea that went for up to $1.03 per ounce, making an 8-ounce drink $8.24.

"Some conferences featured costly meals, refreshments, and themed breaks that we believe were indicative of wasteful or extravagant spending," the report on Tuesday said.

The review found that the DoJ spent about $120 million on 1,832 conferences in 2008 and 2009. In 2009, the DoJ spent $73.3 million on conferences compared to $47.8 million in 2008. At the ten conferences reviewed in the audit, the department shelled out $4.4 million.

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