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GAO Whitewashes Misconduct by USP Testimony Before Congress re: Anthrax Attacks Misleading, Inaccurate and Incomplete The General Accounting Office's (GAO's) stated mission is to ensure "the government's accountability to the American people." But in recent testimony before the House Committee on Government Reform regarding the anthrax attacks of October 2001, the GAO failed its mission and the American people. Mr. Bernard Unger, Director of Physical Infrastructure for the GAO, provided an inaccurate and incomplete accounting of the United States Postal Service response to the anthrax attacks. Postal officials at the Brentwood facility kept the facility open for four days after knowing it had been contaminated. Two employees are dead because of this negligence, and many others continue to suffer to this day with a variety of ailments resulting from anthrax exposure. Mr. Unger, while ignoring comprehensive evidence provided by Judicial Watch to the GAO in May 2003, blamed the deadly neglect by Brentwood officials on "miscommunication." Judicial Watch, however, uncovered documents that prove the delayed shutdown of the Brentwood facility was purposeful. "We have concluded that the GAO has failed thus far to investigate most, if not all, of the facts surrounding the anthrax attacks in the United States," said JW President Tom Fitton. "Officials from the United States Postal Service kept the Brentwood postal facility open for four days after knowing it had been contaminated. They lied to postal employees about the dangers. They failed to follow emergency procedures. And they threatened, intimidated and punished postal workers who asked questions. Rather than focusing on the United States Postal Service's failure to communicate, the GAO should focus on the United States Postal Service's failure to act appropriately." Judicial Watch provided for the press a complete analysis of Mr. Unger's testimony, which can be found on Judicial Watch's website, www.judicialwatch.org. "We call on GAO Comptroller General David M. Walker to take personal control of the GAO's anthrax investigation to ensure a complete investigation of how officials mistreated innocent Brentwood postal workers," continued Fitton. Judicial Watch filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of survivors of the Brentwood anthrax contamination on October 14, naming the Postmaster General and other senior postal officials as defendants. SIDEBAR: The Brentwood Postal Facility has been renamed the "Joseph Curseen, Jr. and Thomas Morris, Jr. Processing and Distribution Center," after two Brentwood United States Postal Service workers who died from inhalation anthrax they contracted while working with mail in the contaminated Brentwood facility. Judicial Watch met with Ms. Kathleen Turner, Ms. Jeannie Bryant and Mr. Derrick Collins of the GAO on May 15, 2003, and offered GAO all the relevant, material facts and leads that Judicial Watch had collected during JW's independent investigative efforts. The GAO accepted JW's offer, but has thus far ignored the evidence.
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