Interior Dept. Clears Latschar In
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A month after an Interior Department Office of Inspector General report said investigators found no evidence that Gettysburg National Military Park Superintendent John A. Latschar or the Gettysburg Foundation were involved in criminal activity or fraud, the Washington Post disclosed that investigators found pornography on Latschar’s office computer. The Oct. 19 Washington Post article quoted an internal Aug. 7 memo that detailed the discovery of more than 3,400 sexually explicit images on Latschar’s computer hard drive. The memo noted that Latschar had signed a statement acknowledging he was aware of his wrongdoing while viewing “inappropriate pictures on his government computer during work hours.” The internal memo about the pornography cited violation of Interior Department policy. “Whatever actions you deem appropriate” was to be decided by the National Park Service. The pronography was considered a personnel matter and was omitted from the report released in September. The investigation into various alleged misdeeds began in July 2008. The Department of Interior’s Office of Ethics had earlier dealt with conflict of interest questions raised in November 2008 when Latschar was named as the next Gettysburg Foundation President, a position he then turned down. During the investigation period Latschar expressed confidence to local media about the outcome. When the report was released in September he said, “We’re happy the results of the investigation are now public and the report speaks for itself.” The report, which was posted Sept. 29 at www.doioig.gov, covered a wide variety of complaints and allegations of mismanagement and fraud related to Latschar, the park’s relationship with the Gettysburg Foundation and with the Foundation’s board chairman Robert Kinsley, owner of Kinsley Construction. More than 45 people were interviewed and thousands of pages of public and private documents were reviewed, according to the report, which was submitted to Acting National Park Service Director Daniel N. Wenk by Acting Inspector General Mary L. Kendall. Not all potential witnesses cooperated. Former NPS Director Fran Mainella did not return calls seeking to interview her about a meeting she attended to review the Gettysburg visitor center project design. Seventeen specific charges, many of which have circulated through the rumor mill for years, were investigated. These included coercion of leave donations for Latschar’s wife, firing of a pregnant employee, improperly influencing a criminal investigation, building a fence on Latschar’s property for free, purchasing hot tubs with park funds and use of witness trees for commercial ventures. Other complaints related to management: insufficient oversight over the Gettysburg Foundation, creation of a commercial monopoly at the park with visitor fees, conflicts of interest, cancellation of Eastern National’s contract and an atmosphere of secrecy and an environment where employees are afraid to blow the whistle. Another issue was award of contracts without competition to Kinsley companies, including award of two contracts to a minority-owned business in New Jersey that subcontracted the work to Kinsley Construction. The 24-page report addressed each of these topics in detail. A “Results in Brief” preface to these details briefly reviewed the general allegations of mismanagement, unethical actions, financial misrepresentation or possible fraud related to construction of the museum and visitor center. According to this overview, some concerns related to the cost of the project, which ended up larger and more expensive than had been billed; the use of federal and state funds, when it had been said that the visitor center complex would be privately funded; and the introduction of admission fees. This summary concluded: “Our investigation revealed no evidence that Latschar was involved in criminal activity at the park. While the General Agreement between the park and the Foundation is a controversial partnership, our investigation uncovered no evidence of fraud in the creation or operation of the partnership. “Moreover, we discovered no evidence of criminality or conflict of interest in the contracting of Kinsley Construction to provide construction management services for the MVC [museum and visitor center].”
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