The Washington Post's
Craig Whitlock has
this lengthy article on the disturbing web of corruption cases engendered by a powerful Navy contractor. Some administrative actions have been taken, such as the issuance of Secretarial Letters of Censure, but the major punitive actions have come in the federal courts. One might speculate that that is because the civilian at the center of the case for a time had a mole inside NCIS. Still, it seems remarkable that the military justice apparatus has not been widely used, despite the fact that many of those involved were subject to the UCMJ either as active duty personnel or as retired regulars. One can only assume that the statute of limitations was a major impediment to some prosecutions.
(Note, I represent someone in this "case" so I will not comment on the allegations and case beyond what follows.)
ReplyDeleteDOJ/USA San Diego has asserted "jurisdiction" and SECNAV is deferring to the USA, until such time as the AUSA has "released" the individual case to SECNAV. At which point the Central Disposition Authority (CDA) is then taking the lead on how to handle in-house. ADM Richardson was CDA until his promotion to CNO. Last I heard, ADM Davidson, Commander Fleet Forces Command (in Norfolk) had assumed CDA duty. If recollection serves, the concept of a CDA was first initiated in response to "Tailhook" [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tailhook_scandal] where there were multiple subjects allegedly involved Navy-wide.
See DoD Directive 5525.7 (Appendix 3, MCM) [http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/552507p.pdf].