Official Loses Post at Security Agency (inspector general @HLS)

By THE NEW YORK TIMES

Published: December 10, 2004


WASHINGTON, Dec. 9 -The inspector general at the Department of Homeland Security, Clark K. Ervin, who has delivered a series of hard-hitting reports on management problems at the agency, was replaced Thursday. Officials said the White House had concluded that the Senate would not confirm Mr. Ervin, who had been serving as a recess appointee.


Mr. Ervin was chosen for the job nearly two years ago. But his nomination sputtered because of a dispute over his handling, during his tenure at the State Department, of an investigation into several Americans' claims that they were sexually harassed at an international monitoring organization where they worked.

That led the White House last December to give Mr. Ervin a recess appointment, which the president is permitted when Congress is not in session. That appointment expired at midnight Wednesday, however, and officials said that although it could have been extended for a time, the White House had told Mr. Ervin that it did not believe the Senate was likely to confirm him.

more: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/10/politics/10homeland.html?ex=1103346000&en=c3c333995ecc3296&ei=5006&partner=ALTAVISTA1

very, very interesting timeing:

Pastor's death in custody is probed

Fri Dec 10, 3:51 AM ET Local - Miami Herald


BY JACQUELINE CHARLES, jcharles@herald.com

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General is looking into the circumstances surrounding the death of an 81-year-old Haitian pastor who died in Miami last month while in U.S. immigration custody.



At the same time, the office is conducting a review to see if there are systematic problems of abuse in DHS facilities throughout the country, including the Krome immigrant detention center in Southwest Miami-Dade, DHS Inspector General Clark Kent Ervin said.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/krmiami/20041210/lo_krmiami/pastorsdeathincustodyisprobed

~snip~
Relatives accused immigration authorities of mistreating the pastor, saying they took away his medication. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said at the time that his death was unrelated to his detention.


But U.S. Rep. Kendrick B. Meek (news, bio, voting record), a Florida Democrat, said Thursday that the department's inspector general, Clark Kent Ervin, had agreed to Meek's Nov. 17 request for an investigation.


"Rev. Dantica's case is particularly troubling due to the treatment he received, his age and his health," Meek said in a statement. "Mr. Ervin has also given me assurances that his office is examining whether systematic abuse of detainees in DHS facilities is occurring."


The medical examiner listed inflammation of the pancreas as the cause of the pastor's Nov. 3 death.

~snip~
more: http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041210/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/haiti_death_in_custody_1

This actually is being done through the White House,” said a former DHS official who requested anonymity because he continues to work with the department.

Ervin received a recess appointment to the IG role in December 2003, after serving as acting IG since January of that year. “They’re just not keeping him. They feel he has not been a friend of the department,” the official said. As a recess appointment, Ervin’s term will end when this session of Congress adjourns.

Ervin’s office has issued highly critical reports on several programs at DHS. In October, for instance, one criticized the department for failing to take charge of the effort to combine the federal government’s numerous terrorist watch lists. Department officials were unhappy with the critique, claiming that the Justice Department has primary responsibility for the consolidation of the watch lists.

Yesterday, Ervin appeared on a National Public Radio talk show and expressed his desire to stay on the job.

“I’d very much like to and we’ll see about that at the expiration of my recess appointment,” he told show host Tavis Smiley. “I’ve really enjoyed the work.”

Spokesmen at the White House and DHS were not immediately available for comment.

http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/28092-1.html

Hell, I think I want HIM for President.

will drop into a black hole after he's gone. :(