printer friendly version
BLM CIO threatened with demotion in Cobell case
Tuesday, August 2, 2005
The chief information officer of the Bureau of Land Management was threatened with demotion for coming forward about security weaknesses at her agency.
Four days after providing a declaration that outlined some weaknesses, Ronnie Levine was given a negative job rating for the first time in her career. She nonetheless went to testify in the Cobell v. Norton trial and gave information that could be "very adverse to the Secretary," according to a court motion.
As her time on the stand was wrapping up, Levine was told by a superior that she was going to be transferred. "I didn't have a choice," she testified, according to a recently unsealed transcript.
The transfer has since been taken "off the table for now," Levine later said. But the Cobell plaintiffs say she was a victim of retaliation and want top Interior Department officials sanctioned for their conduct.
Get the Story:
Interior officials accused of covering up IT security flaws
(Government Computer News 8/1)
Interior threatens whistle-blower (Federal Computer Week 7/29)
Relevant Links:
Indian Trust: Cobell v. Norton -
http://www.indiantrust.comCobell
v. Norton, Department of Justice -
http://www.usdoj.gov/civil/cases/cobell/index.htm
Related Stories:
Appeals court stays Lamberth order on notices
(7/29)
DOI mum on settlement figure for
Cobell v. Norton (7/27)
Cobell
apologizes for comments on trust bill (7/27)
Opinion: McCain, Dorgan lowball Indians on trust
(7/27)
Cobell calls trust reform bill a
win for Interior (7/22)
Cason takes stand in Cobell trust fund
hearing (07/20)
Second expert describes hack of Interior
Department (05/10)
Hacker tells court
how he broke into DOI systems (5/4)
Trust fund hearing dispute causes delay in
testimony (5/3)
Lamberth to hold hearing
on trust fund security (5/2)
Interior
ordered to trial on trust fund security (4/26)
Cobell: Ross Swimmer and the truth rarely mix
(4/22)
Trust fund security again an
issue in Cobell case (4/21)
Lamberth
schedules hearing on computer systems (4/20)
Norton blocking information technology report
(4/18)
Appeals court supports Lamberth's
authority on IT (12/06)
Lamberth
critical of Norton's 'bad faith' on trust fund (10/25)
NCAI 04 Wrapup: Day 2 (10/13)
Interior denies attempt to halt trust fund
payments (10/05)
Swimmer: Communication
with account holders on hold (10/04)
Bush administration challenges trust fund
ruling (09/16)
Appeals court takes on
Cobell trust fund case (9/15)
Richardson
pushes Norton to protect trust fund (08/16)
Small percentage of Interior's IT systems
secure (08/10)
Johnson promises
'meaningful' investigation of OST (06/21)
BIA takes advantage of Internet shutdown
(05/11)
DOI's Internet connection shut
down for third time (03/16)
BIA shows
off information technology facility (3/2)
Anderson touts benefits of Cobell trust fund
case (02/25)
Lamberth orders DOI to
turn over IT reports (12/12)
DOI
fares poorly on computer security report card (12/11)
Judge seeks to break impasse over trust
systems (07/29)
BIA incident
prompts high-level recommendation (03/27)
Court report blasts McCaleb for
destroying records (01/27)
Court: McCaleb 'fabricated' e-mail
story (1/24)
BIA aides
circumventing court (12/16)
Martin's role in incident surfaces
(12/16)
BIA aides e-mail use
prompts inquiry (12/17)
McCaleb admits to e-mail
'misunderstanding' (10/23)
Burns takes on BIA problems in
stride (08/23)
McCaleb gets
new computer official (6/5)
Retaliation charged as BIA official
jumps ship (7/25)
Copyright © 2000-2005 Indianz.Com
