GOP NLRB Member Passed Sensitive Information to Romney Campaign

[marmar]

from In These Times:



Earlier this month, Congressman George Miller (D-Calif.), the top Democrat on the House Education and Workforce Committee, complained that House GOP members were blocking the release of a National Labor Board Relations Inspector General’s report. The report, which Miller’s office was eventually able to obtain and release late Friday, shows that GOP NLRB Member Terence Flynn broke ethics rules by trading private NLRB case information for personal gain to anti-union law firms when he worked as chief counsel to GOP NLRB Member Brian Hayes during the 2010-2011 period. (President Obama appointed Flynn to the NLRB in January.)

The report (PDF) found that Flynn funneled sensitive information to Mitt Romney’s labor policy co-chair—former GOP NLRB member Peter Schaumber, who left the independent federal agency 2010—to be used in political attacks on the Board. And it recommends the Department of Justice investigate his actions.

"Given Mr. Flynn's position as a chief counsel and his years of service, he knew, or should have known, that he had a duty to maintain the confidence of the information that he received in the performance of his official duties," the report states. According to the Inspector General’s report, Flynn passed on “lead case lists, pre-decisional votes and positions of the members, the identity of counsel assigned to a case, the status of cases, the researching issues in cases, the deliberation of the former Chairman in [a case], the desire of two members to press forward in [a case], and the analysis of the Board’s resolution on” a proposed rule currently in the process of rulemaking.

Some of this information was used by Schaumber as part of a public campaign against the NLRB. The Inspector General report states that Flynn’s computer was used to edit a business plan for Peter Schaumber’s law practice to be used when he left the NLRB in 2010 (it doesn't assert that Flynn himself did this editing). The plan said that Schaumber would develop a law practice “in part by leveraging my Agency connections and focusing the attention of senior management on the likely priorities of the Obama board and strategies to respond to them.” ..................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.inthesetimes.com/working/entry/12943/gop_nlrb_member_passed_sensitive_information_to_romney_campaign/

[Greybnk48]

1. I've tried to rec this post twice and it's not registering.

K& I was hoping to R.

[kenfrequed]

3. I rec'ed it for you

This is fairly important.

[xchrom]

2. Du rec. Nt

[Omaha Steve]

4. Here's the full Flynn statement:

I intend to fulfill my responsibilities as a Board member and continue to work diligently and collaboratively with my valued colleagues in carrying out the Agency’s mission. As to the Inspector General’s report, I voluntarily cooperated fully with the investigation and provided a detailed response that for unknown reasons was not included or referenced in the summary apparently posted on the website of a Democratic Member of Congress. I am troubled by the politicization of this internal matter, in which I have committed no wrongdoing, and feel that this manufactured controversy is emblematic of the mean-spirited political theatrics that currently paralyze Washington and deter individuals from public service.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/26/romney-adviser-caught-up-_n_1380056.html

Schaumber penned editorials for the National Review last year that were critical of the labor board under Democrat Wilma Liebman. Schaumber argued the board was "left-wing" and overly friendly to labor unions. On the official Romney campaign page, Schaumber wrote that "radical changes in decades-old law and procedure are taking place under the current Democratic political leadership at the NLRB .... [T]he current Board consistently demonstrates that it is not neutral on the question of unionization."

Former Massachusetts Gov. Romney himself has claimed that Obama "stacked" the labor board with "union stooges," although his appointees included Flynn, who's considered a pro-business conservative voice on the board.

In a statement issued Monday, Flynn said he cooperated with the inspector general's investigation and plans to continue working on the board.

"I am troubled by the politicization of this internal matter, in which I have committed no wrongdoing," Flynn said, "and feel that this manufactured controversy is emblematic of the mean-spirited political theatrics that currently paralyze Washington and deter individuals from public service."

[BlueToTheBone]

5. GOPers have a real sense of entitlement

I am just mind boggled. I'll bet it did not occur to Flynn that this was illegal; or if it did, he decided that it didn't mean him.