The public has a right to see the review by the inspector general of the shredding of documents by Dale Jones. Members of the Massachusetts delegation have requested the review, but so far, NOAA has not cooperated.
While NOAA took a positive step by showing its document-shredding enforcement chief the door, the matter is not resolved.
The public has a right to see the latest review by the Commerce Department's inspector general of the shredding of documents by Dale Jones, the ousted enforcement chief.
Expected to come as an addendum to the earlier IG's report implicating Jones, the review cannot be released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration without a congressional request. Members of the Massachusetts delegation have made the request, but so far, NOAA has not cooperated.
The agency certainly has no ethical choice but to release the review of Jones' conduct. The review should delve more deeply into the outrageous finding in the earlier report that, during a federal investigation into his treatment of northeastern fishermen, Jones shredded documents.
What were those documents? Were they incriminating? Did they illustrate his intent? Did they prove a cover-up of what was behind all those steep fines? We can only hope the IG's review answers some of those questions.
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