In a letter to the Department of Education’s general counsel, Kent Talbert, the Government Accountability Office rejected the agency’s justification for paying the conservative radio commentator Armstrong Williams about $240,000 to allegedly trumpet the No Child Left Behind program without mentioning his arrangement with the administration, as well as disseminating prepackaged news releases disguised as third party reporting and using appropriated funds to commission a newspaper article titled, “Parents Want Science Classes that Make the Grade,” which also made no mention of its source.
The Education Department argued that the prepackaged news story and Armstrong Williams subcontract did not violate the Antideficiency Act’s prohibitions of spending beyond appropriations, and it said the newspaper article was allowed at the time because only after it came out did an emergency supplemental spending bill include language that added new restrictions.
However, GAO said in its letter to Talbert that Congress clearly rejected the view that the additional language imposed a new requirement, noting that conferees in both the Senate and House stated that the section in question confirmed GAO’s opinion from February 2005 stating that “the critical element in determining whether the promotional materials constitute covert propaganda is whether the intended audience is informed of the source of the materials.”
GAO went on to say in its letter to Talbert that the section in question was specifically included because the Office of Management and Budget as well as the Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel refused to recognize the requirement for source attribution.
GAO also informed Talbert that the agency’s improper use of funds would be included in its database for funding violations for 2004.
