INVESTIGATION INTO CRAWFORD'S RESIGNATION DEMANDED BY LAWMAKERS
Sens. Michael Enzi (R-Wyo.), Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and other lawmakers are calling for a federal investigation into former FDA Commissioner Lester Crawford's departure from the agency.
The lawmakers are especially interested in confirming whether Crawford resigned his post due to an alleged financial conflict of interest, saying clarification is needed to validate the vetting process for federal nominees. Various press reports have suggested that Crawford's resignation stemmed from his failure to disclose pharmaceutical stock holdings -- a charge the former commissioner has denied.
In separate letters, lawmakers in both houses have requested that the HHS Inspector General (IG) investigate the circumstances surrounding Crawford's sudden resignation. Enzi and Kennedy ask in a recent letter that the IG "examine [Crawford's] financial reporting in accordance with various ethics laws to determine whether he was in compliance and whether he was forthcoming in his attestations to the White House Counsel, [the HHS], the Office of Government Ethics, and the Committee."
A group of House Democrats led by Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.) has also called on the IG to investigate whether Crawford held stock in pharmaceutical companies he was charged with regulating. The "sudden nature of this [departure], combined with both conflicting reports about the resignation and recent difficulties at the FDA, warrant your office's involvement in this matter," the representatives state in a recent letter.
Enzi and Kennedy, the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, which has jurisdiction over the FDA, contend that Crawford's alleged financial conflicts undermine both the public's and Congress' confidence in the FDA. The lawmakers also claim that the rumors call into question whether the Bush administration is choosing candidates that have too many ties to the industries they regulate.