The Corrupting Influence of Corruption: Adjutant General Misses the Point

If Edward Tonini was trying to shore up employee morale by defending corrupt practices, he only proved just how much Homeland Security cash has undermined ethics at the Department of Military Affairs.

John Cheves at the Herald:

The political appointee overseeing the Kentucky Division of Emergency Management insists that nothing illegal occurred there, despite a scathing state audit report on the agency's spending that was sent to prosecutors Aug. 6.

"I just cannot imagine anything done within Emergency Management that was criminal, frankly," Maj. Gen. Edward Tonini said in an interview Thursday.

Tonini oversees Emergency Management as head of the Kentucky Department of Military Affairs. One of his aides, Mike Jones, is interim director at Emergency Management and is responsible for drawing up a response plan to the audit.

Gov. Steve Beshear expressed "grave concerns" last week about Emergency Management after auditors questioned millions of dollars in spending and accused its managers of altering financial records and threatening employees to stay quiet. Beshear accepted the resignation of John W. Heltzel, his appointed director of Emergency Management.

State auditor Adam Edelen referred his report to Attorney General Jack Conway, the Executive Branch Ethics Commission and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Emergency Management receives tens of millions of dollars a year in federal funding to coordinate state and federal responses to disasters.

In a meeting Monday with about 100 Emergency Management employees, Tonini spoke defensively about the public scrutiny the agency faced.

SNIP  

The Lexington Herald-Leader obtained a recording of Tonini's remarks from Emergency Management employees who said they worry that the Beshear administration will not demand meaningful reform inside the agency.

Now that is actually a good sign: there are DMA staff willing to risk their jobs to expose the culture of corruption.

Because they know the likely response from Beshear is not firing Tonini, cleaning house and making reforms, but protecting Tonini and punishing whistle-blowers.