Committee to investigate whether feds obstructed probe into Burning Man fraud

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has requested an investigation into allegations that employees of the Bureau of Land Management destroyed federal records, tampered with witnesses and obstructed a congressional investigation. 

In a letter dated Feb. 14, House Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, asked Department of the Interior Deputy Inspector General Mary L. Kendall to follow up on possible violations to the Federal Records Act and other questionable actions documented in an "Investigative Report of Ethical Violations and Misconduct by Bureau of Land Management Officials" received Jan. 30, 2017.

The original report details how BLM employee Danial Paul Love used his position to gain entrance for family and friends to the Burning Man festival — held on BLM-managed land — and assign a security detail to his party and provide overnight lodging for these attendees.

It then goes on to document ways Love attempted to instruct witnesses and influence the testimony of colleagues questioned by investigators.

The Oversight Committee’s letter cites the report’s allegations of email scrubbing, conspiracy to change and withhold records for an impending congressional inquiry, and coaching witnesses as having the potential to taint the investigation and undermine trust in BLM’s law enforcement office. For this reason, Chaffetz asked for further scrutiny of Love’s actions.

The entire letter can

.

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