Brandon Keim
Science

Government Calls For Firing of NASA Watchdog

A government investigation found that NASA inspector general Robert Cobb — the man charged with ensuring the space agency’s ethical conduct — "routinely tipped off department officials to internal investigations and quashed a report related to the Columbia shuttle explosion to avoid embarrassing the agency," the Associated Press reports. NASA administrator Michael Griffin has proposed […]

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A government investigation found that NASA inspector general Robert Cobb -- the man charged with ensuring the space agency's ethical conduct -- "routinely tipped off department officials to internal investigations and quashed a report related to the Columbia shuttle explosion to avoid embarrassing the agency," the Associated Press reports.

NASA administrator Michael Griffin has proposed sending Cobb to leadership training and requiring that he meet regularly with department officials on how to improve, but that is not enough, said Integrity Committee Chairman James Burrus.

"All members of the committee believe that disciplinary action, up to and including removal, could be appropriate," he said in a previously unreleased report that also accused Cobb of abusing authority to create an "abusive work environment."

Despite these findings, Cobb will probably keep his job. Only the President can sack Cobb -- and it was President Bush who nominated him in 2002. His job at the time? Ethics adviser to then-White House counsel Alberto Gonzales.

Report: NASA Watchdog Too Cozy With Boss [Associated Press]