OK, indulge me just a little bit more.
This morning, I wrote about Julie MacDonald, the Bush appointee at the Fish and Wildlife Service, who, when she isn’t ignoring agency scientist recommendations about endangered species, spends her time emailing copies of internal documents to industry lobbyists. MacDonald, in my humble opinion, is vying with General Services Administration chief Lurita Doan for Hack of the Week.
Just for an extra special view into MacDonald’s mind, here’s another highlight from the inspector general’s report (pdf). In this episode, MacDonald unwinds by sharing internal agency documents with a virtual friend and demonstrates that she trusts the feedback of her fellow gamer, who’s apparently quite young, and her child over agency scientists:
MacDonald confirmed that she also sent the Delta Smelt document [the Delta smelt fish is an endangered species] to an on-line game friend through his father’s e-mail account. MacDonald said she is acquainted with the on-line friend through internet role-playing games. She said she engages in these games to relieve the stress created by her job; however, she said she has not played while at work. When asked why she would e-mail an internal [Department of Interior] document to a private citizen, MacDonald replied, “I was irritated [with what was happening regarding the subject of the document] and tried to explain my irritation over the phone; however, I sent it to him to read for a better understanding.”
MacDonald could offer no explanation as to why she sent her child an e-mail containing an internal DOI/FWS document other than she feels frustrated at times and likes to have third party reviews of these documents. MacDonald opined that she sent FWS documents to the on-line game friend and her child to have another set of eyes give an unfiltered opinion of them, negative comments included.
Ed. Note: Thanks to TPM Reader PT.
