FBI Trilogy
Responses to Posthearing Questions Gao ID: GAO-06-853R June 9, 2006This report responds to a Congressional request for additional information related to the May 2, 2006 Congressional hearing entitled FBI Oversight. Our responses are based largely on information contained in our published report, entitled Federal Bureau of Investigation: Weak Controls over Trilogy Project Led to Payment of Questionable Contractor Costs and Missing Assets, GAO-06-306.
As discussed in our statement at the hearing, unless the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) strengthens its controls over contractor payments and purchased equipment, future projects, including the new Sentinel project, will be highly vulnerable to same types of issues that plagued the Trilogy project.
GAO-06-853R, FBI Trilogy: Responses to Posthearing Questions
This is the accessible text file for GAO report number GAO-06-853R
entitled 'FBI Trilogy: Responses to Posthearing Questions' which was
released on June 12, 2006.
This text file was formatted by the U.S. Government Accountability
Office (GAO) to be accessible to users with visual impairments, as part
of a longer term project to improve GAO products' accessibility. Every
attempt has been made to maintain the structural and data integrity of
the original printed product. Accessibility features, such as text
descriptions of tables, consecutively numbered footnotes placed at the
end of the file, and the text of agency comment letters, are provided
but may not exactly duplicate the presentation or format of the printed
version. The portable document format (PDF) file is an exact electronic
replica of the printed version. We welcome your feedback. Please E-mail
your comments regarding the contents or accessibility features of this
document to Webmaster@gao.gov.
This is a work of the U.S. government and is not subject to copyright
protection in the United States. It may be reproduced and distributed
in its entirety without further permission from GAO. Because this work
may contain copyrighted images or other material, permission from the
copyright holder may be necessary if you wish to reproduce this
material separately.
June 9, 2006:
The Honorable Arlen Specter:
Chairman:
Committee on the Judiciary:
United States Senate:
Subject: FBI Trilogy: Responses to Posthearing Questions:
Dear Mr. Chairman:
This report responds to your request for additional information related
to the committee's May 2, 2006, hearing entitled FBI Oversight.
Enclosed are our responses to the supplemental questions you submitted
for the record. Our responses are based largely on information
contained in our published report, entitled Federal Bureau of
Investigation: Weak Controls over Trilogy Project Led to Payment of
Questionable Contractor Costs and Missing Assets, GAO-06-306. As
discussed in my statement at the hearing, unless the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI) strengthens its controls over contractor payments
and purchased equipment, future projects, including the new Sentinel
project, will be highly vulnerable to same types of issues that plagued
the Trilogy project.
If you have any further questions or would like to discuss any of the
issues in more detail, please call me at (202) 512-8341. Contact points
for our Offices of Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be
found on the last page of this report.
Sincerely yours,
Signed by:
Linda M. Calbom:
Director:
Financial Management and Assurance:
Enclosure - 1:
Enclosure:
Responses to Written Questions for the Record Submitted by Chairman
Arlen Specter, Committee on the Judiciary, on FBI Oversight Hearing,
May 2, 2006:
In your February Trilogy report, you offered the FBI a number of
recommendations to "(1) facilitate the effective management of
interagency contracting, (2) mitigate the risks of paying potentially
unallowable or questionable costs in connection to cost-reimbursement
type contracts, and (3) improve FBI's accountability for and
safeguarding of its computer equipment." Has the FBI implemented your
recommendations?
Answer:
We will be following up on FBI's efforts to implement our
recommendations as part of our normal tracking and evaluation process
for open recommendations. This process begins with our receipt of a
copy of FBI's formal written response to the Senate Committee on
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and to the House Committee
on Government Reform on its plans to implement our recommendations,
which is due 60 days after our report is publicly released. We received
a copy of this formal response letter on May 30, 2006.[Footnote 1] In
addition, at the request of this committee, we will evaluate FBI's
internal controls over contractor invoices and asset accountability for
the Sentinel project--the FBI's new electronic information management
system initiative--to help ensure that the internal control failures we
identified with Trilogy are not repeated. After we have completed this
follow-up work, we will report to you on our assessment of FBI's
actions to implement our recommendations.
2. In testimony before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on
Science, State, Justice, Commerce and Related Agencies on March 28,
2006, Director Mueller told the panel that GAO will be auditing the
Sentinel program. What measures will you be taking to ensure that the
same mistakes from the Trilogy debacle are not repeated?
Answer:
In reference to Director Mueller's comment, GAO is currently reviewing
the Sentinel program at the request of the Chairman and Ranking
Minority Member of the House Committee on the Judiciary. In this
review, GAO is examining the program's (1) use of effective methods for
acquiring commercial solutions, (2) efforts to align itself with the
bureau's enterprise architecture, (3) basis for reliably estimating
costs and schedules, (4) plans for applying earned value management,
(5) provisions for adequate human capital to manage the acquisition,
and (6) relationship to the governmentwide case management line of
business. This work is being coordinated with the Department of Justice
Office of Inspector General and collectively should help determine
whether the Sentinel project is being effectively managed. This work
and the follow-up work described in our answer to question one will
provide information on key aspects of FBI's efforts to ensure that the
Trilogy mistakes are not repeated with Sentinel.
3. In the Trilogy report, you reported a number of issues that
perplexed this Committee. For example, 1205 pieces of equipment, worth
an estimated $7.6 million, went missing--some of which were classified
or secured computers. The project was overbudget and overdeadline, and
around $10 million was wasted. Which of the issues that led to the
delinquency of the Trilogy project did you find to be the most
alarming? Is that issue still of concern to you? How has the FBI
addressed it?
Answer:
We reported on two fundamental issues that we consider to be key
contributors to the problems we identified with the Trilogy project.
First, the review and approval process for Trilogy contractor invoices
did not provide an adequate basis for verifying that goods and services
billed were actually received by FBI or that the amounts billed were
appropriate. Second, FBI did not have an adequate process to ensure
physical and financial accountability of assets purchased with Trilogy
project funds. In addition, we were unable to determine if any of the
missing assets contained confidential or sensitive information and
data. Therefore, we recommended that FBI further investigate those
missing assets to determine whether any confidential or sensitive
information and data may be exposed to unauthorized users.
We understand that FBI is taking actions to implement our
recommendations to resolve the fundamental issues we identified. We
will evaluate FBI's corrective actions as part of our normal
recommendation follow-up process and during our review of the Sentinel
project. Until corrective actions are fully implemented, both of these
internal control issues will be a concern with Sentinel and other
information technology projects at FBI.
4. In your testimony, you discuss that FBI could not locate 1,404
[pieces of equipment]; you adjusted the number to 1,205 when you were
able to verify that the FBI had found 199 pieces of equipment. However,
in its response to your report, FBI stated that it had accounted for
around 800 of the remaining items [of equipment]. Are you satisfied
with the FBI's efforts to track these assets? Has the FBI given any
explanation for the remaining roughly 400 assets that are completely
unaccounted for?
Answer:
In February 2006, FBI informed us that the approximately 800 remaining
items, referred to above, that it believes it has now accounted for
included (1) accountable assets[Footnote 2] not in FBI's property
system because they were either incorrectly identified as
nonaccountable assets or mistakenly omitted, (2) defective equipment
that was never recorded in the property system and was subsequently
replaced, and (3) nonaccountable assets or components of accountable
assets that were incorrectly bar coded. However, because FBI was not
able to provide us with any evidence, such as location information, to
support that it had actually accounted for these 800 assets, we could
not definitively determine whether FBI had located these items. We
considered these same issues during our audit in an effort to determine
if assets were missing or merely miscoded.
The FBI also has not provided any additional explanation for the
remaining roughly 400 missing assets. The numerous control weaknesses
identified in our report are major factors contributing to FBI's
continuing inability to find and definitively confirm the existence of
these assets. Further, the fact that assets have not been properly
accounted for to date means that they have been at risk of loss or
misappropriation without detection since being delivered to FBI--in
some cases, for several years. We will continue to monitor FBI's
progress on locating these assets as part of our review of FBI's
implementation of corrective actions to address our recommendations.
(190150):
FOOTNOTES
[1] FBI's letter was dated May 12, 2006.
[2] According to FBI policy, assets valued at $1,000 or more, as well
as certain sensitive items, such as firearms, laptop computers, and
central processing units, are considered "accountable" assets,
regardless of cost, and must be accounted for individually in FBI's
property system.
GAO's Mission:
The Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of
Congress, exists to support Congress in meeting its constitutional
responsibilities and to help improve the performance and accountability
of the federal government for the American people. GAO examines the use
of public funds; evaluates federal programs and policies; and provides
analyses, recommendations, and other assistance to help Congress make
informed oversight, policy, and funding decisions. GAO's commitment to
good government is reflected in its core values of accountability,
integrity, and reliability.
Obtaining Copies of GAO Reports and Testimony:
The fastest and easiest way to obtain copies of GAO documents at no
cost is through the Internet. GAO's Web site ( www.gao.gov ) contains
abstracts and full-text files of current reports and testimony and an
expanding archive of older products. The Web site features a search
engine to help you locate documents using key words and phrases. You
can print these documents in their entirety, including charts and other
graphics.
Each day, GAO issues a list of newly released reports, testimony, and
correspondence. GAO posts this list, known as "Today's Reports," on its
Web site daily. The list contains links to the full-text document
files. To have GAO e-mail this list to you every afternoon, go to
www.gao.gov and select "Subscribe to e-mail alerts" under the "Order
GAO Products" heading.
Order by Mail or Phone:
The first copy of each printed report is free. Additional copies are $2
each. A check or money order should be made out to the Superintendent
of Documents. GAO also accepts VISA and Mastercard. Orders for 100 or
more copies mailed to a single address are discounted 25 percent.
Orders should be sent to:
U.S. Government Accountability Office
441 G Street NW, Room LM
Washington, D.C. 20548:
To order by Phone:
Voice: (202) 512-6000:
TDD: (202) 512-2537:
Fax: (202) 512-6061:
To Report Fraud, Waste, and Abuse in Federal Programs:
Contact:
Web site: www.gao.gov/fraudnet/fraudnet.htm
E-mail: fraudnet@gao.gov
Automated answering system: (800) 424-5454 or (202) 512-7470:
Public Affairs:
Jeff Nelligan, managing director,
NelliganJ@gao.gov
(202) 512-4800
U.S. Government Accountability Office,
441 G Street NW, Room 7149
Washington, D.C. 20548:
