Committee on Governmental Affairs

GAO was asked by the chairman of the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs to inquire into the alleged unauthorized disclosure of nonclassified Committee-sensitive information to determine if the chairman or a member of his staff compromised the identity of a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) employee after the employee reported to the committee allegations of wrongdoing by her employer, the NASA Office of Inspector General. The NASA employee refused to cooperate with the GAO investigation, limiting GAO in its ability to develop facts relating to the allegation. This limitation, in addition to unresolved conflicting testimony obtained during the investigation, made it difficult to reach a definitive conclusion. However, GAO's investigation found no credible evidence to support the allegation of the NASA employee regarding unauthorized disclosure of information.

GAO found that: (1) it could not reach a definitive conclusion as to how a copy of the whistleblower's letter came into the possession of the NASA Inspector General because she refused to cooperate with the investigation and there was considerable unresolved conflicting testimony; (2) there was no credible evidence to support the allegation that the Committee Chairman or members of his personal or committee staff compromised her identity; and (3) an unsigned copy of the letter could have been made available to the NASA Inspector General by accessing NASA computer files.