NRO Officials Accused of Contracting Crimes

August 17, 2012 by legitgov

NRO Officials Accused of Contracting Crimes 14 Aug 2012 A senior officer with the nation's spy satellite agency is being investigated over criminal allegations related to contracting even as the agency's No. 2 official is accused of trying to illegally shield the subordinate from scrutiny, McClatchy Newspapers has learned. The inspector general of the National Reconnaissance Office opened the criminal inquiry after meeting secretly in May with four top officers of the agency, who told her about "a series of allegations of malfeasant actions" by a colleague, according to agency documents obtained by McClatchy Newspapers. The agency's deputy director, Air Force Maj. Gen. Susan Mashiko, then heard about the investigation and made what the inspector general described as an illegal threat of retaliation against the whistleblowers.