Several times in the past year, videos have caused political problems for federal executives. The Federal Times reports:
The Veterans Affairs Department allegedly spent $52,000 to produce an 18-minute video parodying the movie “Patton” as part of two training conferences now being investigated for wasteful spending.
House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., sent VA Secretary Eric Shinseki a letter Aug. 13 asking for the parody video, and for contracts and documents related to the planning and execution of the July and August 2011 human resources training conferences. Issa gave VA until Aug. 27 to provide the video and documents.
In his letter, Issa said the video used a paid actor to satirize the iconic opening scene of “Patton,” in which World War II Gen. George Patton delivered a rousing speech to his troops in front of a massive American flag.
“Although the VA has videographers and editors on staff, the conference planners engaged a contractor to produce the video,” Issa wrote.
Issa also said VA spent $84,000 on promotional items such as pens, highlighters, hand sanitizers and USB flash drives for the conference.
