Politics

Chairman Miller Writes Secretary Chao About NAFTA Official Ducking Prosecution

By Jesse Lee

From the Education and Labor Committee:

Former Bush NAFTA Official, Covered by Diplomatic Immunity, Ducks Criminal Prosecution
Chairman Miller Asks Secretary Chao if Steps Have Been Taken to Ensure Justice

WASHINGTON, D.C. ? A former high-ranking Bush political appointee is avoiding a potential criminal investigation into his misconduct while running a NAFTA-related agency because he has diplomatic immunity, according to a recent Inspector General report. U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA) today asked the Bush administration what it is doing to waive that immunity so that the IG?s investigation can proceed.

From 2004 until his resignation in 2006, the official, Mark Knouse, was the executive director of the secretariat for the Commission for Labor Cooperation, a three-nation panel created by NAFTA to examine labor issues and promote labor standards in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Knouse, a Pennsylvania lobbyist, resigned amid allegations that he had used CLC funds ? which come from taxpayers in the three countries ? to fund his own outside lobbying activities, including meals with clients and trips to meetings.

U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao appointed Knouse to the post. Knouse?s wife is an assistant in Chao?s executive office at the Labor Department.

Last week, the Inspector General at the U.S. Department of Labor issued an audit report in which it concluded that the CLC could not demonstrate that nearly $10,000 in travel expenditures incurred by Knouse and another CLC staffer actually ?supported the CLC mission.? The IG also found that, under Knouse?s leadership, the CLC spent $1 million without demonstrating that ?it actually received the goods or services for which it paid.?

The IG?s auditors were unable to refer the matter to the IG?s investigators ? who would conduct a criminal investigation ? because Knouse ?was entitled to diplomatic immunity from prosecution, and the CLC did not respond to the OIG’s request to waive this immunity.? The CLC?s Council of Ministers, which comprises the labor secretaries from the U.S., Canada, and Mexico and which forms the CLC?s leadership, has the authority to waive Knouse?s diplomatic immunity, but apparently has not done so.

Miller sent a letter to Chao today asking if the Council of Ministers had discussed the Knouse situation or taken any steps to respond to the IG?s request to waive Knouse?s immunity. Miller said the scandal shows that the Bush administration is not committed to improving labor standards under free trade agreements.

?Why was Mark Knouse using taxpayer money to wine and dine his lobbying clients? Why was Mark Knouse engaging in outside lobbying at all when we had a taxpayer-funded job to do? And most importantly, why hasn?t the Bush administration acted to strip Knouse of his diplomatic immunity so that he can be investigated and prosecuted? These are very serious questions, and they demand answers,? said Miller, chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee.

?The fact that Secretary Chao appointed a crony to lead a key labor commission under NAFTA shows that the Bush administration has no regard for the effect of trade agreements on the workers in the countries that are party to them,? said Miller. ?The situation has been made even worse by the fact that Mark Knouse is getting away with these serious abuses of the public trust. Secretary Chao is opening herself to the perception that she is shielding an alleged criminal, to whom she has personal ties, from accountability under the law.?

Full text of the letter to Secretary Chao (pdf): (more…)

Full post as published by The Gavel on April 17, 2008 (boomark / email).