United States Government Accountability Office

Washington, DC 20548 

March 31, 2009 

The Honorable Daniel K. Inouye 

Chairman 

The Honorable Thad Cochran 

Vice Chairman 

Committee on Appropriations 

United States Senate 

The Honorable David R. Obey 

Chairman 

The Honorable Jerry Lewis 

Ranking Member 

Committee on Appropriations 

House of Representatives 

Subject: Review of Special Counsel Expenses for the 6 Months Ended September 

30, 2008 

This report presents the results of our review of the expenses of the Office of 

Special Counsel-Patrick J. Fitzgerald (OSC-Fitzgerald) for the 6 months ended 

September 30, 2008. The expenses we reviewed were those made by the 

Department of Justice (DOJ) between April 1, 2008, and September 30, 2008, from 

the permanent, indefinite appropriation (fund) for OSC-Fitzgerald. To determine 

if there were additional payments made subsequent to the 6-month period covered 

by our review, we also reviewed expenses paid out of the fund between October 

1, 2008, and February 28, 2009. DOJ determined that the appropriation 

established by Public Law 100-2021

to fund expenses by independent counsels 

pursuant to the independent counsel law or other law is available to fund the 

expenses of U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald, who was appointed as a special 

counsel within the Department of Justice by the then-Acting Attorney General.2

Under this law, we are required to perform semiannual financial reviews of 

expenses from the fund, and, we report our findings to the House and Senate 

 1

 The permanent, indefinite appropriation was established by Pub. L. No. 100-202, § 101(a), title II, 

101 Stat. 1329, 1329-9 (Dec. 22, 1987), 28 U.S.C. § 591 note. 

2

 We reviewed the legal authority for the Department of Justice to use the permanent, indefinite

appropriation to fund the expenses relating to Special Counsel Fitzgerald’s investigation and, in

our opinion to the Chairmen of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, concluded that

such use was not an illegal, improper, or unauthorized use of the appropriation. B-302582 (Sept. 

30, 2004). 

Page 1 GAO-09-367R Special Counsel Expenses 
Appropriations Committees. To satisfy this requirement, we review each expense 

processed by DOJ to determine whether it was properly authorized and approved, 

supported by appropriate documentation, recorded accurately, and made in 

accordance with selected provisions of laws and regulations. 

Background 

On December 30, 2003, the then-Acting Attorney General appointed U.S. Attorney 

Fitzgerald as a Special Counsel to investigate whether officials of the George W. 

Bush administration illegally disclosed the identity of an undercover Central 

Intelligence Agency officer. In March 2007, after a jury trial, an administration 

official was convicted of perjury, lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and 

obstruction of justice in the investigation. In July 2007, the President of the United 

States commuted the prison term imposed by the sentencing judge upon the 

administration official. The administration official dropped his appeal of his 

convictions in December 2007. 

Expenses during the period of April 1, 2008, through September 30, 2008, relate to 

congressional requests for information as well as some expenses paid during this 

period that were primarily reimbursements of travel and lodging incurred during 

the appeal process. The activities of the Special Counsel were, for all practical 

purposes, concluded as of March 2008, but the office of the special counsel will 

remain open to respond to congressional requests for information. 

Results of Our Review 

Our review of the expenses on behalf of Special Counsel Fitzgerald covering the 6 

months ended September 30, 2008, found that DOJ processed expenses totaling 

$14,806. The expenses consisted of personnel compensation and benefits, travel, 

and lodging. We found that the expenses for personnel compensation and 

benefits, travel, and lodging were supported by appropriate documentation and 

were properly authorized, approved, and recorded. A breakdown of Special 

Counsel Fitzgerald’s expenses for the 6 months ended September 30, 2008, is 

presented in table 1 below. 

Table 1: Special Counsel Expenses for the 6 Months Ended September 30, 2008 

Description Amount 

Personnel compensation and benefits $ 8,093 

Travel and lodging $ 6,713 

Total $ 14,806 

Source: DOJ Financial Management Information System. 

For the period of our review, personnel compensation and benefits of employees 

assigned to work with the special counsel amounted to $8,093. The special 

counsel also incurred travel expenses of $6,713, primarily consisting of travel 

Page 2 GAO-09-367R Special Counsel Expenses 
expenses paid during the current period that were reimbursements of travel and 

lodging expenses previously incurred during the appeal process. 

Our tests for compliance with selected provisions of laws and regulations 

disclosed no instances of noncompliance with respect to the expenses processed 

by DOJ on behalf of OSC-Fitzgerald that would be reportable under U.S. generally 

accepted government auditing standards. 

In conducting our review, we determined that from October 1, 2008, through 

February 28, 2009, the only additional expenses paid out of the permanent 

indefinite appropriation were $50 in compensation expenses related to Special 

Counsel Fitzgerald. The expenses were supported by appropriate documentation

and were properly authorized, approved, and recorded. In addition, there was a 

credit of $875 for a check that was never deposited by a vendor and thus voided 

by the DOJ. 

Objectives, Scope, and Methodology 

Our objectives were to determine whether the expenses processed by DOJ on 

behalf of OSC-Fitzgerald for the 6-month period were properly authorized and 

approved, supported by appropriate documentation, recorded accurately, and 

made in accordance with selected provisions of laws and regulations. 

To perform our review, we obtained expense data files from the DOJ and traced 

the recorded expenses to supporting documentation including payroll records, 

travel vouchers, and invoices. We reviewed all expenses made between April 1, 

2008, and September 30, 2008, for proper authorization and approval to determine 

whether they were supported by appropriate documentation and recorded 

accurately by DOJ on behalf of OSC-Fitzgerald. We also reviewed expenses to 

determine whether they were made in accordance with selected provisions of 

Title 5 of the United States Code, the Prompt Payment Act, and selected 

provisions related to pay administration and travel regulations. Finally, we 

reviewed expenses paid out of the permanent indefinite appropriation between 

October 1, 2008, and February 28, 2009, to determine the extent of additional 

payments made subsequent to the 6-month period covered by our review. We 

were not required to, nor did we test, the appropriateness of the expenses. 

We conducted this performance audit in accordance with generally accepted 

government auditing standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform 

the review to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis 

for our findings and conclusions based on our review objectives. We believe that 

the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and 

conclusions based on our review objectives. We performed our review in 

Washington, D. C., from December 2008, through March 2009. We provided a draft 

of this correspondence to Special Counsel and the Department of Justice, Justice 

Management Division. These entities agreed with the facts and conclusions 

presented in our draft correspondence. 

Page 3 GAO-09-367R Special Counsel Expenses
____________________ 

We are sending copies of this report to the Chairman and Ranking Members of the 

Senate and House Committees on Appropriations, the Attorney General, the 

Special Counsel, and other interested parties. In addition, this correspondence is 

available at no cost on GAO’s Web site at http://www.gao.gov. Please contact me 

at (202) 512-3406 or sebastians@gao.gov if you or your staff have any questions 

concerning this correspondence. Contact points for our Offices of Congressional 

Relations and Public Affairs may be found on the last page of this 

correspondence. GAO staff who made major contributions to this correspondence 

are Julie Phillips, Assistant Director; Vivian Gutierrez; and Richard Cambosos. 

Steven J. Sebastian 

Director Financial Management and Assurance 

(196194) 

Page 4 GAO-09-367R Special Counsel Expenses 
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