A disabled veteran with degrees from West Point and Harvard Business School, Jefferson has a long history of military, academic and professional accomplishment. But an investigation by the Labor Department's Office of Inspector General found that he allegedly pressured subordinates to force federal contractors to add his choices as subcontractors onto their projects.
Raymond Jefferson, assistant secretary of labor for veterans' employment and training service and a presidential appointee, showed a "consistent disregard of federal procurement rules and regulations, federal ethics principle and the proper stewardship of appropriated dollars," according to an internal Labor Department investigation.
Jefferson oversaw the department's Veterans' Employment and Training Service, known as VETS, a federal effort to help veterans find jobs and protect their employment rights.
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Raymond Jefferson leaves Labor Department after ethics finding
Jefferson engaged in “a pattern of conduct . . . which reflects a consistent disregard of federal procurement regulations, federal ethics rules and the proper stewardship of appropriated dollars,” according to the report from the Labor Department’s inspector general.
Peter Choharis, a lawyer representing Jefferson, said Thursday: “This report . . . relies on hearsay, has many internal inconsistencies and contradictions, and omits substantial exculpatory evidence. We look forward to rebutting the report in its entirety when we have full access to the record.”
Jefferson told investigators that he did not receive any training in federal government contracting or procurement. He said he told his deputies “to move quickly, and also legally, ethically and properly” in hiring Liff.
The report says that McWilliam and VETS Chief of Staff Amit Magdieli “placed VETS employees in untenable positions, forcing them to utiltize existing federal contracts in order to hire Liff without competition.”
“This is the kind of boondoggle that taxpayers have every right to expect would come to a screeching halt,” said Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), who in December requested that the inspector general investigate whistleblowers’ allegations of misconduct within the VETS program.
McCaskill said that Jefferson’s appointment to the job by the White House was appropriate, given his qualifications. “I would challenge anybody to look at his resume and not be impressed,” she said.
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