I am doubtful they will find corruption in the "black" budgets. That is an area that is a matter of very close scrutiny and control. The implications of a corruption discovery could have catastrophic consequences for the affected program.
In the 1980s, there was an accounting scandal at the then North American Aviation, which had parallel programs with the B-1 bomber (Air Force) and the Space Shuttle (NASA). It was discovered that money had been transferred internally between programs to deal with unanticipated expenses. That was a big no-no. It might have been less offensive if both budgets had been from a common agency, but laundering funds from one government department to another was breaking the ceiling. Not only was North American brought to account, it resulted in new and more stringent accounting practices being implemented across all companies doing business with the government. It was very memorable. We all had to get used to accounting for our time like lawyers, down to the tenth of an hour, and making a daily record into a centralized accounting system.
That is true, but those are likely the open programs with lots of logistics and personnel. It could also be large force operations. I can imagine how accounting gets de-prioritized when urgency is running the show. It is still no excuse. The funds must have been delegated to sub-organizations. I don't accept that there is no trail, as feeble as it might be.
Why would you say that? Do you know anything about black budgets? There may be activities that inherently should not be happening and they can be discontinued. That is not the same thing as funds being unlawfully diverted from approved activities, which is what we are discussing here.
I am doubtful they will find corruption in the "black" budgets. That is an area that is a matter of very close scrutiny and control. The implications of a corruption discovery could have catastrophic consequences for the affected program.
In the 1980s, there was an accounting scandal at the then North American Aviation, which had parallel programs with the B-1 bomber (Air Force) and the Space Shuttle (NASA). It was discovered that money had been transferred internally between programs to deal with unanticipated expenses. That was a big no-no. It might have been less offensive if both budgets had been from a common agency, but laundering funds from one government department to another was breaking the ceiling. Not only was North American brought to account, it resulted in new and more stringent accounting practices being implemented across all companies doing business with the government. It was very memorable. We all had to get used to accounting for our time like lawyers, down to the tenth of an hour, and making a daily record into a centralized accounting system.
Even so, the Pentagon managed to announce that they had mislaid $2.3 trillion the day before 9/11.
That is true, but those are likely the open programs with lots of logistics and personnel. It could also be large force operations. I can imagine how accounting gets de-prioritized when urgency is running the show. It is still no excuse. The funds must have been delegated to sub-organizations. I don't accept that there is no trail, as feeble as it might be.
Entire black budgets are nothing but theft. If I were a criminal, that's where I'd go to steal.
Why would you say that? Do you know anything about black budgets? There may be activities that inherently should not be happening and they can be discontinued. That is not the same thing as funds being unlawfully diverted from approved activities, which is what we are discussing here.