Your Money for This? (page 2 of 3)

Designing Men

You might think $120 million is plenty of money to build a new headquarters for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) in Washington, D.C. -- unless you're the bureau's former director, Carl J. Truscott. In fact, the massive project he oversaw for two years was nearly $20 million over budget.

It would have been even worse if the ATF hadn't nipped some of Truscott's projects in the bud after allegations of gross mismanagement of public funds. While the ATF was considering deep cuts in the number of new cars and bulletproof vests that it provides its agents, Truscott was busy mapping out his master suite in the new building. According to a Justice Department investigation, Truscott planned to spend nearly $63,000 on hardwood floors plus an additional $243,000 for woodwork and custom trim (not to mention "upgrades" for the suite, including a 42-inch retractable flat-screen television for his office, and a second flat-screen TV, radio speakers and a telephone for his quartzite-tile bathroom).

He also intended to spiff up the operations center at ATF headquarters, to the tune of around $145,000 -- a plan that led investigators to say Truscott's eye for detail "related more to appearance than to functionality."

When Truscott wasn't planning his elaborate offices, he was being escorted around town by a security detail that cost nearly $1 million a year and included five full-time agents, a medic and two SUVs -- unprecedented security for an ATF chief.

While claiming that the Justice Department report "fails to put the allegations made into context," Truscott nonetheless resigned last August. Meanwhile, the more investigators have learned, the worse Truscott has come off. It seems he had some 20 ATF employees use official time and government property -- like ATF stock footage -- to help create a video for his nephew's high school project.

And, in a fit of pomposity, Truscott ordered two female administrative staffers to prepare and serve him lunch. According to the Justice Department report, Truscott once even demanded that one of the staffers announce, "Lunch is served." Maybe he should be served a subpoena instead.

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