FORMER ARIZONA COUNTY ATTORNEY TO ADVISE VA

AFTER DATA THEFT -- Rick Romley gets

three-month contract to investigate.

All background on VA data heist on this page...

VA Secretary Jim Nicholson has given Rick Romley a three-month contract to investigate the data theft.

VA press release here... http://www.vawatchdog.org/vapressrelease/vapressrelease05-31-06-2.htm

So, why do we need a prosecutor investigating this mess?  Good question.

Does this go further than we've been led to believe?  Is there more data missing?  Was this data taken just to be sold?

And, where's the data analyst?  Rumors have persisted that he has gone missing.  And, one Congressman has added fuel to that rumor.  Information here... http://www.vawatchdog.org/newsflash/newsflash06-01-2006-6.htm

Or...is the Romley appointment just another example of political cronyism?

Let's see what Romley digs up.

Story here... http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0601Romley0601.html

Story below:

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Romley to advise VA after theft

Attorney will recommend reforms

Billy House and Jon Kamman
The Arizona Republic

WASHINGTON - Former Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley was tapped Wednesday as a special data-security adviser for the troubled Department of Veterans Affairs, as more details emerged on the scope of the personal information of millions of veterans stolen last month.

Romley, a Vietnam veteran, agreed to serve for at least three months in the job after a personal visit from VA Secretary Jim Nicholson last weekend in Arizona.

This is a challenging period for veterans, Nicholson said. He said Romley will provide "a critical outsider's perspective" on the reforms his agency can undertake to prevent such security breaches from happening again.

"It's pretty much an open book," Romley said. "The secretary wants me to look at anything I think is necessary."

News of Romley's appointment came as the Associated Press reported that the information on 26.5 million veterans stolen in a May 3 burglary of a VA employee's home may go beyond names, birth dates and Social Security numbers in some cases.

Citing three pages of internal VA memos, the report said some veterans' phone numbers and addresses, and records of disability ratings also may be included. A file containing 6,744 records pertaining to "mustard gas veterans" who participated in chemical testing during World War II also was taken.

VA spokesman Matthew Burns declined to provide copies of those internal memos. But he did not dispute the description of their contents, saying Nicholson had testified last week to House and Senate Committees about many of those details.

It is unclear whether the burglars who took the computer and a disk drive from the VA employee's Washington, D.C.-area home know they have committed what may have been the largest theft of personal security in U.S. history.

That analyst, who has been fired, violated department policy by taking the files home, VA officials have said.

Burns said the VA's initial and primary efforts have focused on notifying veterans and some spouses whose most sensitive and identifiable information - their names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth and some disability ratings - may have been compromised.

Romley will report directly to Nicholson under the terms of his three-month government contract.

VA officials did not immediately release how much Romley will be paid. There also is an investigation by the department's inspector general.

Last week, some Republican and Democrat members of Congress accused Nicholson of a lapse in leadership, particularly for his agency's two-week delay before publicly disclosing the theft. It remained unclear Wednesday whether Romley's investigation will delve into that delay.

But Romley's appointment comes a day after Nicholson announced several personnel changes at the VA's Office of Policy and Planning, the unit in which the private information of veterans was potentially compromised.

As Maricopa County attorney from 1989-2004, Romley oversaw the AzScam political-corruption sting in which seven lawmakers were convicted and he made a critical decision to drop charges against four young men who were wrongly arrested in the 1992 massacre of nine people at a Buddhist temple.

He was a leader in the Arizona campaign for a Victim's Bill of Rights, as well as programs to root out slumlords and graffiti. Romley also forced the Catholic Diocese in Phoenix to institute reforms to prevent sexual misconduct. And he convened a grand jury to investigate state prisons after a pair of inmates brutalized hostages during a standoff.

Romley has "very keen insight" for leading such a VA investigation, said David McIntyre Jr., chief executive of Phoenix-based TriWest Healthcare Alliance, which administers the Defense Department's health-insurance program for military members, retirees and dependents in 22 states.

In late 2002, thieves stole computer equipment containing private information on 550,000 enrollees, which at the time ranked as the largest breach of private records in the nation. Romley was instrumental in the investigation as part of a team of local, state and federal officials, McIntyre said.

"He comes to the table with a great deal of credibility and background, and as a veteran who is incredibly patriotic," McIntyre said. "I can't imagine how Secretary Nicholson could have made a better choice."

Veterans in Arizona are concerned but far from panicked about possible identity theft, officials said.

Paula Pedene, spokeswoman for the Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center in Phoenix, said only about a dozen callers have asked for information.

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Larry Scott

(go back to VA Watchdog dot Org Home Page)

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