Sole searching

years. There is already one verifiedcaseofdata falsification in the PhiladelphiaCensus region, andIhaveseveral whistleblowers ( all ofwhom havebeenretaliatedagainst) whohavetoldmethat cheating also occurred in four of the five other regions.

The data falsification involvedthe extremelyimportant and very closely watchedCurrentPopulation Survey, which is used to calculate the monthly unemploymentrate.

When Congress looked into the issue of data falsification lastyear, Commerce’s “obstructionmadeit difficult toprove, or disprove” theextent of the cheating. But there are signs that it was massive with regard to unemploymentratedata.

I’ve also looked into the matter of howCensus issues contracts, especially when it claims competitive bidding isn’t warranted. In governmentlingo, thesearereferred toas“solesource” contracts.

Census had a $ 1.1 billion budget in 2015. It requested an increase of 38 percent, to $ 1.5 billion. Census so far has blocked all efforts by The Post to investigate these sole source contracts.

So far, the only contracts turned over were orders for officesupplies. Clearly, someonehas a sense ofhumorand a desire to tickmeoff.

I’ve already reported that Census has a longterm $ 2millionayear, nobid contract with the University of Maryland for support services that very likely should havebeencompetitivelybid, awhistleblower toldme.

Thatwhistleblower saidhe was harassed for drawing attention to the deal. Interestingly, Robert Groves — Thompson’s predecessor at Census— had been a professor in the same university division thatgotthecontract.

In the latest investigation, Thompson’s lawyers told Zinser that using a handpicked headhunter and personal gmails were not evidence of an attempt to sneak around the rule— but rather innocentmisunderstandings.

“[ I] f the director was attempting to hide communications with the headhunter, he could have spoken with him by telephone without leaving an obvious email trail,” Thompson’s lawyers wrote to Zinser. Really?

SowhydidThompson, in a Dec. 8, 2013 email to the headhunter, indiscussing the search for a 2020 Census boss, tell him “as an aside, I have a gmail account” that is “probably better to use” because “[ m] y government emailispublic information.”

I’d be happy to spend the rest of my life investigating Census but, since Thompson and his gang like playing games with emails, I think it’s time for the Justice Department and the FBI to step in.

Census provides info vital to the functioning of the economy. If its economic statistics are flawed, manipulatedorotherwisefalsified— as they seem to have been — it can lead to bad policy decisions.

Also, Census has an enormous budget thatcanbeabusedbypoliticiansofeitherparty. Patronagejobsandgiftsforsupporters can easily be hidden in a Censussizebudget.

The headhunter case provesthatclosermonitoring of this US agency is necessary.