Atlanta’s inspector general says “widespread” efforts were made to obstruct investigations within City Hall.

An unexpected and unorthodox appearance by the city’s top watchdog at Monday’s Atlanta City Council meeting sparked a feud among city officials and spurred speculation about corruption at City Hall.

When Atlanta Inspector General Shannon Manigault took the podium during the public comment period — traditionally reserved for Atlantans to air their grievances with city officials — she warned city officials: “The reason for The reason I am here today is that the Office of Inspector General (OIG) is facing an emergency,” Manigault said. “That’s not hyperbole.”

In investigating dozens of allegations of misconduct across Atlanta’s numerous agencies, Manigault said, the OIG on Friday discovered “a concerted effort to interfere in the work of the Office of Inspector General.”

“This office has faced deteriorating levels of access, cooperation, responsiveness and, frankly, basic civility” from other city offices, she said.

Last month, the OIG released two investigative reports, one detailing findings of nepotism within the city’s human resources department and another describing a senior executive’s plan to obtain a contract as a municipal vendor for another Atlanta employee who was a friend.

This is just the tip of the iceberg, Manigault said afterward. Atlanta Civic Circle.

At the May 20 city council meeting, she claimed that unnamed city officials had asked employees to make the inspector general’s job more difficult. “Obstacles have been erected to delay, obstruct and disclose our confidential investigations,” she said.

Officials internally shared confidential details about some OIG investigations within their offices, Manigault told city council members and dozens of Atlantans gathered in council chambers (primarily to express support or opposition to the controversial public safety training center project).

“Not only does the OIG know that there is widespread knowledge of the existence of confidential OIG investigations, but we now have reason to understand that individuals are also sharing details about the specific content of confidential OIG interviews,” Manigualt said.

“Of course, this exposes our investigations to more people, which increases the likelihood of tainted testimony,” she said. “The destruction and withholding of evidence obviously slows down our investigations considerably. »

Refusal of council members

Two city councilors quickly seized on Manigualt’s claims – chastising her for taking time out of public comment to denounce municipal affairs and saying they were blindsided by her impromptu presentation.

Southwest Atlanta District 11 Councilwoman Marci Collier Overstreet chastised Manigault for bypassing “proper channels” and using an “inappropriate” time and place to raise her concerns. “I have not been contacted about an emergency of any kind,” Overstreet said.

Andrea Boone, who represents the Westside’s District 10, suggested Manigault might speak out publicly about the situation to put himself in the spotlight. “I hope we’re not being selfish and playing with people’s lives in the media,” she said.

Boone said he heard that Manigault’s office accosted numerous city employees at their homes, inspected their CashApp transactions and confiscated their phones and other devices while conducting investigations.

“There’s something called the FBI,” Boone continued. “If you think people are engaging in illegal activities, we need to have a work session on this. This is very serious. It’s a big deal for employees to feel like they need legal advice (for an OIG review), because the FBI can handle all that. »

“I definitely implore this agency to do a thorough, thorough analysis of your office,” Boone added.

Antonio Lewis, municipal councilor for District 12, was more receptive to Manigault’s concerns, congratulating her for the “courage it took” to speak out.

Bigger than a few crates

In an interview given Tuesday to Atlanta Civic CircleManigault said her office now handles about 85 cases of alleged fraud, waste, abuse or corruption in the city of Atlanta — a number that has increased, she said, each year since the creation of the BIG.

The Atlanta City Council created the inspector general’s office in 2020, following a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into corruption at City Hall that occurred during the former mayor’s administration Kasim Reed. The investigation saw several high-ranking officials fired, indicted and even jailed, and frustrated Reed’s 2021 bid for a third term as mayor. (The DOJ ultimately absolved Reed of any culpability in the corruption scandal. Andre Dickens won the last mayoral race against Reed and former Council Speaker Felicia Moore.)

Lately, Manigault said, “processes and procedures have been put in place that have made it more difficult for us to do our job, more difficult for us to have access to necessary records.” She declined to share information about city officials or departments that might have created obstacles to stifle the OIG’s investigative efforts.

“Municipal departments were instructed – and we have several cases that can attest to this – that they were asked to treat requests from the Office of Inspector General as open records requests,” Manigault said. “We have enough information to believe that this was a widespread directive.”

Requiring the OIG to file public records requests — as any resident or reporter would — allows city offices to take their time compiling documents and, in some cases, redacting information they believe , should remain private. It also outlines the OIG’s requests to anyone else who may file open records requests regarding specific cases.

“This creates a situation in which the very subjects of our investigation know very early on that they are indeed the subjects of our investigation,” Manigault said. “And that introduces a number of potential harms in terms of potential destruction of evidence and tainted testimony.” »

Manigault maintains she made her file public because her office seeks to maintain the integrity of its investigations. But Boone believes the inspector general’s speech in the council chambers — and his interviews with reporters, including one Tuesday morning with local radio host Rashad Richey — are little more than an attempt to attract attention and a reckless attempt to exaggerate the seriousness of the allegations of misconduct in Atlanta. City Hall.

“Putting this out in the media amazed me,” Boone said. Atlanta Civic Circle in an interview. “I understand that she graduated from Harvard and I understand that people are trying to make a name for themselves. But don’t try to build yourself up by tearing down others.

Boone pointed to one of the OIG investigative reports released earlier this month. It found that in 2022, Atlanta Human Resources Commissioner Tarlesha Smith “abused her authority by creating a (city) position for her daughter” and then “sought to have her daughter’s supervisor fired “.

Smith was placed on administrative leave after the report was released, pending further investigation.

“I’m all for justice and what’s right, but I don’t believe in judging people’s lives in the media because she’s already been found guilty,” Boone said.

For the Office of Inspector General to do what it was created to do, Manigault stressed, it must act without any outside interference. On Monday, she pressured the City Council to pass legislation changing city policies “to ensure that no one can obstruct the charter-based work of the Inspector General.”