Here's a fun little story about politics, the Department of the Interior and a Bush appointee. Yeah, I didn't think that was possible either, but trust me, this one is great.

Buried in a recent report by the Inspector General's office at the DOI, is this little tidbit dug out by Grist:

Apparently the Assistant Secretary of Fish, Wildlife and Parks Julie MacDonald was in the habit of handing out nonpublic scientific reports to just about anybody to read over for her.

In one particularly interesting case, MacDonald sent a controversial report about the endangered Delta Smelt to her kid and an online gaming pal to vet.

MacDonald confirmed that she also sent the Delta Smelt document to an on-line game friend through his father's e-mail account. MacDonald said she is acquainted with the on-line friend through internet role-playing games. She said she engages in these games to relieve the stress created by her job; however, she said she has not played while at work. When asked why she would e-mail an internal DO1 document to a private citizen, MacDonald replied, "I was irritated [with what was happening regarding the subject of the document] and tried to explain my irritation over the phone; however, I sent it to him to read for a better understanding."

Agent's Note: The on-line game friend is not professionally or personally afliliated with DOI or any of its entities. MacDonald continues to play games on the internet with the on-line friend; however, she has not sent any internal DOI information to him since her first interview last summer. MacDonald could offer no explanation as to why she sent her child an e-mail containing an internal DOI/FWS document other than she feels frustrated at times and likes to have third party reviews of these documents. MacDonald opined that she sent FWS documents to the on-line game
friend and her first interview last summer.

My money's on World of Warcraft. What do you think? Brian Crecente

The Bush administration: Bringing you third-party scientific reviews from online roleplaying pals [Grist]

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