Click the play button on the video window to the right to see the storyAn ABC15 investigation is taking center stage at congressional hearings in Washington D.C.
The ABC15 Investigators uncovered that your tax dollars were spent on security at Senator Dianne Feinstein’s private home in San Francisco.
Meantime, a confidential source reveal hundreds of federal buildings in Phoenix, San Francisco and Los Angeles where security has never been assessed.
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Initial ABC15 Investigators' Report
Arizona Congressman Trent Franks has fired off a letter to the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security demanding answers after an ABC15 Investigation.
That investigation uncovered more than 140 federal buildings where security has never been assessed.
In the letter, addressed to Secretary Michael Chertoff, Congressman Trent Franks wrote, “We must never take for granted the security of the thousands of government installations across the country, nor the safety of the countless employees who go to work everyday for the American people.”
The ABC15 Investigators uncovered secret government documents exposing how the Federal Protective Service has failed to conduct required threat assessments at federal buildings all across the west coast.
In Phoenix, those documents reveal how inspectors were actually recycling threat assessments.
Rather than inspecting the buildings, inspectors were caught copying and pasting information from old reports.
In some cases, inspectors were sending out emails asking employees, “Are there guards on site or roving patrols?”
David Wright, a 21-year investigator for the Federal Protective Service and the national union president said, “It's inexcusable in my opinion.”
But that’s not all we found.
While the Federal Protective Service has failed to conduct threat assessments at more than one hundred federal facilities, classified records obtained by ABC15 reveal how FPS spent ten days inspecting the private $16 million home of U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein.
In his 21 years with FPS, David Wright said, “I’ve not seen a survey on any private residence, let alone a congressional private residence."
At the time of the security assessment conducted on the Senator’s private home, FPS was strapped for cash.
Wright said they were turning to Congress for help, turning directly to Senator Feinstein and her committee.
“I think it should be looked at by Congress, possibly by the ethics committee,” Wright said.
Congressman Franks' letter to the Department of Homeland Security makes no mention of the security assessment on the Senator’s private home, but it does say, “I would deeply appreciate the opportunity to hear from your office regarding this troubling audit, and what steps the Department is taking to correct the problem.”
In a statement to ABC15, Senator Feinstein claims, “As one who has been the target of violence I feel it important to take prudent security measures. I have been advised not to discuss those measures publicly."
The statement goes on to say, “It is my understanding that the assessment was conducted in a manner fully consistent with the Services responsibility to protect Federal officials.”
