Gun Inquiry Faults Inspector General

Health and Human Services Inspector General Janet Rehnquist was not legally entitled to receive a government handgun and law enforcement credentials but got them anyway, an internal investigation has concluded.

The daughter of Supreme Court Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist was guilty of “administrative failures,” the investigation found. The Justice Department reviewed the findings and said it would not prosecute.

No administrative punishment is required against Rehnquist because she recently announced her resignation, Mark Everson, deputy director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, said Friday.

The investigation was conducted by the President’s Council on Integrity and Efficiency, an organization of inspectors general who serve as internal watchdogs in their agencies. Everson chairs the council.

The report, obtained Friday by Associated Press, has not been publicly released.

“The IG did not meet the training and job classification requirements” that allow some Health and Human Services investigators to carry weapons, the report said.

The department’s spokesman, Tony Jewell, had no comment on the allegations against Rehnquist. He said her predecessor had similar credentials authorizing a firearm. Another top Health and Human Services official disputed that.

Jewell praised Rehnquist’s work as inspector general.

“She recovered record dollars in fighting fraud,” he said. “That’s what she was hired to do and she did it extremely, extremely well.”

Rehnquist has had a controversial tenure since taking office in August 2001. She intervened to delay an audit of Florida’s pension money at the request of Gov. Jeb Bush’s office. Most of her staff members quit or were forced out after she took office.

Congressional investigators are looking into her conduct.

Rehnquist announced she is quitting June 1 to spend more time with her teenage daughters and pursue other professional opportunities.