Mulvaney Wants A Refund For What The Government Paid Obama’s Ad Agency
by Thomas Phippen
The
CFPB prepaid GMMB advertising firm for media buys and for labor costs,
but the invoices the agency has on record were missing source
documentation. “Without reviewing source documents for the liquidation
of media placement or invoiced labor-hour charges, the [contracting
officer’s representative] could not ensure that the Bureau was
accurately charged or paid the correct amount for the goods and services
received,” the OIG concluded.by Thomas Phippen
GMMB won a contract to produce various advertising materials for the CFPB in 2013, shortly after the agency came into existence as part of the Dodd-Frank Act. GMMB competed for the contract against three other firms, and at first the contract was supposed to be for $11.5 million for five years. The number grew as the bureau worked with GMMB, eventually reaching $43 million total by February 2018.
Of the 22 task orders the OIG audited . . . .
which amounted to $31 million in payments from the federal government — the investigators were able to verify $1.3 million in labor hour charges, unable to verify $2.5 million in labor-related charges. The 67 invoices from GMMB that included labor-hour charges “did not have any details or support to show actual labor hours and rates,” the OIG said.
The auditors were also unable to verify that $27 million prepaid to GMMB for media buys across the country were accurate. Although contracting representatives “were monitoring the liquidation of prepaid media purchases” made by GMMB on the bureau’s behalf, “the monitoring spreadsheet does not appear to be accurate or complete,” the OIG report said.
Since Mick Mulvaney, Trump’s budget director, took over the CFPB following former Director Rich Cordray who resigned in November to run for Ohio governor, he has brought more attention to what he calls the “slush fund” aspects of the agency tasked with protecting American consumers.
Conservative groups have questioned the ethics of hiring a media consulting firm that has worked closely with Obama, and still advertises its work with the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the Democratic Governor’s Association on its website.
Mulvaney told the House Committee on Financial Services in April that he was in the process of terminating the agreement with GMMB.
“If I thought I were getting a good value for my $43 million, would not have sought to cancel the contract,” Mulvaney said.
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