WA – USA Team Building/Loss of Hundreds of Millions of Dollars To Fraud Update

Credibility matters when government needs people to support various programs.

People have earned a right to be skeptical.

Some people may feel they have been run in circles by various levels of government for an extended period of time.

Will elected officials and the press acknowledge this possibility?

Jan. 22, 2021 The Seattle Times

Suzi LeVine, head of Washington state’s unemployment agency, to take job in Biden administration

July 2018

“Inslee appointed LeVine as ESD commissioner in July 2018.”

During the Pandemic

“…problems at the ESD during her 2-1/2 year tenure — notably a fraud scheme that siphoned off $600 million in unemployment funds as well as chronic delays in benefit payments to legitimate claimants during the pandemic.”

During the Obama administration

“…LeVine, a 51-year-old former Microsoft and Expedia executive and U.S. ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein for three years in the Obama administration, is a longtime player in Democratic politics. She and her husband, Eric LeVine, gave more than $400,000 to the Biden campaign and other Democratic causes in 2019 and 2020, according to federal campaign records.”

Jan 2021

“And despite steady calls for her ouster following the fraud and other ESD problems, LeVine maintained the support of Inslee. LeVine “led the Employment Security Department through an extremely challenging time and I never doubted that she had the best interests of working Washingtonians at the heart of all her endeavors,” Inslee said in a statement Friday.”

“Last September, for example, LeVine disclosed that a software flaw that contributed to the fraud losses was first detected in 2019, but not fixed until much of the fraud had occurred. That problem was highlighted in December in the first of five state audits being conducted on the fraud and other problems during the pandemic. State Auditor Pat McCarthy also rebuked LeVine for hindering her office’s investigation.”

Feb 2021

Moving on to serve the USA as an economic first responder.

Nov 30, 2020 OregonLive

Auditor: Washington state agency head slowing investigation into massive unemployment fraud

“…Investigation into massive fraud resulting in the theft of hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars.”

“State Auditor Pat McCarthy said Employment Security Department Commissioner Suzi LeVine imposed “significant constraints” on auditors — including limiting interviews with key employees and delaying access to important documents, The Seattle Times reported.”

Jan 22, 2021 KING 5 News

Washington Employment Security Commissioner Suzi LeVine leaving to join Biden administration

“Employment Security Department (ESD) Commissioner Suzi LeVine, who came under fire for delays in unemployment benefit payments and the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars to fraud during the pandemic, is leaving her position to join the administration of President Joe Biden.”

Jan 22, 2021 Puget Sound Business Journal

LeVine leaves ESD fraud mess for role in Biden’s administration

“ESD still has not released information in response to multiple public records requests that seek to understand how fraudsters pilfered $576 million from state coffers using stolen identities, including a request by Washington Sen. Ann Rivers.”

Random Thoughts

Maintaining the public trust?

Being on watch for fraud at Washington state’s Employment Security Department seems like it would be a normal part of the job, even if there was no pandemic.

Jan. 22, 2021 The Seattle Times

“Allies say she revived a dysfunctional and demoralized state agency. State Sen. Reuven Carlyle, D-Seattle, said that LeVine, who graduated from Brown University with an engineering degree, used her considerable technical and management expertise to help modernize an agency that had been slow to upgrade its systems.”

“She took an agency that was in the ditch … and I think she did an extraordinary job of turning that ship,” Carlyle said. “And then, [she] ran into the largest global pandemic in world history.”

Why did Governor Inslee allow this agency to struggle prior to July of 2018?

Why did she not step down or get removed after “slowing investigation into massive unemployment fraud“?

WA – Credibility Squandered

WWII Generation Endured Rationing With Little Complaint

If I was Governor

WA – Dining Outside While Sealed Inside A Tent Is Legal

Play by the rules and we’ll make more rules

The idea is to live in a free and honest society.

Suppressing Choices – One Size Fits All

Northern California – One Size Fits All

Don’t miss our companion blog-found here: Old Man Blog

Find us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/yeomalt