Hilda Manuel, Iron Fist Emeritus.
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Move over
Hilda Manuel. There's a new Iron Fist in town and her name is Jeanette Hanna!
Hanna, a member of the
Seminole
Nation, was famously
stripped of her regional director's post in
Eastern Oklahoma and detailed to Washington, D.C., to work for former Assistant Secretary Larry Echo Hawk, who ended up giving her a
permanent job before he abandoned Indian Country in favor of the
Mormon Church.
Why, you ask, was Hanna stripped of her job? Well, no one will say because that's a "personnel" issue. The
Bureau of Indian Affairs investigated her but has refused to release a copy of the report despite requests by Indianz.Com and by other BIA employees.
But we got our hands on a copy of a
different report from the
Office of Inspector General at the Interior Department and boy it's a doozy. In it, we learn that Hanna inspired so much fear in Eastern Oklahoma that it makes
Hilda Manuel look like Hannah Montana.
To wit:
- Hanna installed "40 extra security cameras, with live feeds" in order to monitor employees in the BIA's Eastern Region office in Muskogee, Oklahoma.
- Hanna prevented employees from accessing the BIA's Indian trust account management system "which interfered with their job performance." Incidentally, this happened around the same time Indianz.Com asked Hanna several questions, in written form, about certain kinds of trust data being entered into BIA's systems. She never responded.
- Employees in Muskogee were so afraid of Hanna that they were "physically shaking" when they were interviewed as part of the BIA's investigation because they "feared retribution by Hanna."
- Hanna rewarded employees she liked and punished those she didn't. "If you're on the bad list, bad things happen. If you're on the good list, good things happen," a BIA official in DC told the OIG.
So what happens if you are accused of acting like this? In the BIA's world, you get showered with perks! Yes folks it keeps getting better:
- Once in DC, Hanna was allowed to rent an SUV even though regulations require employees to stick to cheaper compact cars. Why? Because there was "heavy snow in the Washington area," Paul Tsosie, Echo Hawk's former chief of staff, told the OIG. Apparently it snowed the ENTIRE TIME Hanna was on detail from January 12, 2010, through February 25, 2012. This cost the BIA "more than $30,000 over the course of her detail," the OIG said.
- As part of her detail, Hanna was put up in an Oakwood facility somewhere in Virginia. Yet she kept returning home to Muskogee -- 283 days in fact -- all while the BIA kept paying for her lodging. When asked why, Hanna said she didn't check out because she didn't know if she could check back in. [That curiously sounds like a slogan for a roach motel.] This cost the BIA "over $33,000," the OIG said.
- Hanna demanded to be reimbursed 100 percent of her per diem costs in DC even though regulations only
allowed her to claim 55 percent. Why? Because she "heard"
that vital law enforcement officers were granted exceptions and she just "wanted to be treated equally," the OIG said. [Maybe she thought she was on par with BIA officers who risk their lives every day -- sigh.] Fortunately, some employees in the BIA's travel section refused to grant her requests even after Tsosie signed off on them. But then one of these employees was demoted by Vicki Forrest, the BIA's Chief Financial Officer, who is one of Hanna's friends. Well, as you know, "sometimes bad things happen."
- Despite receiving the royal treatment, Hanna had the nerve to state in an Equal Employment Opportunity claim that she was wrongfully detailed to DC. Tsosie later tried to settle her EEO claim for "six figures," the OIG said. Thankfully, no one let Tsosie do anything and her EEO case was eventually found to be without merit in February 2012.
So how much did this cost the BIA, taxpayers and tribes? According to the OIG, her detail incurred a price tag of nearly $178,000.
Oh but the icing on the cake is that Hanna never paid taxes on her travel expenses as required by any employee who has been on detail for over a year, the OIG said. Federal prosecutors, however, declined to press charges, according to the report.
Now what will happen to Hanna now that this report is out in the open? Well, probably, absolutely, nothing! The OIG completed this report in August 2012 and referred "any action deemed appropriate" to the chief of staff for then-Interior Secretary
Ken Salazar.
In case you hadn't noticed, Salazar is
gone but Hanna is still in D.C.
And guess what? She's actually due for a PROMOTION, according to a former BIA employee who once incurred the wrath of In The Hoop's newly anointed Iron Fist.
"She will once again have authority over those [Eastern Oklahoma] employees, several of whom participated in the 2009 investigation and are fearful of reprisal," this person said in an e-mail. "Since Hanna seems to NEVER be held accountable for her actions, however illegal, their fear is understandable."
So,
Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, it looks like the ball is in your court.
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