The Department of Interior's inspector general is investigating the National Park Service's dealings with a non-profit organization that raised funds to "reopen" the Statue of Liberty, The New York Times reports.

Interior Secretary Gale Norton last week praised the private-public partnership that resulted in the base of the statue being reopened to visitors this summer. But The Times, citing reviews of documents and interviews with people involved in the process, including former Interior secretary Donald Hodel, questioned why it took so long to make the announcement when money was available for more than two years.

The National Park Service never asked Congress to provide money for the reopening and dragged its feet, the paper said. The non-profit Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation had enough money for the project but decided to ask the public for $7 million, the paper said.

Get the Story:
U.S. Is Investigating Use of Donors' Gifts to Statue of Liberty (The New York Times 4/5)
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Extra Fund-Raising Put Off Statue of Liberty Reopening (The New York Times 4/4)
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