Former Inspector General Glenn Fine oversaw investigations of the mishandling of documents in the Oklahoma bombing case, the treatment of detainees at Guantanamo and corruption in the Navy. He spoke with Dave Davies about his work to uncover abuse, waste, and fraud in the Departments of Justice and Defense. His book is Watchdogs. Also, Maureen Corrigan reviews the book Clean, about a housekeeper who is the primary suspect in the death of a child. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
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This is FRESH AIR.
I'm Dave Davies.
Before I began doing interviews on FReSH AIr, I spent many years as a city hall reporter in Philadelphia.
And over time, I became fascinated with public corruption.
I wondered why public employees would risk their jobs and pensions to abuse their authority and steal tax dollars, and more important, what we can do to detect and discourage bad behavior that eventually becomes criminal.
Our guest today, Glenn Fine, has spent much of his career working inside the federal government to root out waste, fraud, and abuse, and make public servants better serve the public.
He spent eleven years as inspector general of the Department of Justice in the Clinton, Bush, and Obama administrations.
And later he served as acting inspector general of the Department of Defense from 2016 to 2020, when he was dismissed by then President Donald Trump.
In his career, he oversaw countless investigations into the mishandling of documents in the Oklahoma bombing case, the treatment of post 911 detainees at Guantanamo, the most troubling spy case in FBI history, and a massive corruption scandal in the US Navy.
He tells his story in a new book that explains why he thinks the role of inspectors general in government agencies is important and what changes could make them more effective.
One step he believes is critical is to establish some oversight for the US Supreme Court and other federal courts.
Glenn Fine is now a non resident fellow at the Brookings Institution and an adjunct professor at the Georgetown Law School.
His book is watchdogs, inspectors general, and the battle for honest and accountable government.
Well, Glenn fine, welcome to fresh Air.
I'd like you to begin by just telling us in simple terms what an inspector general is.