http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/28/us/pressure-reported-in-rush-to-meet-security-clearances-including-edward-snowden-and-aaron-alexis.html
By TRIP GABRIEL
The New York Times
September 27, 2013
The calls and e-mails from top executives came toward the end of each
month, former managers at USIS recalled. The company needed to swiftly
complete investigating security clearances for the government in order to
reach its monthly revenue goal, the managers said they were told. Finally,
there was an order: "Flush" everything you’ve got.
The directive to give quick final approval of background investigations
without reviewing them for quality -- known as flushing -- was sent, the
managers said, to a branch office of USIS, a company that has performed
700,000 yearly security checks for the government. Among the individuals
the company vetted were Edward J. Snowden, the National Security Agency
leaker, and Aaron Alexis, who the police say shot and killed 12 people at
the Washington Navy Yard last week.
In interviews this week, former and current USIS employees detailed how
the company had an incentive to rush work because it is paid only after a
file is marked "FF," for fieldwork finished, and sent to the government.
In the waning days of a month, investigations were closed to meet
financial quotas, without a required review by the quality control
department, two former senior managers said.
The details of how its contract was structured provide new insight into
the workings of USIS, a company that is now the focus of two federal
inquiries, including a grand jury investigation in Washington, according
to Congressional testimony and people with knowledge of the proceedings.
[...]
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