david e. foley is the deputy commissioner of public building service at the general services administration. pursuant to our rules all witnesses are required to take the oath, would you please rise, raise your right hand to take the oath. do you solemnly swear or affirm that the testimony you're about to give will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. let the record reflect that all witnesses answered in the affirmative. in order to allow time for discussion testimony will be limited to five minutes. some of you have written statements some do not. in other case -- your written statement will be platsed in the record in their entirety. you may read your written statement for five minutes or make other such comments that you think may be helpful to all of us. with that the chair recognizes mr. miller for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman, good afternoon -- >> would you pull the mic as close as you can tolerate. >> chairman, issa, ranking member cummings, members of the commi

david foley is a deputy commission commissioner at the gsa.and we are learning more about the growing cost of that conference. the agency's spending increased starting during president bush's tenure. eight years ago, the overall cost was about $95,000 when it was held in oregon and tripled two years later in oklahoma city and doubled in 2008 when new orleans was the host city and of course the big shindig in vegas that's getting all the attention now. the taxpayer cost, more than $800,000. dana bash has nor. ♪ >> reporter: hoping to limit the political damage shall the obama administration handed out an hour's worth of new embarrassing gsa video over the holiday weekend. among this see it to believe it clips, government workers appearing to mock the president for his green jobs initiative. it is yet another submission for a video awards ceremony which cnn first reported on last week, a talent show at a lavish 2010 gsa convention in las vegas, which cost taxpayers over $800,000. house oversight chairman, darryl issa, says the administration con

boondoggla a deputy commissioner of the western region has been placed on administrator leave, david foley, better known as the master ceremonies of the awards banquet where they handed out prizes for the videos like the ones you see here that bragged about the lavish spending. here's part of the winning video, followed by the awards. listen: >> ♪ >> ♪ >> ♪ >> sometimes dreams do come true. i'm here to officially make you commissioner for a day. >> reporter: the man who gave the hat, that's david foley. turns out we found out he was also in charge of managing $5.5 billion in stimulus money. hmm. hmm. and it turns out the videos they made, making fun of wasting taxpayer dollars were made while, you guessed it, employees were on the clock. ♪ >> that was amazing. was there anybody in region seven that wasn't in that thing? [laughter] >> it's a work -- if they didn't work on friday, chances are they weren't -- [laughter] >> reporter: yeah. filmed during work on fridays. this is going to get a whole lot worse for gsa before it gets better. see that list? in the next ten days, congress will hold

but it's these words from high- rank gsa official david foley creating fallout today. >> eleanor holmes our chairwoman called, she has a couple of questions about the proposed pay increases for executives you mentioned outside. >> holmes norton who is mentioned by name is not laughing. >> well, he really wasn't hoping that congresswoman eleanor holmes norton would see this. this was such fun for them without thinking about the squandering of taxpayers funds. >> obama appointee martha johnson resigned monday. two other senior leaders were ousted as well. that official joking about nor top, he's a deputy commissioner. so far he still has a job. i'm investigative reporter russ potasic, 9news now. >> and there was a statement issued saying the gsa commissioner got adds 9,000 bonus. >>> off to california where oakland police they have found the gun used in the deadly shooting rampage at the university. officers have been looking for the weapon since the mon day massacre. the suspected shooter, one goh, has confessed to the killing. now he's charged with seven counts of murder and three count

the employee is deputy commissioner david foley, who actually gave an award to a colleague for producing a music video about the gsa's spending. >>> for the first time we're hearing from the gunman who shot trayvon martin. on a new website, george zimmerman says, i've been forced to leave my home, my school, my employer, my family and unfortunately, my entire life. the site solicits donation for his legal fight. sources close to the investigation says charges could be filed against zimmermann with in days. >>> suspects in a shooting rampage that terrorized the city's black community has confessed. jake england confessed to shooting three people. and 32-year-old alvin watts confessed to shooting two. they say england may have been motivated by revenge for his father's fatal shooting by a black man two years ago. >>> from north korea this morning, a denial that an upcoming satellite launch is cover for a nuclear missile test. that launch is thursday and next monday. it has several airlines rerouting flights over the philippines, which is along the anticipated flight path. north korean prep

we sent it to david foley on december 7th, 2011, to give us a breakdown of administrative costs. >> i was not aware of that request, and i only became aware of it as the public building services came close to finalizing its response. >> we've been trying to get this information since last year. so you're the chief financial officer. and of course, in my opening statement i described what was sent to us. and we see why there wasn't much detail sent to us now. mr. miller -- well, first of all, susan brita, you asked -- this conference took place in october 2010. in november, shortly thereafter, you asked for an u.g. review, is that correct? >> correct. >> and it looks like a preliminary briefing was not done until may of 2011. all this was not made public until a few weeks ago, mr. miller. what took so long between briefing administrator johnson and miss brita in may 2011? >> chairman mica, we investigated a number of individuals. we interviewed individuals. we turned over every stone. and every time we turned over a stone we found 50 more with all sorts of things crawling out from unde

my name is david foley and i'm the deputy commissioner for the public buildings service. i sincerely apologize for my remarks at the award ceremony. at the time of my remarks i was not aware of the significance of irregularities. i did not intend to condone any wasteful spending or minimize the role of congressional oversight. as i said yesterday, i especially want to apologize to this committee in particular and congresswoman norton. i have the utmost respect for her and this committee. you have always been strong advocates for gsa and its programs while holding us accountable as an agency. dy not mean to belittle you or your role in any way. i attempted to make a joke in the context of a talent celebration that i perceived as being similar to a comedic roast. as the deputy commissioner i should have taken the stage to stress that we have a serious job and responsibility as stewards of taxpayer funds. i realize i missed a real opportunity to address the nearly 300 people in my organization and stress the importance of the work we do. during my presentation at the award c

she will come as well as david foley, one of the men featured in those videos. and jeff neely.is going to plead the fifth. that's what they expect. i was told we also expect the committee to dismiss his afterwards. carol, i have to share this with you. to me this is so ironic and really speaks to the head shaking that is going on about washington. jeff neely, as i said, was put on administrative leave. he is coming in here. the gsa is flying him across the country from california here in order to testify on a hearing about excess spending? and he's going to come and likely plead the fifth. >> haven't they heard his video conferences? oh, dana. it makes your head hurt. >> reporter: it does. >> dana bash, thank you so. >> reporter: thanks, carol. >>> prince william's sister-in-law, pippa, gets caught up in a gun investigation. now paris police might want to talk to pippa middleton. and that conversation could lead to criminal charges. everything that i've gained in life has been because of the teachers and the education that i had. they're just part of who i am. she convinced me

his name is david foley.ogized to the public, his colleagues, the administration, and in particular, to d.c. delegate eleanor holmes norton. he talked about her in a very joking way in the video about oversight. the kind of event we have happening right now. so he was apologetic. what is happening is a kind of a different tone here than we see day to day. there is a very strong showing of bipartisanship. darrell issa from california chairs this hearing. elijah cummings, a democrat of maryland, is the number two on the committee. they've been working very closely on this. and speaking in almost one voice saying they don't want immune for jeff neely, the man who was first on the hot seat. and believing there is a lot more to uncover here. not just this one conference but they've already elicited testimony saying this has been going on for years. >> what's behind the bipartisan tone? it is so rare, especially when you have people trying to politicize everything. >> and always looking for a way to jockey for posi

david foley, gsa official who was captured on video joking about the agency spending at 2010 conference. he said he did not know the over-the-top expenses were paid for with the government money. who does he think was paying for that? >> clearly what we know now that neely and others in fact stole money. they used money that had to be used personally, implied to some people it was personal but used gsa credit cards for a number of expenses. the important thing here is what you saw, existing people on the full payroll, not answering questions or answering them as though they did nothing wrong. this is part of the culture that every president inherits that the reason we give political appointees the opportunity to work is they're supposed to bring about that change, control and reform. that is what hasn't happened in this agency for last three years. >> greta: jeffrey neely not did he get $9,000 bonus he is on the payroll. >> he will make $179,000 a year until he is determinenated which could be a long time. >> greta: what does it take to terminate him? >> hopefully indictment and convict

the gsa says it is now reviewing david foley's conduct at this 2012 conference in las vegas.o the right of the video, the agency spent $820,000 on the conference in vegas that featured a clown and a mind reader. video from the four-day event shows foley, a deputy commissioner, rewarding an employee who starred in a fake rap video. in fact one line in this rap brags about never being under investigation for spending. we're told eight gsa officials have now been fired, removed or placed on leave. >>> number three tonight, cnn now has new video showing osama bin laden's widows and their children. take a look. the video shows his wives often praying and his children playing with toys while under house arrest. this is islamabad, pakistan. three of his wives and two of his daughters were sentenced to 45 days of house arrest after being convicted of illegal residency. the widows and the children are being deported back to their home countries, that being yemen and saudi arabia. that happens next week. >>> number four, facebook has now acquired instagram the widely popular photo-shar

that employee is the deputy commissioner named david foley.to a colleague for producing a rap video about the gsa's free-spending ways. >> sure they regret that little video now. >>> we turn to texas where the victims of last week's horrific tornadoes are now being targeted a second time, and police are cracking down. looters are preying on neighborhoods where people's homes are too damaged to live in anymore. they are stealing what's left behind and been exposed from stripping copper from air conditioning units. police have made more than a dozen arrests. predators striking. hard to believe people would do that in tough times, but that's the way it goes. >>> also, firefighters in new jersey are working through the night to contain a brush fire that could force people to evacuate their homes. about 1,000 acres in the pine barrens forest are on fire now. the flames are fueled by dry conditions out there, plus winds gusting above 40 miles an hour. the people in its path are trying to protect their homes but they've also packed their cars in case

we sent it to david foley in december 7, 2011 to give us a breakdown of the minister of costs. >> i was not aware of that request. i only became aware of as the public building services came close to finalizing its response. >> we have been tried to get this information since last year. if you're the chief financial officer. of course, in my opening statement, i describe what was sent to us and we see why there's not much detail sent to us now. mr. miller, you asked that this conference to place in october of 2010 and november shortly thereafter you asked a review. is that correct? and it looks like a preliminary briefing was not done until may 2011. all this was not made public until a few weeks ago. what took so long between briefing the administrator under and miss brita in may 2011. >> chairman mica, we investigated a number of individuals. we turned over every stone. every time we turned over a stone, we found 50 more. >> but you never published a report? >> but in june, after providing that briefing to miss brita, somehow the gsa chief yesterday, informed kimberly harris, the whit

david foley, a top official of the general services administration has been placed on administrative leave. he is the eighth staffer to be disciplined. he appears in a video joking about the lavish spending at a 2010 conference. there is also video of gsa workers mocking president obama's clean energy exam pain. more than $800,000 of taxpayer money was spent on mind-readers, clowns and music videos. >> heavy chelishelling continue syria on the day the government promised to withdraw their forces from all cities and towns. opposition groups say at least 45 people have been killed, at least 160 died yesterday. president bashir alazon had agreed to a deadline to withdraw his troops today and a full cease-fire on tuesday. in the meantime, a special envoy arrived in turkey to visit a refugee camp. accompanying him are senators john mccain and joe lieberman. live reports from the border in 30 minutes. suicide attacks killed at least 18 people and wounded 27. targets were police officers and local government officials. among the victims, at least seven police officers and a police chief was

. >> all right this as this guy david foley becomes the eighth gsa official on leave.g. >>> stock futures are pointing slightly higher today. wall street trying to erase a four day losing strike. quarterly earnings season starts today. we're waiting for alcoa the first big doe report for the january to march quarter. >>> in other business news facebook spending big bucks to buy the photo sharing app instantgram. the price tag, a billion dollars. not bad for a company that's been around for less than two years. instantgram has just 13 employees. still hasn't turned a profit. but it does have more than 30 million users. oh, yeah. and the interest now of facebook. wow. a picture is worth a billion dollars. >> should have learned a code. every time i hear a sorry like that i should have learn ad code. >> the people who code say man i wish i was an anchor. >> no. not when they -- >> no one of says i wish i could read off a teleprompter. i wish i could code and create a company that would be worth a billion dollars after two years. >> whole new way for facebook to sell infor

david foley, the deputy commissioner of the agency's public building services and on monday he was placedd of the agency, who by the way was appointed by president obama was forced to resign, that came after she fired two top deputies and put four regional commissioners on administrative leave, and remember, lots of heads rolling, lots of investigations, three of them in total and the first hearings start next week. >> we'll hear a lot more on this. >> yes, we will. >> alina, thank you for that. it's nine minutes past 6:00. at 6:30, more on the fallout, we'll talk to republican congressman jeff denham who happens to be the chair of the house subcommittee leading the hearings on the spending. >>> dry and windy weather fueling fires across the entire east coast. the flames are popping up as far north as new england, as far south as florida. the worst of the flames are in florida, thousands of acres are burning as one of the warmest and driest springs on record continues in the southeast. in new jersey, the pinelands are glowing, look at this, flames have burned about 1,000 acres and threate

. -- david foley. witnesses are required to take the oath? the you solemnly swear the testimony you are about to give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? as the record show that all witnesses have entered in the affirmative. some of you have written statements. some do not. your written statements will be placed on the record in their entirety, so you may either read them for five minutes or make other such comments you think will be helpful. the chair recognizes mr. miller for five minutes the reagan >> thank you, an -- for 5 minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. as the ranking member, members of the committee, thank you for inviting me to testify today. as you know on april 2 i published a report involving miss management of its conference in fall of 2010. it may be difficult among all the bad news to find, but there is a glimmer of good news. the oversight commission worked. my office interviewed witnesses and issued a report. good no one stopped us from writing the report, and no one stopped us from issuing the r

are you aware of a request that i've had in and our committee's had in, we sent it to david foley on december 7, 2011, to give us a breakdown of administrative costs? >> i was not aware of that request, and i only became aware of it as the public building services came close to finalizing its response. >> we've been trying to get this information since last year, so you're the chief financial officer and, of course, in if my opening statement -- in my opening statement i describe what was sent to us, and we see why there wasn't much detail sent to us now. mr. miller -- well, first of all, susan brita. you asked that -- this conference took place in october, 2010. and november, shortly thereafter, you asked a review, ig review. is that correct? >> correct. >> and it looks like a preliminary briefing was not done until may of 2011. all this was not made public until a few weeks ago, mr. miller. what took so long since briefing administrator johnson and ms. brita in may 2011? >> chairman mica, we investigated a number of individuals, we interviewed individuals, we turned over every ston