by Ashe Schow
Washington Examiner
Classic Washington: hire someone based on political reasons and not actual qualifications, and hope no one notices.
And if someone notices: ignore, ignore, ignore.
That’s the path chosen by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which has refused to turn over documents relating to an October 2013Freedom of Information Act request regarding the reclassification of a political hire.
Former FERC Chairman Jon Wellinghoff hired Norman Bay in July 2009. Bay, a law professor and former U.S. attorney general for New Mexico, had no energy experience prior to becoming FERC’s director of enforcement. From that position, Bay dealt with energy market manipulation and supposed wrongdoing.
