The IG and 'Death by Chocolate'

Board members of the Legal Services Corp. really don't like Kirt West, the organization's inspector general, AP reports. The directors of the agency, which provides legal services to the poor, derided West behind closed doors, saying he was overly aggressive in rooting out potential fraud. (West's allegations of questionable spending included $14 "death by chocolate" desserts written off as a business expense.) But the board members were worried about provoking a congressional reaction--rightly, as it turned out. When the board met in April, Sens. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and Michael Enzi, R-Wyo., and Rep. Christopher Cannon, R-Utah, became convinced they were about to fire West, and dashed off a letter telling them that such a move would be "an egregious action."