Free Republic

How did we lose our nation? What if there was a system designed to outsource the process of vetting those applying for federal government positions? What if the process of Federal background checks for applicants were no longer carried out and investigated by personal, but by specially designed software? How many here have heard the story of Blake Percival? From 2001-2011, Blake worked for USIS, also known as US Investigations Services, where he rose through the ranks to the position of Director. USIS was a Company contracted by the government to conduct National Security Clearance Background Investigations on prospective and...

“Blake Percival is one of the most important whistleblowers in recent history,” Attorney Larry Golston says. “We as a country are safer because of what he did.” Blake Percival was born in Panama City, Florida where he was raised in a traditional Southern home. He graduated from High School in Montgomery, Alabama in 1984 and served 6 years in the U.S. Army where he was Honorably discharged at the rank of Sergeant in 1992. He then worked as a Police officer in West Virginia and Alabama. He is a graduate of the West Virginia State Police Academy, The Montgomery Police...

Blake worked for USIS, also known as United States Investigations Services, where he rose through the ranks to the position of Director. USIS was a Company contracted by the government to conduct National Security Clearance Background Investigations on prospective and current Federal employees. Blake became a Whistleblower in July of 2011 when he exposed that USIS was billing the U.S. Government for background investigations that allegedly had not been properly reviewed.

Mr. Percival filed a whistleblower complaint in 2011 alleging USIS violated the False Claims Act by billing the government for work it never actually performed. It is estimated that the fraud affected more than 650,000 background checks, resulting in individuals receiving security clearances when they were not properly vetted.

WASHINGTON – The federal Office of Personnel Management plans to terminate its massive contracts with USIS, the major security clearance contractor that was targeted last month by a cyberattack, agency, congressional and company officials said Tuesday. The computer network intrusion compromised the personal files of as many as 25,000 government workers. The early August cyberattack against USIS' computer network compromised the files of 25,000 Homeland Security Department workers and is under investigation by the FBI. The OPM official spoke on condition of anonymity because the matter remains a criminal investigation. USIS has said it was targeted by what it described...

As the fight against the Islamic State unfolds, the take of Erik Prince, the founder of the former private security firm Blackwater, is straightforward: If the United States is unwilling to send in ground troops, “let the private sector finish the job.” Prince addressed the subject this week in a little-noticed blog post on the site of his newest security and logistics firm, Frontier Services Group. Prince left Blackwater, with its checkered history in Iraq, including the killing by contractors of 17 civilians in a 2007 shooting, in 2010. The trial of four Blackwater guards involved in the shooting in...

The government has accused its largest security background check contractor of defrauding the U.S. of millions of dollars by filing more than 660,000 flawed background investigations. The Wall Street Journal reported that the Justice Department made the claims in a 25-page civil complaint that joined a whistleblowers' lawsuit against US Investigations Services, LLC in U.S. District Court in Alabama. USIS was the firm that conducted background checks on NSA leaker Edward Snowden, as well as Aaron Alexis, a defense contractor who fatally shot 12 people before killing himself at the Navy Yard in Washington, D.C. this past September. Federal officials...

The same company that scrutinized former spy agency contractor Edward Snowden for a U.S. government security clearance said on Thursday it also checked the background of the Navy Yard shooter, allowing him to obtain a "secret" clearance. USIS, working as a contractor for the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), conducted a background review of Aaron Alexis, identified by law enforcement authorities as the shooter who killed 12 people at the Navy Yard before he was shot dead. "Today we were informed that in 2007, USIS conducted a background check of Aaron Alexis for OPM," USIS spokesman Ray Howell said in...

As a candidate, Barack Obama promoted hybrid cars. As president, he'll be handed the keys to one. Sort of. Shortly after taking the oath of office, Obama will climb into the Mother of All Hybrids -- part car, part truck and, from the looks of it, part tank. In keeping with recent tradition, the Secret Service will place a brand-new presidential limousine into service January 20 to drive the new president on the 2-mile jaunt down Pennsylvania Avenue during the inaugural parade. Already, spy photos of the limo -- with patches of gray primer -- have leaked out. And already,...