Editorial: Double-dealing

In 2009, President Barack Obama tapped Bob Abbey to run the Bureau of Land Management. Mr. Abbey had an extensive background in federal land issues, including an eight-year stint as the BLM’s Nevada state director.

At the time of his appointment, Mr. Abbey was a partner in the Vegas-based consulting firm Abbey, Stubbs &Ford. Upon leaving for the public sector, he signed a form acknowledging that he planned to return to the firm after his time at the BLM and vowing to recuse himself from issues that could advance his company’s financial interests.

It seems Mr. Abbey fell short of living up to that promise.

The Review-Journal’s Henry Brean reported Thursday that a federal investigative report released this week concludes that Mr. Abbey “stood to benefit personally” when he tried to grease the wheels for a developer who sought to purchase federal land for an ill-fated Henderson stadium project.

The developer, Chris Milam, had hired Mr. Abbey’s former partner, Mike Ford, as a consultant to the development. The report — issued jointly by the FBI and Office of the Inspector General — found that the relationship between the two men led the BLM to fast-track the land sale. Mr. Abbey was “personally and substantially involved” in the matter, investigators determined. In addition, Abbey, Stubbs &Ford was set to pocket a $528,000 “success fee” upon completion of the property transfer.

The deal eventually fell through amid a flurry of lawsuits and controversy over the developer’s intentions. But it still smells like a typical local juice job. Yet Mr. Abbey appears home free. Federal prosecutors reviewed the BLM director’s actions and “declined the matter for prosecution” last September, the investigative report notes.

Perhaps Obama administration lawyers have legitimate reasons for shoving the Abbey report in a desk drawer. But it would be refreshing if government prosecutors brought the same enthusiasm to cases involving bureaucratic double-dealing that they exhibit when chasing down the evil capitalists in the boardrooms and on Wall Street.