It wasn't the first time that the Bush administration cozied up to the oil and gas companies it is supposed to regulate in the public interest.
But an inspector general's report issued Wednesday alleged that it was never more literally true than for some federal employees at the Interior Department's oil and gas royalty agency.
Given allegations from the department's inspector general, Earl E. Devaney, of sex between agency staffers and energy company employees, drug use, and lies, this is a government operation in dire need of a housecleaning - and a culture change from one called "a culture of substance abuse and promiscuity."
More than a dozen employees assigned to collect royalties from oil and gas companies for the exploration rights on government land apparently lost sight of their oversight role. According to the report, they were too busy compromising themselves by grabbing for goodies - meals, ski trips, golf outings, sports tickets and the like. Not a proud moment for the Bush team.
With Bush aides dusting off their resumes, at least Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne expressed the requisite outrage yesterday. He decried the "the immoral behavior, illegal activities and appalling misconduct" of staffers and pledged "swift action to restore the public trust."
Cleaning up the mess at Interior, though, is about more than just resetting the moral compass in an obscure government outpost.
With the Minerals Management Service program collecting about $10 billion in royalties each year, there's as much money sluicing through there as oil in some pipelines. So guess what happens when regulators in such an office snuggle up to the corporate interests they're supposed to be regulating? Taxpayers' interests can get the cold shoulder, that's what.
In fact, an earlier inspector general's report noted hundreds of instances where companies were allowed to modify their bids for oil and gas rights - mostly to the detriment of the government. That's hardly a surprise, given all the back-slapping and back rubs.
So taxpayers have a dollars-and-cents interest to protect here. Moreover, the current debate over opening up more coastal waters and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling takes on an even more controversial aspect if there are doubts about whether those protecting the taxpayers' interests are acting above-board.
While Devaney lodged no claim of criminal conduct, Shell, Chevron, Hess and Gary-Williams Energy should be embarrassed that their employees were cited in the report. As for top Interior officials, only one has been charged. Two others beat it out the door to retirement before being held accountable. Too bad.