Vernon Ehlers: “And first of all, I have to clarify that Mr. Eagen did not have to clear up a mess left by Mr. Faulkner. Mr. Faulkner…”

“And first of all, I have to clarify that Mr. Eagen did not have to clear up a mess left by Mr. Faulkner. Mr. Faulkner may or may not have been the best choice for CAO at the time he took the job, but certainly improved the situation. And I was there. I saw the books as they were, ledger cards made out in pencil with erasures in the ledger book, an erasure of a number filled in with $2,500,000 just to make the books balance. I have seen those books. I know the facts. It was a mess after 40 years of the rule of one party. Now, I am not defending or criticizing either General Wishart or Scot Faulkner. They were there. They did the best job they could in very difficult circumstances. But they were not there very long. The point is simply that when we followed a good process, when we used a bipartisan process, we appointed someone who has served for a number of years and has served extremely well. You know as well as I that if you hire a person, that person's loyalty is going to be to you. It is very important that this position be operated in a bipartisan fashion. And since the Speaker has appointed Mr. Beard, no matter how capable he is, no matter how much he tries, he will be suspected of partisanship in his decisions.”