Government Waste

Russ Ptacek Investigates

Congressional Leaders Buy Thousands In Water & Snacks

11:28 PM, Mar 25, 2013

America's five top U.S. House leaders are racking up a tab of about $10,000 a month in snacks, bottled water and coffee breaks.

Presidential $277,000 Invitation Is WUSA9 Web Hit

10:02 PM, Mar 18, 2013

The White House's $277,000 calligraphy staff probe has created a lot of strong opinions and questions and we answer them. 

Washington Guardian: Overpriced Drip Pans

12:32 AM, Dec 18, 2012

How many government mechanics does it take to install a drip pan? As Russ Ptacek reports, you the taxpayer are paying about $17,000 a drip pan, which critics say is about six times as much as it should cost.

Washington Guardian: A Look At Loan-A-Drone

12:39 AM, Dec 11, 2012

Whose drones are those in the sky? Russ Ptacek has the answer.

Golden Hammer: $1B Oak Ridge Nuclear Facility Too Small For Job

12:21 AM, Dec 8, 2012

A building that turned out to be too small for the job is costing taxpayers millions in wasted dollars.

Your Tax Dollars: Grants For Sno-Cones, Zombies, Pumpkins

12:31 AM, Dec 5, 2012

Flexibility in spending your tax dollars? What about grants to pay for a pumpkin festival and a sno-cone machine?

Government Contracts Awarded Without Bids

12:29 AM, Dec 4, 2012

Government contracts awarded without companies competing in the bidding process? Russ Ptacek reports.

Golden Hammer: Despite Tight Fiscal Times, Congress To Spend $550M To Refurbish Building

12:21 AM, Dec 1, 2012

While debating spending cuts and tax hikes, Congress to spend $550 million on Capitol Architect project to refurbish century-old Cannon Office building

WUSA-Washington Guardian Probe Finds Billions In Stimulus Waste

11:25 PM, Nov 2, 2012

Administration cites $11.1 million fraud figure, but review of audits finds $5.8 billion of problems -- and still growing

Pay Pepco, BGE More To Restore Power Faster?

11:29 PM, Sep 14, 2012

Maryland Public Service Commission hearings this week into the eight day derecho power outage indicated Pepco and BGE would need to rebuild electrical grids to restore services more than a day or two faster.

GSA Chief Answers 9 Wants To Know Investigation

11:30 PM, Sep 12, 2012

Whether it was  mystery illnesses at a regional headquarters, the controversial quarter-million dollar PR contract to deal with my investigation there, or the $30 million in unreported bonuses at the General Services Administration, the Acting Administrator remained on point and not defensive during an unscheduled one-on-one interview Monday.

New Storm, New Pepco Bills Without Labeling

10:51 PM, Sep 11, 2012

Maryland regulators say Pepco is charging for disconnected customers without labeling the bills and that this weekend's storm again qualifies the utility to ask blacked-out consumers to pay up for power services they didn't get.

Will Regulators Reverse Pepco, BGE Storm Billing?

11:40 AM, Aug 10, 2012

The same regulatory board that approved BGE and Pepco billing customers for lost revenue during storm outages is now considering reversing itself in the wake of a 9 Wants to Know probe.

Investigate GSA Yourself With New Payroll Database

8:26 PM, Aug 8, 2012

After identifying $30 million in unreported 2011 overtime GSA bonuses and $8 million in overtime, 9 Wants to Know is publishing the entire database online to continue combing through the 13,710 payroll records by crowdsourcing.

Senator Acts On BGE, Pepco Bills For Storm Profits

7:21 PM, Aug 8, 2012

A Montgomery County State Senator is using the casino special session to introduce a bill outlawing Pepco and BGE from billing customers for lost outage profits.

GSA Top 10 Earning Workers Paid More Than Vice President

6:43 PM, Aug 7, 2012

A WUSA9 top ten list of GSA earnings shows some workers earning paychecks larger than the vice president and an electrician supervisor earning more than the highest paid members of Congress.

LIST: 10 GSA Workers With The Most Overtime Pay

10:28 AM, Aug 7, 2012

Want to know which 10 GSA workers get the most overtime pay? We have listed the positions of the top 10 people paid the most in overtime. 

Evidence Points Away From GSA Party Cruise Suspicions

11:37 PM, Aug 3, 2012

A 9 Wants to Know inquiry into suspicions that the General Services Administration booked luxury suites and a party cruise has not found evidence to support the questions raised in Congress.

GSA Official Can't Explain $30M Bonuses Exposed By WUSA9

5:53 PM, Aug 2, 2012

A GSA official testifying before a Congressional probe into $30 million bonus dollars exposed by WUSA9 said she couldn't answer questions about bonuses.

WUSA9 Investigation Finds $30M GSA Bonuses Not Reported

11:54 PM, Jul 31, 2012

A 9 News Now investigation has found $30 million in unreported bonuses for fiscal year 2011 - making the already troubled General Services Administration's total bonus pool nearly $44 million.

Investigations Home | Food Alerts | Consumer Investigations | Russ Ptacek Biography

About Russ Ptacek

WUSA9 Investigative Reporter Russ Ptacek

In his first few months as a Washington, DC investigative reporter, Russ Ptacek's investigations at WUSA9 sparked debate in three separate Congressional hearings and exposed Pepco and BGE billing disconnected electrical consumers for services they couldn't have possibly used because of a major storm outage. More>>