Department of Justice (DOJ) Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz announced today the release of a report on a media destruction services contract the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) awarded to Articus Solutions, LLC. (Articus). The contract, awarded to Articus in September 2022, is valued at $21.6 million and has a period of performance through September 2027. Articus provides technician personnel to assist the FBI’s Asset Management Unit with the processing, sanitization, and destruction of electronic media destined for disposal. This process includes technicians separating, sanitizing, and destroying all memory components in accordance with National Security Agency standards and National Institute of Standards and Technology guidelines.
The DOJ Office of the Inspector General (OIG) found that to date Articus satisfied the Statement of Work (SOW) deliverable by providing 16 FTEs and submitting Monthly Status Reports (MSR) to the FBI, and by providing accurate and detailed monthly invoices. However, the OIG also found that the SOW did not include quality assurance measures to help the FBI assess contract performance, the FBI did not use available data to make informed management decisions and protect against low contractor productivity, and Articus’s Media Destruction Team was operating without standard operating procedures or other guidance. In addition, the FBI failed to timely complete required contractor assessment reports and other required paperwork, though the FBI took action to correct these two deficiencies during our audit.
The DOJ OIG made four recommendations for the FBI to improve the management of its media destruction contract, which will improve its ability to assess Articus’s performance, protect the FBI from unsatisfactory contractor performance, and establish consistent operating procedures and training methods across the media destruction program. The FBI agreed with all four recommendations.