NASA Office of the Inspector General Strikes Back
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Summer Worden was served this afternoon with a sealed criminal indictment issued by a federal grand jury in Houston, charging her with making false statements about her former spouse NASA astronaut Anne McClain.
“This is what happens when you try and fight the mob,” Worden says. “The NASA Inspector General has no interest in justice and is there solely to cover up for misbehaving astronauts. They never even talked to me in person. They refused to send me a copy of their completed investigation.”
Worden was in the heat of a nasty divorce and custody fight with McClain when the astronaut logged into Worden’s personal bank account from the International Space Station. Worden filed a complaint with the NASA Inspector General after learning about McClain’s actions. The indictment claims Worden lied when she said she had changed the login information to keep McClain from seeing the information and lied about the dates the bank account was even created.
“The bizarre notion that it was okay for the woman trying to steal my son to look into my personal bank account that was set up after the divorce started is absurd. What person going through a divorce wants their spouse spying on them?” says Worden. “This is pay back because NASA doesn’t like to be embarrassed.”
The notorious secrecy of the U.S. space agency reemerged as an issue after the international news coverage of McClain and the possibility of the first crime committed in space.
The NASA Office of the Inspector General denied a request by Dolcefino Consulting to look at any completed investigations of astronauts to protect privacy interests of third parties. The agency also refused to provide us with a completed copy of their investigation in this case.
“This agency is given tens of billions of dollars from taxpayers every year and that makes them accountable to the public, period,” says Wayne Dolcefino, President of Dolcefino Consulting. “The OIG’s job is not to protect NASA from scandal. It is to protect the public.”
Worden will likely have to seek court appointed counsel after spending nearly $150,000 in legal fees during the fight over her son Briggs. Worden had the boy before she met and married McClain but the NASA astronaut waged a war to get custody of Worden’s child. McClain dropped the custody fight but 309th District Court Judge Linda Dunson has never signed the final requests to drop the case.
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