Federal Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra was reinstated by the White House on Tuesday, according to news sources.
Kundra, the former CIO of the District of Columbia who was appointed by President Obama on March 5 to be the first-ever federal CIO, was placed on leave last Friday following a raid on his former Washington, D.C., office by FBI agents. White House officials confirmed to The New York Times and other outlets that Kundra had indeed been reinstated. The blog Techpresident.com first reported Kundra's return on Tuesday.
Kundra himself was not the target of the raid. The FBI arrested and charged one of his former employees, Chief Security Officer Yusuf Acar, with bribery, and also arrested another District of Columbia employee, Sushil Bansal.
A source "familiar with the situation" told the Times on Tuesday that the White House had sought to distance itself from Kundra following the raid, hence Kundra's being placed on leave.
What's also come to light in the wake of the raid is mention of Kundra being arrested in 1996 following a theft of less than $300. According to the Times, Kundra was forthcoming about the arrest with both the White House and all of his former employers, and it isn't relevant to the FBI raid on his office.
"Twenty years ago, Vivek committed a youthful indiscretion," said Nick Shapiro, a White House spokesman, to the Times. "He performed community service and we are satisfied that he fully resolved the matter."
Kundra was onstage at the 2009 FOSE conference in Washington, D.C., when the raid at his former office took place. During the speech -- one of Kundra's first public speaking engagements since his appointment to the federal CIO position -- Kundra reiterated themes of transparency and innovation as part of a "revolution" in government technology under the Obama administration.
