Baltimore County Executive Kathy Klausmeier, in a press release issued yesterday, misstated the credentials of the person she picked as inspector general to replace Kelly Madigan.

In the first paragraph, the release says that Khadija E. Walker “has more than 20 years of Inspector General experience on the federal level,” which “has prepared her to be a champion for communities and unafraid to challenge waste, fraud and abuse at any level.”

In fact, according to her now private LinkedIn resume, Walker spent nearly all of her 22 professional years as an auditor at the inspector general’s office at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

She is not a certified inspector general (as is Madigan) and is not an attorney (as is Madigan).

Furthermore, Walker has limited experience as a “government investigator” – an important distinction from a “government auditor.”

A government auditor examines financial records and controls, and follows the “yellow book” or “red book” – the former a set of standards used by the Government Accounting Office and the latter the practices followed by the Institute of Internal Auditors.

Baltimore County already has an auditor, whose office performs budget analyses and writes fiscal notes for the County Council.

The inspector general has a very different job.

The IG investigates complaints of “fraud, waste, abuse or illegal acts” in county government and follows the standards of the Association of Inspectors General, which has publicly criticized Klausmeier, and its “green book” of standards.

A former deputy state prosecutor and Baltimore City assistant state’s attorney, Madigan headed the IG office since its inception in 2020 under a five-year term. A second four-year term was subject to the approval of the county executive.

In May, Klausmeier made the unexpected decision not to reappoint Madigan to a second term and threw open the position to an “open search” that has been beset by controversy and criticism ever since.

Two Decades of Auditing

Walker’s online resume says that after graduating from the University of Pittsburgh, she joined the EPA Office of Inspector General in 2003 as a member of the audit team in its Chicago office.

She says her responsibilities included auditing contracts and grants involving EPA brownfields, tribal assistance programs and NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) grants.

In 2007, she was promoted to senior auditor at the Chicago office, responsible for forensic audits, and was promoted again to project manager/assistant director in 2009, handling Superfund and other “special reviews audits.”

• For The Brew’s full coverage of Madigan’s non-reappointment, see here.

In 2010, attorney Arthur A. Elkins Jr. was nominated by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate as EPA’s Inspector General.

For next eight years, Walker worked under Elkins.

During the Flint, Michigan, water crisis, Walker led the audit team, and Elkins signed reports and a management alert regarding EPA’s failure to safeguard drinking water from lead contamination. They also audited EPA’s response to the PolyMet Mining controversy, which involved potential water pollution from a mine near Duluth, Minnesota.

Elkins has figured prominently in Walker’s selection because he was one of two persons who joined Klausmeier to interview the final candidates to replace Madigan, which included Walker, his former employee.

In 2023-24, Walker was made director of recycling, cleanup and pollution prevention audits at EPA.

In September 2024, she left EPA and joined USAID as deputy assistant inspector general in charge of audits, inspections and evaluations.

USAID OIG had a separate Office of Investigations run by another deputy assistant inspector general.  

According to her now private LinkedIn resume, she supervised financial and information technology audits at the embattled agency, which was effectively shut down by the Trump administration in February and its remaining operations transferred to the U.S. State Department.

In her press release, Klausmeier lauded Walker as the best candidate for the county inspector general job, even though Madigan had reapplied for the position.

“Through our selection process, it became apparent that she [Walker] is the most qualified candidate to further advance the office and continue to preserve integrity and transparency in Baltimore County government,” the county executive said.

To become the next IG, Walker must be confirmed by the Baltimore County Council, in which a majority of the seven members have said they will only support Madigan.