After a series of highly publicized frauds in the federal government in the 1970s, Congress passed the Inspector General Act of 1978.

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When in 1978 Congress and the President enacted the Inspector General Act, they were introducing a new and important level of oversight to the Executive Branch.

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Walter Stachnik, the former SEC inspector general who was supposed to act as the agency's ombudsman and who was a central character in the SEC's own Aguirre investigation, quit his job the day the Senate released the report.

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The inspector general of the SEC is supposed to act as an impartial arbiter of the agency's conduct, auditing commission operations, programs, activities, functions and organizations, and investigating allegations of staff misconduct, according to the SEC's Web site.

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