House Republicans are investigating whether Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko lied to Congress last year when he said he didn't bully female staffers.

Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) said in a letter to Jaczko yesterday that his comments in Senate and House hearings in December don't jibe with information the Oversight Committee has collected.

Jaczko told the oversight panel and the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Dec. 14 that he wasn't aware he had made female workers cry. The charges that he bullied women, he said, were "mortifying" (E&ENews PM, Dec. 15, 2011).

But "multiple sources" reported the chairman had apologized to at least three employees after the hearings, even though "no specific names or details of incidents" were mentioned, says the letter from Issa and Republican Reps. Jason Chaffetz of Utah, Ann Marie Buerkle of New York and Trey Gowdy of South Carolina.

"If you had no knowledge that your actions had this effect on staff members, how did you know to apologize to specific individuals?" the lawmakers asked.

Republicans have been peppering the chairman with letters in recent weeks, questioning the policies and events that triggered a public dispute between Jaczko and his colleagues (E&ENews PM, April 24).

Four NRC commissioners -- two Republicans and two Democrats -- accused Jaczko in a letter to the White House last year of intimidating and bullying senior staffers, blocking information meant for the panel, ignoring the majority will of the commission and showing "intemperance and disrespect" (E&E Daily, Dec. 12, 2011).

Democratic Commissioner William Magwood told the Senate Environment Committee last year that he knew of at least three women the chairman had verbally abused.

Despite Jaczko's insistence that he knew nothing about the accusations before testifying, House Republicans said, a report the NRC's Office of Inspector General released last June proves otherwise.

The inspector general interviewed a female NRC worker months before the chairman testified who said she had been brought to tears after being "chastised" by Jaczko, according to the letter. The woman said Jaczko tried to "settle down" after seeing that she was getting upset, the letter said.

"If you're being, you know, chastised by your boss, that's never a good thing. [...] That doesn't mean your boss shouldn't chastise you," the employee told investigators. "I cried, which is embarrassing. And -- and I had never done that before in front of any supervisor, so it wasn't a comfortable situation."

House Republicans also expressed frustration with the chairman's failure to respond to a March 12 request to clarify inconsistencies in his testimony. The panel had given Jaczko until March 23 to respond.

"To date, more than a month later, you have not responded or demonstrated any interest in correcting the record," they said. "Making false statements to Congress is a serious matter."

The NRC has received and is reviewing the GOP letter, agency spokeswoman Holly Harrington said in an email.

"In the meantime," she added, "there's nothing new about these claims, and our priority continues to be where it must -- on safety matters."