Haven't read the book. This is from when the story started breaking.

According to accounts he had a hardcover constitution at his desk. He used it to back up his arguments but again 'who cares nerd, get back to your work'.

Other things that pop to my mind was that he was given some super high clearance so he could do favors for his boss (doing their job) as they were too lazy. And of course no one cared then, nor they cared afterwards.

Reading about this whole story popped my bubble of ignorance how government agencies are run. They are run same as any big corporation, run by career BSers often lazy and incompetent. But they are protected by same type of people (naturally).