Rail Regulator Deceived Congress, California’s Denham Says

The top U.S. railroad regulator was accused by a House member from California of misleading Congress to promote the state’s proposed high-speed train network, which President Barack Obama’s administration supports as cost estimates escalate.

Representative Jeff Denham, a Republican, yesterday released a letter from California’s top legislative analyst to Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph Szabo saying the regulator “egregiously misstated the facts” in telling a House committee hearing Dec. 15 that his agency had “not one conversation” with analysts reviewing the rail project.