According to BNA ($), Former Minerals Management Service auditor Bobby L. Maxwell testified in Congress yesterday that the Interior Department tried to prevent him from collecting unpaid royalties from oil company Kerr-McGee Corp. He was told that pursuing the case would make MMS director Johnnie Burton "unhappy," and was subsequently fire from his job after filing a lawsuit under the False Claims Act. MMS sent a clear signal to would-be royalty collectors when it fired Maxwell. Of course this is just another instance of the Interior cutting holes in Treasury's pockets, but one wonders just how much money the treasury is losing because the Interior Department is actively quashing these sorts of investigations.