with 5.6 million toyotas now under recall, the government agency responsible for policing automakers is itself under fire. the national highway traffic safety administration, or nhtsa, has ten field offices but only 21 investigators. we are not branding these cars safe. it s our job to enforce and to police the marketplace. reporter: on the job for just two months, david strickland is now defending nhtsa against allegations that for years it s been far too cozy with automakers. the washington post found as many as 34 former employees at the highway department of transportation and nhtsa have left those jobs in recent years and now work for lawyers who work for automakers. that s not illegal, but consumer advocates are troubled. with toyota, you re looking at a classic example of government employees going to