Whistle-Blower Asks for Halliburton Investigation

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U.S. National - Reuters

 

 

Whistle-Blower Asks for Halliburton Investigation

 

Mon Oct 25, 3:50 PM ET

 

By Sue Pleming

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Army Corps of Engineers' top contracting

official has demanded an investigation into contracts given to

Halliburton, citing improper action that favored Vice President Dick

Cheney (news - web sites)'s old company.

 

According to documents made available to Reuters on Monday by

congressional sources, Army Corps whistle-blower Bunny Greenhouse

complained of repeated interference in billions of dollars of

contracts given to Halliburton unit Kellogg Brown and Root for work in

Iraq (news - web sites) and the Balkans.

 

" This interference was largely focused on multibillion-dollar contract

issues pertaining to a Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown and Root, "

said a letter faxed on Thursday to Acting Army Secretary Les Brownlee

by lawyers for Greenhouse.

 

" As set forth below, employees of the U.S. government have taken

improper action that favored KBR's interests, " the letter said.

 

An Army attorney said the matter was being referred to the Defense

Department's inspector general and the Corps was asked not to act

against Greenhouse until a sufficient record was available.

 

The Corps said it supported the right of employees to use established

procedures to ensure governmental actions complied with applicable

laws but declined further comment.

 

The Pentagon (news - web sites) inspector general's office said it

could neither confirm nor deny the existence of any investigation.

 

A decision could take months or even years.

 

FEAR OF LOSING JOB

 

Greenhouse lawyer Michael Kohn said his client went public after the

Corps tried to remove her from her post as principal assistant

responsible for contracting and not because she wanted to influence

next week's election by raising questions about Halliburton, which

Cheney ran from 1995-2000.

 

Halliburton, which is already under investigation for overcharging for

work in Iraq, has been a target of Democratic criticism ahead of the

Nov. 2 election, with suggestions the Texas firm got special treatment

because of Cheney.

 

A spokesman for Democratic Sen. Frank Lautenberg (news, bio, voting

record) said the New Jersey senator would introduce a resolution after

the election to create a special committee to look into the contracts

given to KBR.

 

" When Halliburton is sitting in on the drafting of its no-bid

contract, you know lines have been crossed, " said Lautenberg, referred

to complaints by Greenhouse that KBR officials were allowed to attend

military planning meetings before it was awarded a sole-source Iraq

contract.

 

Halliburton spokeswoman Wendy Hall said KBR did not have any

information on what Greenhouse may or may not have said to Pentagon

officials in 2003 when a no-bid contract worth up to $7 billion was

given to KBR to rebuild Iraq's oil industry.

 

" On the larger issues, the old allegations have once again been

recycled, this time one week before the election, " said Hall.

 

Greenhouse said the Iraq oil contract given to KBR, which was later

replaced by a competitively bid deal, as well as another to feed and

house U.S. troops in the Balkans, put at risk the " integrity of the

federal contracting program. "

 

Kohn said KBR contracts were awarded despite his client's

reservations, which she expressed in hand-written notes on official

documents, a tactic her superiors asked her to stop.

 

 

 

In one case, he said Army Corps officials bypassed getting a signature

from Greenhouse to grant a waiver for KBR to be relieved of its

obligation to provide cost and pricing data for bringing fuel into Iraq.

 

That waiver was granted after a draft Army audit said KBR may have

overcharged the military by at least $61 million to bring in fuel to

Iraq to ease a shortage of refined oil products.