May 14, 2008
Pile On: More Allegations of Cover Up at State
Another claim of cover up at the State Department comes from former State Department officials on Monday who told Senate Democrats that the department shut them up on findings of widespread corruption within the Iraqi ministries.
"The Department of State's actual policies not only contradicted the anti-corruption mission but indirectly contributed to and has allowed corruption to fester at the highest levels of the Iraqi government," said Arthur Brennan, who served as director of the State Department's Office of Accountability and Transparency at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.
Delivering his statement to the Senate Democratic Policy Committee, the long-time Republican and former New Hampshire judge added:
"The embassy effort against corruption, including its new centerpiece, the now defunct Office of Accountability and Transparency, was little more than 'window dressing."Although Brennan only served in Baghdad a few months, his claims carry more weight because he is not the first to claim that fraud has been overlooked by the State Department. The State Department's former inspector general, Howard Krongard, resigned last November after being accused of thwarting numerous fraud investigations stemming from contracts in Iraq.
Even more curious is the predicament of Radhi Hamza al-Radhi, the former head of the Iraqi Commission on Public Integrity, who testified before Congress about rampant corruption in Iraq. The Iraqi Judge said that nearly four dozen of his staff members were killed while working for him. Radhi is now seeking asylum, but apparently, the State Department has been dragging its feet.
Notes TPMMuckraker:
One of the former officials testified that "a senior State Department official had ordered agency employees not to give al Radhi references or contact him" for help with his asylum.
Posted by davidphinney at 12:30 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 30, 2007
Waxman Postpones Krongard Hearing
The hearing regarding the State Department Inspector General Howard Krongard previously announced for the week of December 3, 2007, has been postponed, according to a press release from the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Posted by davidphinney at 06:05 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 16, 2007
'Family Feud' in the Making for CSPAN!
Brothers Howard "Cookie" Krongard and "Buzzy" Krongard may find their family feud wheeled out into the public when Congress holds a hearing to decide whether or not Cookie told the truth under sworn testimony on Wednesday.
Cookie first said that his brother had no ties to Blackwater before the House Committee on Government Oversight and Reform.... He then said yes, indeed, his brother was affiliated with the private security firm that Cookie was charged with investigating.
Committee Chairman Henry "Inquisitor-in-Chief" Waxman now notes that there were a number of other discrepancies between Howard Krongard's testimony and what the Justice Department and senior officials in the Inspector General’s office told the Committee.
"This is a serious matter given Howard Krongard's position as the Inspector General of the State Department. I expect the Committee to hold a hearing during the week of December 3, 2007, to provide members the opportunity to assess whether the Inspector General provided truthful testimony to the Committee. "
Waxman also sent a letter to Buzzy Krongard requesting an interview and documents relating to his communications with Cookie about Blackwater. After receiving the letter, Buzzy Krongard called Committee staff and provided information that differed significantly from Cookie's testimony.
Buzzy Krongard stated that Howard Krongard called him specifically to ask about any relationship he had with Blackwater "in preparation for his testimony" to the Committee. Buzzy Krongard stated: "He asked me whether I had any financial interest or any ties to Blackwater, and so I told him ‘I'm going on their Board.'" According to Buzzy Krongard, "He responded by saying, 'Why would you do that?' and 'Are you sure that's a good idea?'" Buzzy Krongard then said, "I told him that was my decision, not his, and that we just differed on that."Buzzy Krongard stated that during the Committee hearing, he was at home watching it live. He listened to Howard Krongard's prepared opening statement. Then, he heard Howard Krongard offer spontaneously the comment that his brother had no connection to Blackwater. Buzzy Krongard said: "You could have blown me over." During the hearing, he attempted to reach Howard Krongard by telephone. Before he could reach him, Buzzy Krongard received a call from Howard Krongard and explained again that he was a member of the Board.
Waxman's letter to his committee members is here.
Posted by davidphinney at 06:27 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Republicans Attempted to Replace Stuart Bowen with Howard Krongard
Rolling Stone retreads an old story and reminds readers that congressional Republicans once tried to replace Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Stuart Bowen with Howard "Cookie" Krongard, the State Department inspector general now accused by Democrats of covering up and thwarting numerous investigations in Iraq:
....you may remember that one of the last acts of the GOP controlled congress in 2006 was an attempt -- ultimately reversed -- to cut off funding for the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, Stuart Bowen, a longtime friend of Bush’s from Texas who earned the contempt of his political patrons by actually doing his job. The Republican efforts would have shut down his office -- which has exposed billions in waste, fraud, and abuse in Iraq -- and have turned over his duties to … you guessed it … Cookie Krongard.
I think the jury is still out on Bowen's work, but otherwise, here's the Rolling Stone blog by Tim Dickinson.
Posted by davidphinney at 01:53 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 19, 2007
Grapes and Sex and Government Contracts
Talk about low-hanging fruit:
A prostitute testified Wednesday that former U.S. Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham fed her grapes as she sat naked in a Jacuzzi before they headed to a bedroom at a Hawaiian resort.The woman testified at the bribery trial of defense contractor Brent Wilkes, who is accused paying the former congressman with $700,000 in cash and perks in exchange for help securing about $90 million in government contracts.
Wilkes has denied the charges.
I have as many grapes as a contractor can eat in exchange for finishing my kitchen.
The Associated Press has the story.
Posted by davidphinney at 02:28 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 09, 2007
Waxman Takes More Swings at Baghdad Embassy Contractor
A leading Democrat in Congress is blasting the US State Department for apparently casting a blind eye on allegations of widespread construction flaws at the $600-million-and-counting embassy project in Baghdad.
In a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Rep. Henry Waxman, who chairs the House Government Oversight and Reform Committee, also questions the background of the embassy contractor First Kuwaiti General Trading and Contracting. By relaying court documents and auditing reports, he expresses outrage of an alleged $200,000 bribe and inflated costs charged to the Pentagon for military trailers in Iraq.
Here's the letter: Documents Show Extensive Flaws in Iraq Embassy Construction.
Posted by davidphinney at 12:58 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 06, 2007
Misleading Statements under Sworn Testimony?
Two months ago, a top US State Department official in charge of embassy construction gave misleading statements under sworn testimony about the new US embassy in Baghdad. He claimed that it would be completed on budget and on time. Now numerous news reports say that the project's completion will be delayed for months.
Sunday's Washington Post piled on with its own story:
The massive U.S. embassy under construction in Baghdad could cost $144 million more than projected and will open months behind schedule because of poor planning, shoddy workmanship, internal disputes and last-minute changes sought by State Department officials, according to U.S. officials and a department document provided to Congress.
This remarkable turn of events directly contradicts July 27 sworn testimony before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee by the State Department's Charles E. Williams, director of overseas buildings operations:
"We have received numerous accolades as to the extremely high quality of construction," Williams told the committee. "It is among the best.... We are slated to complete the project in September of this year and personnel can begin to move into offices and residences shortly thereafter."
Interestingly enough, Republicans sought to make political mileage in discounting sworn testimony by two witnesses, John Owens and Rory Mayberry during that same hearing about the embassy project. Both witnesses made allegations of faulty construction, worker smuggling and other abuses at the embassy project.
One Republican called Mayberry a professional "whistleblower." Another threatened to press charges against Owens for meandering on his answers about whether or not he had filed a fraud claim over shoddy construction at the embassy (Owens had just traveled 24 hours from Cambodia and he was not allowed to comment on the matter by his legal counsel).
Will Republicans now be equally hostile towards Williams? (Hey, didn't the Republican-controlled Congress impeach a president on a less consequential issue?)
More to come on this about "misleading" testimony by congressional witnesses and other statements by US State Department officials relating to the Baghdad project.
Posted by davidphinney at 04:24 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 05, 2007
Armed Contractors: Transparency and Accountability
The Congressional Research Service distributed its new study on private security contractors operating in Iraq to members of Congress:
The use of armed civilians to perform security tasks that were formerly performed by the military raises new transparency, accountability, legal, and symbolic issues, and practical issues regarding the possible long-term effects on the military.
Posted by davidphinney at 02:47 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 27, 2007
Iraq Contracts: Waxman Updates Data on Questionable Deals
Rep. Henry A. Waxman, the powerful committee chairman who has had Iraq contract fraud in the crosshairs for years, updates his assessment of government contracting under the Bush Administration. The update reflects what he views as worrisome trends that are just getting worse.
Thoughts from the chairman of the House Government Oversight and Reform Committee:
1. Annual federal procurement spending crossed the $400 billion threshold.
2. More than half of this spending -- over $200 billion in new contracts -- was awarded without full and open competition.
3. Total value of wasteful federal contracts now exceeds $1 trillion.
Here's the updated database of federal contracts "exhibiting signs of waste, fraud, and abuse" and here's Waxman's breakdown on questionable Iraq contracts.
By the way, Waxman gave a pretty comprehensive interview with Truthdig a few weeks ago.
Posted by davidphinney at 01:32 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 11, 2007
Democrats Adding Up the Numbers
Congress Does the Math: Not only are there 145,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, there are over 100,000 private contractors working U.S. funded contracts. Many of them are doing jobs that the military once did. They may not be Americans, but they are drawing their pay stubs from the U.S. treasury -- making them the largest deployed private military force in history.
Defense News, cash cow for Army Times and largely supported by defense contractor advertising, acknowledges the facts.
Posted by davidphinney at 12:08 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 21, 2007
Slap on the Hands:
List of Iraq-Related Contractors Receiving Penalties
Government investigators told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday that they were focusing on debarment and suspensions of individuals and companies as an approach to punishing wrongdoing by contractors in Iraq.
To Date: 14 individuals and companies have been suspended from future US government contracts and business, eight have been debarred entirely, and 12 are pending consideration for such punitive action, Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Stuart Bowen said. (See related story: A Billion Here, a Billion There....)
Although not comprehensive, the list below the fold gives a flavor of the US Army's effort in that arena and the kind of crimes that government investigators are tracking.
Most of the suspensions and debarments deal with bribery and fraud and are directed at individuals: A number were employees of Halliburton/KBR; others are military personnel. Some are related to lesser-known Kuwaiti companies.
More Aggressive: This list was compiled during a quick scan of reports on the Army Fraud Fighter's Web site (expect possible lag time on link).
There is also a US government Excluded Parties List. Searches are based on individual names and companies.
It does appear the Army Procurement Fraud Branch (PRB) has been more active with fraud cases since the beginning of 2006.
PFB says it is working with the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction to coordinate suspension and debarment actions for Iraqi and third-party national companies for poor contract performance on several reconstruction contracts.
Bribery (International Zone, Iraq): On 13 April 2005, the Army SDO suspended Mr. Faheem Mousa Salam, an employee of KBR in the International Zone, Baghdad, Iraq. According to the complaint filed against him in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, Mr. Salam offered payments to Iraqi police officials in exchange for contracts to supply the Civilian Police Assistance Training Team, Multi-National Security Transition Command - Iraq, with 1,000 protective vests and other equipment. Mr. Salam was charged with violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977. Mr. Salam was acting independently from KBR at the time the alleged misconduct took place.
False Statement (Iraq): On 27 April 2006, the Army SDO suspended Mr. Mohammed Shabbir Khan (Mr. Khan). Beginning in October 2002, KBR hired Tamimi Global, Ltd (Tamimi), a subcontractor. Mr. Khan was employed by Tamimi as the Director of Operations for Kuwait and Iraq. The suspension is based upon a warrant of arrest issued on the basis of a one-count criminal complaint filed in the United States District Court, Central District of Illinois. Mr. Khan is alleged to have made a false statement during an interview with law enforcement agents.
Bribery (Kuwait): On 27 April 2006, the Army SDO suspended Mr. Stephen Lowell Seamans, a former Procurement Materials and Property Managerfor KBR (prime contractor) under LOGCAP III working in Kuwait. On 3 March 2006, Mr. Seamans pled guilty in the United States District Court, Central District of Illinois, to committing wire fraud and conspiracy to launder money. Mr. Seamans devised a scheme to defraud the Government by accepting kickbacks from a subcontractor.
Bribery (Kuwait): On 2 June 2006 the Army SDO debarred Jasmine International Trading and Service Company, a Kuwait-based wholesaler of durable and non-durable goods to U.S. military facilities in Kuwait, and its CEO, Mr. Diaa Ahmed Abdul Latif Salem. Mr. Salem provided gratuities to Army personnel assigned to the Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, finance office. Both Jasmine and Mr. Salem were debarred for a period of one year, concluding on 26 February 2007.
Fraud (Iraq): On 19 July 2006, the Army SDO suspended Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Bruce D. Hopfengardner, USAR, based on accusations that he engaged in wire fraud, wrongful conversion, interstate transportation of stolen property, conspiracy, and money laundering. Between January and July 2004, LTC Hopfengardner was deployed to the Coalition Provisional Authority -- South Central Region (CPA-SC) as part of OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM to assist in the reconstitution of the Iraqi police force. On 7 July 2006, an indictment against LTC Hopfengardner in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia was unsealed, alleging his actions in connection with a bribery and fraud scheme involving multiple contracts awarded by CPA-SC during his deployment. As part of this scheme, LTC Hopfengardner was allegedly involved in the fraudulent award of contracts and the authorization of cash payments, despite defective performance (or non-performance) of contract terms. Furthermore, LTC Hopfengardner is accused of stealing $120,000.00 in cash from CPA-SC, in cooperation with other co-conspirators, and subsequently smuggling it into the United States at the conclusion of his deployment to Iraq.
Fraud (Iraq): On 19 July 2006, the Army SDO suspended Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Bruce D. Hopfengardner, USAR, based on accusations that he engaged in wire fraud, wrongful conversion, interstate transportation of stolen property, conspiracy, and money laundering. Between January and July 2004, LTC Hopfengardner was deployed to the Coalition Provisional Authority -- South Central Region (CPA-SC) as part of OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM to assist in the reconstitution of the Iraqi police force. On 7 July 2006, an indictment against LTC Hopfengardner in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia was unsealed, alleging his actions in connection with a bribery and fraud scheme involving multiple contracts awarded by CPA-SC during his deployment. As part of this scheme, LTC Hopfengardner was allegedly involved in the fraudulent award of contracts and the authorization of cash payments, despite defective performance (or non-performance) of contract terms. Furthermore, LTC Hopfengardner is accused of stealing $120,000.00 in cash from CPA-SC, in cooperation with other co-conspirators, and subsequently smuggling it into the United States at the conclusion of his deployment to Iraq.
Fraud (Iraq): On 15 September 2006, the Army proposed Mr. Christopher Joseph Cahill for debarment. Mr. Cahill pled guilty in the United States District Court, Central District of Illinois, to committing one count of major fraud against the United States. Mr. Cahill was employed by Eagle Global Logistics (EGL) as the Regional Vice President for the Middle East and India. In his capacity as vice president of this region, he committed fraud when he added a war risk surcharge of $0.50 for each kilogram of freight transported to Baghdad. EGL’s invoices, with the unauthorized surcharge, were submitted to Kellogg Brown and Root Services, Inc., which, in turn, passed the costs on to the Government for payment. (Ms. McCaffrey)
Bribery (Kuwait): On 5 September 2006, the Army SDO suspended Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Marshall A. Gutierrez, United States Army, who was assigned to the U.S. Army Area Support Group Kuwait (ASG-KU), located at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, as Director of Logistics. On 18 August 2006, LTC Gutierrez was arrested by CID agents based on allegations that between 1 July and 18 August 2006, he offered to disclose procurement-sensitive information to an employee of a contractor currently providing logistics support to the U.S. Army, in exchange for a cash payment of approximately $3,400. Immediately prior to his arrest, LTC Gutierrez was observed and recorded by CID agents receiving a cash payment of approximately $3,400 from the contractor. On 22 August 2006, the Commander, ASG-KU, preferred charges against LTC Gutierrez. (Mr. Persico) Bribery (Kuwait). On 11 September 2006, the Army SDO terminated the suspension of LTC Marshall A. Gutierrez, United States Army. On 5 September 2006, the Army SDO suspended LTC Gutierrez, who was assigned to the U.S. Army Area Support Group Kuwait (ASG-KU), based on allegations that, between 1 July and 18 August 2006, he offered to disclose procurement-sensitive information to an employee of a contractor providing logistics support to the U.S. Army, in exchange for a cash payment of approximately $3,400. LTC Gutierrez died on 5 September 2006.
Bribery (Kuwait): On 30 March 2006, the Army SDO suspended Gheevarghese Pappen, an Army Corps of Engineers civilian employee assigned to Camp Arifjan, Kuwait. According to the complaint filed against him in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, Mr. Pappen allegedly received payments from a Kuwaiti national, for contracts to provide apartments in Kuwait City for Army personnel. Mr. Pappen was arrested upon his return to the United States on 17 March 2006 in Atlanta, GA, and charged with Bribery of Public Officials.
Bribery (Kuwait): On 12 January 2006, the USAREUR SDO debarred Dan Trading, a Kuwaiti subcontractor, until 15 November 2006, and Mr. Amro Al Khadra, manager and director of sales for Dan Trading, until 15 November 2008. Mr. Al Khadra signed a bogus "loan contract" to assist CW2 Robert Wiesemann deal with German tax authorities in exchange for the CW2 Wisemann’s agreement to work Mr. Al Khadra. Based on Mr. Al Khadra's lack of integrity, and willingness to resort to deception to further his own goals, he was debarred.
Bribery (Kuwait): On 6 March 2006, the USAREUR SDO debarred CW2 Robert Wiesemann from contracting with the US Army until 4 December 2008. CW2 Wiesemann was debarred for integrity problems arising from his improper relationship with TWI and Dan Trading, two contractors. CW2 Wiesemann was charged with graft and bribery. He has since resigned with an Under Other Than Honorable Conditions discharge.
Fraud (Iraq): On 27 February 2006, the Army SDO suspended Eagle Global Logistics, Inc. (EGL) and its former Vice President of operations in Dubai and the Middle East, Mr. Christopher Joseph Cahill. On 16 February 2006, Mr. Cahill pled guilty to a criminal information filed against him in the United States District Court, Central District of Illinois, charging him with committing Major Fraud against the United States. EGL was a subcontractor of Kellogg, Brown & Root providing air-freight forwarding services to transport U.S. military equipment from Dubai to Baghdad.
Fraud (Rock Island): On 16 February 2006, the Army SDO debarred Mr. Glenn Allen Powell, a procurement official and an employee of KBR, until 14 September 2009. On 19 August 2005, Mr. Powell pled guilty to Major Fraud against the United States in the United States District Court, Central District of Illinois. He was sentenced to 15 months incarceration and ordered to pay $90,973.99 in criminal restitution to HQ, U.S. Army Operations Support Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois.
Major Fraud, Kickbacks (OSC, Rock Island): On 14 September 2005, the Army SDO suspended Glenn Allen Powell, a former employee of Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR), for receiving kickbacks from an Iraqi company. Mr. Powell pled guilty to a criminal information in the United States District Court, Central District of Illinois.
Failure to Perform a Contract (Iraq): On 29 September 2005, the Army SDO debarred DXB International, a Kuwaiti company, and its chief operations officer, Steven Ludwig, until 25 July 2008 based on their failure to perform a contract for the delivery of ice to Army troops in Iraq. The proposed debarment of Sidney Loggins was terminated.
Major Fraud by Former Halliburton-KBR Employee and Subcontractor (Kuwait): On 18 March 2005, the Army SDO suspended a former procurement employee of Halliburton-KBR (KBR), the managing partner of the Kuwaiti company, LaNouvelle, and LaNouvelle General Trading & Contracting Company following an indictment filed in the Eastern District of Illinois. The indictment charges four counts of major fraud and six counts of wire fraud. The contract involved in this action is LOGCAP III. The two individuals devised a scheme whereby the KBR employee improperly influenced the award of contracts for the storage and dispersal of fuel in Kuwait. This criminal activity was originally brought to the attention of investigators by KBR.
Posted by davidphinney at 09:50 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack
March 17, 2007
War Costs: Who's Counting?
Defense Contracting in Iraq: The non-partisan Congressional Research Service gives the lowdown on contracting in Iraq as we know it today.
"The Department of Defense is the largest agency in the federal government. It obligated nearly $270 billion on contracts for goods and services in FY2005 -- an 88 percent increase over the amount obligated in the year 2000."
One big problem: There aren't enough government contracting professionals to oversee the explosion in Defense spending. While the size, shape, and complexity of service contracts have grown with the technical requirements, there is now an imbalance in those to watch them. In some cases the government has sought to hire contractors to do the job that federal employees used to perform.
"There can't be well-managed contracts without people to manage them," note two high-level government contracting officials, Allan Burman and Steven Kelman (They are a bit late in that observation compared to others. In fact, Kelman was a big champion of "acquisition reform," which led to the downsizing of the government's contracting personnel in the 1990s.) "The current situation creates a vicious circle: Overstretched people make mistakes, producing demands for more rules, creating additional burdens, giving people even less time to plan effective procurements and manage performance."
The full CRS report can be found at the Federation of American Scientists, which regularly keeps tabs on these usually confidential briefing papers for Congress.
MEANWHILE: The Associated Press offers a ballpark figure on the cost of war. Apparently, it's "relatively affordable." Iraq eats up less than 1percent of the nation's gross domestic product, compared with as much as 14 percent for Vietnam and 9 percent for Korea, reports AP's Matt Crenson. But unlike those previous wars, this one is being paid for with debt -- not taxpayer sacrifice.
An Aside: A recent study by Linda Bilmes of Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government put the total cost of providing medical care and disability benefits to veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan at $350 billion to $700 billion. Together with Columbia University economist and Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz, Bilmes estimates that the real price of the Iraq war, when you add up spending to date, future costs and economic impacts such as elevated oil prices, is well over $2 trillion.
Posted by davidphinney at 02:54 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 28, 2007
Al Gore Taps the Internet
From the man accused of taking credit for inventing the internet, a new political crusade is heating up to fight global warming.
Fresh off his Oscar winning power-point presentation, An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore launched a chain email lobbying effort this week to pressure Washington into heeding his documentary's warning: time is running out for the world to reverse climate change. The email has a link to Gore's Web site.
THE IDEA IS: Every recipient who gets his email forward it to ten friends. No doubt, the effort will explode exponentially and create a shock and awe capable of making Washington take notice -- especially when Gore unloads those emails before Congress on March 21. (No word about whether the will be printed on recycled paper.)
Will this be a prelude to another bid for the White House? A number of prominent netizens predicted in Rolling Stone that the Democratic nomination would be his for the taking:
"If Howard Dean could raise $59 million on the Internet," says (veteran Democratic consultant Bill) Carrick, "the mind boggles as to what Al Gore might do." Joe Trippi, who managed Dean's campaign, believes Gore could raise as much as $200 million on the Internet: "Gore may have more money than anybody within days of entering the race."
Then again, Gore may have his eye on winning the Nobel Peace Prize. That would be a first for him. He already sort of, kind of, maybe won one presidential bid in 2000.
Posted by davidphinney at 12:27 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 21, 2007
Worth A Read: Tauscher on the Hot Seat
Gone are the photos of Ellen Tauscher and President Bush on her congressional Web site -- including the one her critics have labeled "The Caress," a photo where the president appeared to have his hand on her thigh.
It doesn't matter. Liberal bloggers still are busy trashing the California Democrat.
The Washington Post's Juliet Eilperin and Michael Grunwald lay out Ellen Tauscher's ordeal at the top of page one: Ellen is a very moderate-to-right-leaning California congresswoman from the East Bay suburbs living in the very liberal San Francisco Bay Area.
Headlined "The Woman in the Middle: Moderate Democrat Is New Target of Liberal Bloggers," Tauscher was the only Golden State Democrat to oppose Nancy Pelosi's campaign to become House speaker. The former stock broker from New Jersey also bucked much of her party by working to scale back the estate tax, tighten bankruptcy rules and promote free-trade agreements. AND THAT MY BE THE REAL PROBLEM.
A major labor leader at a corner bar last week had nothing good to say about Tauscher, who moved to California in 1989 before being elected in 1996. Nasty, nasty, nasty. Labor wants "a real Democrat."
Tauscher seems to be trying to change her tune quickly, even as the online lefties continue riding her hard, the Eilperin/Grunwald team note:
This year, she has marched in lock step with Pelosi. But to Net-roots sites such as Daily Kos, Firedoglake, and Crooks and Liars, she's Lieberman in a pantsuit.
Posted by davidphinney at 10:52 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 07, 2007
'This Hearing Saved the Government 20 Million Dollars'
ROUGH DRAFT: From the time four men were killed in streets of Fallujah on March 31, 2004 until yesterday, the U.S. Army couldn't determine if, in fact, Halliburton/KBR had broken its multi-billion-dollar contract agreement by allowing a private security company to guard a subcontractor's convoy
Then suddenly, one day before a Congressional hearing on the events surrounding the killing and burning of four private security contractors -- the Army figured it all out. Halliburton/KBR had violated the sweeping contract to provide support services to the Army in Iraq.
The LogCAP contract -- now clocking about $16 billion in receipts -- strictly prohibits Halliburton/KBR from using private security companies unless otherwise approved by the combatant commander. Halliburton had no approval and was exptected to rely on Army security.
The result of the Army's sudden recognition after three years of investigation? Just yesterday the Army decided to withhold a payment of $19.6 million owed to Halliburton/KBR, according to Tina Ballard, U.S. Army deputy assistant secretary for policy and procurement.
Withholding payment for the private security costs, she said, was the extent of any punitive action against Halliburton/KBR for allowing a subcontractor to use the high-profile private security company, Blackwater.
"That's not too much action," said a disappointed Rep. Henry Waxman, D. Calif., who chairs the House committee on oversight and government reform. Then a hint of satisfaction flashed across his face: "This hearing just saved the government $20 million."
Greetings from the people who managed the war from beginning to now. It took the Army three years to discover that the contract that sent four Blackwater security contractors to their deaths in Fallujah, was in fact, illegal.
Throughout the Wednesday hearing, witnesses testified again and again to incredulous lawmakers that Haliburton/KBR's sweeping LogCAP is pyramid game -- a multilayered morass of subcontractors operating with little, if any, supervision. Halliburton/KBR is given sole responsibility for monitoring the behavior of its subcontractors -- the Army, in turn, relies on Halliburton/KBR to report any problems and make sure that its subs adhere to Army guidelines.
That leaves the door open for plenty of mischief, waste, fraud and abuse -- including the widespread use of forced labor, which the Pentagon acknowledged last spring was taking place. And just as with the contract that led o the death of four American civilians, not one company has been penalized for using forced labor drawn from the poorest of the poor in this world.
More later..... The train has left the station. There will be torrent of news generated from this hearing.
Posted by davidphinney at 11:52 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
February 06, 2007
Squandering Iraqi Money
Almost $12 billion in Iraqi assets disappeared while under control of the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority -- much of it arrived in $100 bills on pallets straight from the Federal Reserve in New York. (Note: That is an armed civilian guarding the cash.)
In the past, government auditors said the Coalition Provisional Authority lost track of $8.8 billion in seized and frozen Iraqi assets largely known as the Development Fund for Iraq. We're talking about no record of where that money went. Zip, nada, nothing.
This doesn't include the money that the CPA misspent or lost to contract fraud and incompetence. Interested readers might want to review this story I drafted a few years ago: "Spending Iraqi Money".
The subject of missing billions is today's subject for Henry Waxman's House Committee on Oversight and Government. Waxman believes the missing sum is around $12 billion. Others tell me the amount of Iraqi assets that went missing -- if you inlcude oil smuggling and theft in Iraq -- may be in the neighborhood of $22 billion.
There is a bit of sad irony about the lost billions for those who remember Paul Wolfowitz once assured Congress that Iraqi money would pay for the war and the reconstruction of Iraq:
"There's a lot of money to pay for this that doesn't have to be U.S. taxpayer money, and it starts with the assets of the Iraqi people...and on a rough recollection, the oil revenues of that country could bring between $50 (billion) and $100 billion over the course of the next two or three year..... We're dealing with a country that can really finance its own reconstruction, and relatively soon." [Source: House Committee on Appropriations Hearing on a Supplemental War Regulation, 3/27/03]
(Paul Wolfowitz now heads the World Bank. That March 2003 statement he gave to Congress does give some people the jitters about his new five-year position. Some Wolfowiz foes `hope he is hauled before Congress to explain his role in the Iraq war -- an embarassment that feasibly could lead to his resigning from the Bank.)
I crafted "Spending Iraqi Money" two years ago after a Senate staffer had asked me to suggest witnesses on Iraq fraud. The staffer was totally unaware of the Development Fund for Iraq or the billions in missing Iraqi assets. I can't blame him. It's a confusing story made only more confusing by the handling and management of the funds.
I then pitched the story to an an editor who wasn't interested, but I think the draft stands up pretty well.
For more on Iraqi asets, see:
"Contract Quagmire in Iraq"
Posted by davidphinney at 11:56 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 05, 2007
So, Are you Saying Nancy Will Be Flying Commercial?
Emails from damage-controlling Democratic fact-checkers generously point out that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi DID NOT request personal military flights to jet her and other California lawmakers between DC and the Golden State on a regular basis.
Apparently, it was the House Sergeant at Arms who offered to make the inquiry.
His name, I kid you not, is Livingood.
So Livingood offered to inquire, Pelosi accepted the offer and the wing nuts are in a big fuss about the luxury of it all.
This is how it happened, according to thinkprogress.org:
1) The House Sergeant at Arms, not Pelosi, initiated inquiries into the use of military aircraft. House Sergeant at Arms Wilson Livingood, who has served in his position since 1995, released a statement today clarifying the facts. He writes, "In December 2006, I advised Speaker Pelosi that the US Air Force had made an airplane available to Speaker Hastert for security and communications purposes following September 11, 2001." Additionally, Livingood writes, "I offered to call the U.S. Air Force and Department of Defense to seek clarification of the guidelines [which governed Speaker Hastert's use of a plane]."
Stay tuned:.
#1. Will Nancy fly economy or business class on the taxpayer dime?
#2. Will she go military with all the cool technology, catered meals and full bar on an even bigger taxpayer dime?
#3. Does the Speaker really need Air Force Three?
#4. How about just tossing her an iPhone for cutting edge telecom needs instead of keys to a C-40?....
#5. Ultimately, some thoughtful reflection may be called for among all of us: This situation may lift the notion of "limosine liberal" to a whole new level.
We live in interesting times.... The possibilities for exploiting this are ripe with promise for everyone's amusement.
And thanks guys. I am sincerely grateful for the input. It's an amusing story and it must be a slow news night for you.
Posted by davidphinney at 10:53 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 04, 2007
Blackwater's Christmas Mystery
When Rep. Henry Waxman bangs the gavel and opens hearings on Blackwater's security operations in Iraq Wednesday, let's hope the California Democratic chairman of the House Government Reform Committee asks about the rumor of a murder in the Green Zone on Christmas Eve:
The rumor began this way via email:
"On [Christmas] eve (2006) here in the Green Zone a Blackwater employee got into a scuffle with an Iraqi personal guard that was guarding a judge and shot him ten times and killed him. The Blackwater employee was drunk. Why did he have his weapon on him? He has been whisked out of Iraq as fast as possible so the local authorities could not get a hold of him.Is this true? Don't know. Blackwater spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell is silent on the question.Blackwater is trying to keep it all hush-hush so the media doesn't find out about it and dirty their already dirty reputation. Now all the Blackwater employees are pissed off cause they have installed a no alcohol ban on all Blackwater employees."
Reporter Bill Sizemore with Virginia-Pilot didn't get anywhere with Tyrrell either. But he did get State Department confirmation a month ago that a civilian U.S. contractor shot and killed an Iraqi security officer.
That's all Sizemore could get out of State. The US embassy spokesman in Baghdad declined to say what company was involved, citing the U.S. Privacy Act. However, two independent sources told The Virginian-Pilot that the alleged killer worked for Blackwater. The high-profile security company does a multi-million business providing security to U.S. diplomatic staff in Iraq under a State Department contract.
Given Blackwater's business with the State Department, are we going to hear that Blackwater, by extension, enjoys diplomatic immunity? Will Blackwater comment on the incident while under oath?
Stay tuned, because a long list of private security shootings and related problems in Iraq have been swept under the rug. Those incidents should be thoroughly investigated.
So far, not one private security contractor in the course of four years has been publicly charged with any criminal wrongdoing in Iraq.
Posted by davidphinney at 01:10 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 26, 2007
Civilian Reserve Corps: Private Army?
Jeremy Scahill opines in a Los Angeles Times op-ed about President Bush's proposal for a Cvilian Reserve Corps on Tuesday night:
A privatized version of it was floated two years ago by Erik Prince, the secretive, mega-millionaire, conservative owner of Blackwater USA and a man who for years has served as the Pied Piper of a campaign to repackage mercenaries as legitimate forces. In early 2005, Prince -- a major bankroller of the president and his allies -- pitched the idea at a military conference of a "contractor brigade" to supplement the official military. "There's consternation in the [Pentagon] about increasing the permanent size of the Army," Prince declared. Officials "want to add 30,000 people, and they talked about costs of anywhere from $3.6 billion to $4 billion to do that. Well, by my math, that comes out to about $135,000 per soldier." He added: "We could do it certainly cheaper."And Prince is not just a man with an idea; he is a man with his own army. Blackwater began in 1996 with a private military training camp "to fulfill the anticipated demand for government outsourcing." Today, its contacts run from deep inside the military and intelligence agencies to the upper echelons of the White House. It has secured a status as the elite Praetorian Guard for the global war on terror, with the largest private military base in the world, a fleet of 20 aircraft and 20,000 soldiers at the ready.
It ain't going to happen. Politically, it's a non-starter unless the Civilian Reserve Corps is veiled as something much more benign -- maybe the Peace Corps?
Posted by davidphinney at 10:19 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
January 04, 2007
Arianna's Aggressive Pursuit of (the) Action
Talk about swing voters!
Some readers may take interest in remembering that Arianna Huffington, publisher of the innovative and liberal Huffington Post, first spun into the American political limelight as the GOP diva and head ideological cheerleader when Republicans took control of Congress in 1995.
She could be sighted everywhere flying about town (Washington, DC, that is) in hyperdrive while hosting luncheons in the name of compassionate conservatism and toasts to "Newt's Revolutionaries."*
Commenting to me on the 1995 Republican Tsunami:
"It's about three revolutions, really," she explained. "There's the political revolution that launched the Republican landslide, the cultural revolution without which the political revolution cannot succeed, and the personal revolution in how we see the purpose of our lives."
Arianna loved talking about the revolution then and she loves talking even more about the revolution now -- although she now is cheerleading for the Democrats -- the very people that so disgusted her in 1994.
And she is once again making news. Today Rep. John Murtha, R-Pa. the incoming chair of the House appropriations defense subcommittee, announced on Huffington Post that he will recommend extensive hearingson the war in Iraq starting on Jan. 17. Murtha said he plans to shine a light on issues of accountability, military readiness, intelligence oversight and the activities of private contractors.
"We will be demanding substantive answers to questions that have gone unanswered for far too long," he says in his Huffington Post blog.
The war in Iraq and its effect on our military and our nation's future remains the most crucial issue facing the new Congress. I will be recommending an aggressive pursuit of action that will allow us to reduce our military presence in Iraq at the soonest practicable date.
*I received an autographed book from Arianna in 1995 after writing a Sunday profile on her for The Los Angeles Times. She struck me as one of the most well-read people I have ever met. Her husband, Texas oil heir Michael Huffington, had just lost the 1994 California Senate race against Democrat Dianne Feinstein. Michael spent something like $30 million of his own money on the race. The Huffingtons divorced several years later after he announced being gay and entered the movie business.
Read The Los Angeles Times story: FULL OF BIG IDEAS, ARIANNA HUFFINGTON JOINS GINGRICH BRAINTRUST
Sunday, Home Edition
Copyright 1995 The Times Mirror Company; Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
February 5, 1995, Sunday, Home Edition
LENGTH: 1033 words
HEADLINE: ARIANNA'S WORLD;
WITH HER 'BROWN BAG' LUNCHES AND PLANS FOR A 'BEAT THE PRESS' SHOW, MIKE HUFFINGTON'S WIFE CRUSADES IN WASHINGTON FOR GOP CAUSES
BYLINE: By DAVID PHINNEY, SPECIAL TO THE TIMES
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
BODY:
Mike Huffington may have spent $27.5 million of his own money in his failed bid for the U.S. Senate, but that did not prevent him and his wife, Arianna Stassinopoulos Huffington, from returning to Washington.
While former congressman Huffington cultivates a low profile in the labyrinthine social world of Washington, his wife is visibly riding on the Republican tsunami that swept over the nation's capital in November.
Welcome to Arianna's world, a constellation of right-wing thinkers and politicians accented with New Age activists, a sprinkling of reconstituted liberals and some who refuse to be classified at all.
Immersed in a flurry of activity, Arianna Huffington is putting the finishing touches on a dinner scheduled for Tuesday, featuring House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
She hopes the dinner will raise about $600,000 to benefit the nonprofit National Empowerment Television, the broadcaster of Gingrich's weekly lecture, "Progress Report," and sponsor of his "Renewing American Civilization." NET also once ran Arianna Huffington's now-discontinued program, "Critical Mass."
Price per couple for a dinner with the speaker: $50,000.
Huffington has also signed on as a senior fellow with the Progress and Freedom Foundation, a think tank closely allied to Gingrich, and she is busy developing a television program called "Beat the Press," featuring herself as a self-styled investigative media critic.
The show would use video clips and commentary to chronicle her discoveries of press blunders and inaccuracies. Guests who have been made "victims" by media harpies will drop by to tell their side of the story, she said.
First media victim guest: Fellow Republican and political soul mate Newt Gingrich.
Huffington takes offense at a New Yorker article likening Gingrich's speech-making style to that of the Ayatollah Khomeini, and she intends to set the record straight. For "Beat the Press" she has edited a video segment of the Ayatollah sermonizing about "streets filled with blood" and combined it with tape of Gingrich talking about welfare.
"Satire is a great way to show bias," she said.
As part of her critique of the American media, she plans to feature a segment of good news. "What the media missed this week," she said. "It's so much more important than some little law that's passed."
Although she has completed much of the pilot, there are no takers for the program yet, but she has an eye on selling the idea to network television or for syndication.
There is also a new book project, Huffington's fifth in 20 years.
This one recounts the Republican revolution with frequent asides about her husband's recent defeat.
"It's about three revolutions, really," she explained. "There's the political revolution that launched the Republican landslide, the cultural revolution without which the political revolution cannot succeed, and the personal revolution in how we see the purpose of our lives."
And Arianna Huffington's purpose these days -- her public-personal purpose -- is to fill the public welfare void that will be left if the Republican majority in Congress succeeds in dismantling the welfare system.
"If you believe, as we believe, that the safety net government provides is full of holes and torn and doesn't really work anymore, then there has got to be something to take its place," she said.
And that is what her monthly lunches in a Georgetown condominium overlooking the Potomac River -- contributed by the Seagram's Corp. -- are all about, she said.
She invites people to a "brown bag lunch" so they can join in intimate discussions about how to replace the welfare state. The fare is not literally brown bag: Guests treat themselves to a beef stroganoff buffet and baby carrots served on blue-rimmed Limoges china.
Twenty-two guests attentively gathered at last month's meeting, including staffers from the Progress and Freedom Foundation, public housing professionals, members of nonprofit organizations and former Delaware Gov. Pete DuPont.
Conservative writers Marvin Olasky and Don Eberly, whose books are on Gingrich's reading list, assisted Huffington in leading the discussion. "I must admit, I have an intellectual love affair with both of these men," she said as she introduced them.
"This is the beginning of a conversation about what needs to be done," Huffington said while the chocolate cake was served. "We've got to get to work.
"Everybody knows that money alone is not going to solve the acute problems facing us," she said as she explained the group's plans to replace welfare programs soon to hit the congressional chopping block. "The question is how do you turn lives around? How do you turn around the lives of addicts and alcoholics and the single mothers?"
The answer, she says, is volunteerism, community involvement, local control and private funding of programs that have little to do with federal government. Huffington wants all facets of the private sector to chip in -- individuals, corporations and churches.
Being married to multimillionaire Mike Huffington makes her ideas an easy target for those less fortunate. But even in liberal camps, Arianna Huffington has her supporters.
"There is so much overlap between liberals and conservatives, and in many cases, we agree more than disagree," said Jane Fortsen, who once worked with the Carter Center in Atlanta. Describing herself as a liberal Democrat with a longtime involvement in public housing, Fortsen recently joined the Progress and Freedom Foundation.
"I'm not a liberal, I'm not a conservative, but they characterize us as a liberal organization," said Andrew E. Taubman, executive director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an organization pushing to apply "Jeffersonian democracy" to the changes being wrought by technology.
Taubman said he was intrigued with the monthly lunch and plans to return. "They say what they think and stick their chin out. If they get hit, they get back up and keep on plugging. I like that."
Besides, it's good networking. "It's fascinating to think that Newt Gingrich could be president someday and these people around him could be his advisers," he said.
Phinney writes for States News Service.
GRAPHIC: Photo, Arianna Huffington, shown strolling in Santa Barbara last year, is immersed in a flurry of activity. Associated Press
LOAD-DATE: February 6, 1995
Posted by davidphinney at 10:00 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 11, 2006
Follies for Foley
The Republican effort to cast blame on the media for publicizing Rep. Foley's masturbatory online flirtations with teenage house pages doesn't appear to stick.....
I ran into a friend who told me he was sitting on a story about a then-unnamed US Representative with a predilection for young teenage pages last spring -- say six months ago. He said he didn't know what to do with it and was planning to tell a member of Congress about it sometime. I would have begged him for it if I had a place to publish it.... But alas, not at the time.
Well, I ran into him last weekend sitting on a bar stool in a Capitol Hill Haunt -- alone and being very, very quiet.
I asked what he was doing. After all, it might be a good time for a celebration after breaking such a very large and consequential story to the media. He almost singlehandedly put the Bic lighter to what has become a huge firestorm of news.
His response? "I am trying to avoid a subpoena."
And, in fact, he may be doing just that. According to some reports the FBI is investigating HOW the story broke as much as to what extent Foley's fixation was with House pages and if the Florida Republican broke any laws.
Ken Silverstein's account with Harper's online is much more lucid than mine.
Posted by davidphinney at 02:46 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack