FBI Investigating Bush Administration over Haliburton Contracts

Associated Press | 28 Oct 04 | Associated Press

[fidelio]

BC-Halliburton-Contracts,170
URGENT
AP NewsBreak: FBI begins investigating how Halliburton got Bush administration contracts
By JOHN SOLOMON
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - The FBI has begun investigating whether the Pentagon improperly awarded no-bid contracts to Halliburton Co., seeking an interview with a top Army contracting officer and collecting documents from several government offices.

The line of inquiry expands an earlier FBI investigation into whether Halliburton overcharged taxpayers for fuel in Iraq, and it elevates to a criminal matter the election-year question of whether the Bush administration showed favoritism to Vice President Dick Cheney's former company.

FBI agents this week sought permission to interview Bunnatine Greenhouse, the Army Corps of Engineers' chief contracting officer who went public last weekend with allegations that her agency unfairly awarded a Halliburton subsidiary no-bid contracts worth billions of dollars in Iraq, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.

[Diogenesis]

Democratic resume fraud.

[SoCal_Republican]

When is the investigation for Halliburton's no-bid contract in Kosovo going to start? ...What's that?...Clinton?.....Nevermind.

[evets]

[Bryan24]

http://www.hq.usace.army.mil/cepr/asp/walking/parc.asp?strCat=1&strSubCat=1

See her Bio here. No political connection readily apparent in her bio.

[Rutles4Ever]

From the NY Times article:

"Left out of decisions

In an Oct. 21 letter to the acting Army secretary, Greenhouse said that after her repeated questions about the Halliburton contracts, she was excluded from major decisions to award money and that her job status was threatened."

This is straight from Central Casting.

[AxelPaulsenJr]

I would love to agree with you, but I feel that the perception is going to be enough to sway a number of undecideds.

For anyone to be undecided at this point, they have to have the intelligence of a brick. But never the less they are out there and they are a factor.

This hurts, how bad and will it be enough to tip the scales in favor of hanoi john, who knows? I pray not.

[tndarlin]

Will one MSM ever tell the American public how many companies in the world do the exact work Halliburton does? Sorry, preaching to the choir.

[Bungarian]

Perhaps Arafat will die and the weekend news will be full of that.

[Steve_Seattle]

"questionable charges"

Anyone who has ever worked with government contracts knows that there are almost always "questionable charges" in any large contract containing hundreds or thousands of line items. There are legitimate differences as to what is allowable, choice of materials, timing, substitutions, change orders, and simple interpretation of language. This is all routine, not scandalous. These are routine matters usually worked out between clients, contractors, and auditors.

[newzjunkey]

WASHINGTON - The top civilian contracting official for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, charging that the Army granted large contracts for work in Iraq and the Balkans without following rules designed to ensure competition and fair prices to the government

WHOA! She's going back to the Clinton years' no-bid contracts with this? Where the hell has she been? Obviously the timing is highly suspect.

[AxelPaulsenJr]

It may be straight from central casting. But the reality is if we have any October suprise on hanoi john we need to come out with it now.

[rocklobster11]

This story was orignally push October 21. They are trying to make something of it. Check out the usual suspect in this quote from the October 24 Time article:

"These charges undercut months of assertions by Administration officials that the Halliburton contract was on the level," says Democratic Representative Henry Waxman

[IGOTMINE]

She has three adult children. A search of Opensecrets.org under the name of "Greenhouse" reveals a Ms Robin Greenhouse that donated $2000 to Kerry. The law firm is located in northern Virginia. Mom works in DC. Not a firm linkage.

[Pastnowfuturealpha]

I have some questions -


Since this company was used by Clinton and President Bush - and is reported to have problems - Why do people keep using the company - ? Is there no other that can do the task - ?

Also - knowing there are problems in the FBI and CIA - is there anything that can be done "fast" - once President Bush is re-elected - ?

The Pentagon - also needs to check over their people - can that be done within a short length of time - ? (Also State Dept.)

A lot of departments are corrupted - isn't there anything people can do to 'limit' the harm coming out of them - ? Would cutting down on how many people get certain information - be possible - ?

just hoping President Bush does something to help himself once he gets re-elected -

And of course there is Congress - A total mess as it stands -

It would be nice if everyone in government was indeed on the same page - Might even help in bringing this nation together
-


just questions and thoughts -

[bushfamfan]

These people just never stop. What are they going to do after Tuesday? DESPERATION alright. The bias is flagrant. Fortunately, this follows forged documents from CBS, this weapons charge that is shown to be reported irresponsibly. One attack after another. The media needs to go down. The AP, the rest of these networks and papers need to be challenged head on.

[hushpad]

Halliburton is, like, the ONLY company that does what Hallibuton does. No one with 1/2 a brain would need the FBI to find that out.

[IGOTMINE]

I've gotta agree with you. This is a well timed hit that will have a negative impact IF W and the RNC don't counter attack NOW! We can't let the news cycle get ahead with this.

[oceanview]

they were desperate with the DUI story. and desperate with the Weinberger indictment in 1992. both of those gambits worked. remember, we are only talking about them needing to effect a small number of undecided voters in a handful of states. they are not targetting people like us to change our minds.

the MSM is willing to tell any lie, and hype any story, and ignore any fact - and the people they are trying to influence are dimwits. don't underestimate this.

[Steve_Seattle]

"But the reality is if we have any October suprise on hanoi john we need to come out with it now."

You should know by now that the MSM simply will not cover anything bad about Kerry going back to the Vietnam era. I swear, if someone had a photo of Kerry shooting a prisoner in the head like the Vietnamese soldier did in that famous photo, the MSM would NOT show it.

[crabbie]

I'm so tired of all the Carville/Lockhart et al dirty tricks.

I wish Rove et al would just end it and put out whatever there is about Kerry's discharge.