FBI probes Halliburton's Pentagon contracts(The Real October surprise)

MSNBC and Newsday ^ | 10-28-04 | Charles Bolen

[WVbowhunter]

FBI probes Halliburton's Pentagon contracts ASSOCIATED PRESS October 28, 2004, 6:53 PM EDT WASHINGTON -- 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 KBR, a Halliburton subsidiary, no-bid contracts worth billions of dollars for work in Iraq, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.

Asked about the documents, Greenhouse's lawyers said Thursday their client will cooperate but that she wants whistle-blower protection from Pentagon retaliation.

"I think it (the FBI interview request) underscores the seriousness of the misconduct, and it also demonstrates how courageous Ms. Greenhouse was for stepping forward," said Stephen Kohn, one of her attorneys.

"The initiation of an FBI investigation into criminal misconduct will help restore public confidence," Kohn said. "The Army must aggressively protect Ms. Greenhouse from the retaliation she will encounter as a result of blowing the whistle on this misconduct."

FBI agents also recently began collecting documents from Army offices in Texas and elsewhere to examine how and why Halliburton, a Houston-based oil services conglomerate, got the no-bid work.

"The Corps is absolutely cooperating with the FBI, and it has been an ongoing effort," said Army Corps spokeswoman Carol Sanders.

[Trippin]

Bottom line is, if there was any wrongdoing on the part of Haliburton, then investigate them and if there was funny business, punish them. Simple as that. Of course, the MSM propagandists will never miss an opportunity to make it appear as if Cheney is personally responsible. Frankly, I think Halliburton should just pack up and leave for their own sake. A while ago I read that they were pretty much fed up with all the abuse they get from the media. I know they do highly specialized work, but surely someone will find a way to take up the slack.

[agincourt1415]

Unfortunately (for the Rats), Haliburton and Enron has been overused so much NOBODY CARES.

That not a SURPRISE that's another tired BORING STORY, that Michale Gobavich Moore has WORN to Shreads.

[Johnnyboy2000]

This Bunita or whatever her name is a Clintonite who is complaining because no minority owned company was given a chance to bid on the contracts. The fact is that no such companies existed. This story is a joke. MSDNC just reported that no one at the White House is under investigation. Christ Matthews is a biased DNC mouthpiece. This story is the act of a defeated liberal agenda.

[SunnySide]

Cute, real cute...

[lonestar]

Wasn't Halliburton getting no-bid contracts during the Clinton administration?

No way Cheney could have benefitted from it! He's been gone 4 years. He gets his deferred payments regardless of what Halliburton does/doesn't do.

[WOSG]

Indeed ... Indictments and "investigations". In other words, something like this...

Investigation Underway into Whether John Kerry's Meetings with Vietcong in Paris 1971 Constituted Treason

... without bringing any new facts at all to the table. e.g. the fule overcharging is old news, not their fault but a Kuwaiti subcontracter, dealt with and done with - only brought up obviously for political purposes.

[Lurking in Kansas]

Get ready for five days of Halliburton from MSM. It doesn't matter what the truth is.

Yup....and not just Halliburton. Get really for more National Guard, drunk driving, and drugs.

The dims & MSM have really gone over the deep end on this election. They are going to be throwing up EVERYTHING in the next 5 days, just hoping something will stick.

It is going to get a lot uglier out there folks. Tighten your seltbelts and hang on....

[Seattle Conservative]

Why do we only hear about Haliburton?? Why doesn't anyone ever bring up the fact that Diane Feinstein's EXTREMELY wealthy hubby owns Bechtel (sp) and they were given no-bid contracts as well (at least initially).

[MKM1960]

Greenhouse is a Clymer who probably should be putting her resume in circulation after the already proven facts about Halliburton are brought to her attention. Just because a nephew or friend owns a Servicemaster franchise doesn't mean its capable of doing what KBR/Halliburton does. Wanting to get a kickback Bunnatine.

[Johnnyboy2000]

That's Chris Matthews. He only thinks that he is the savior of humanity.

[claudiustg]

Bunnatine Greenhouse? Would you cash a check for someone named Bunnatine Greenhouse?

[Txsleuth]

Lets hope so but I saw Chrissy Mathew ranting about it and all of the usual suspects have incorporated it once again in their "talking points". You notice they mentioned this was an onging investigation, meaning it's not new. But it did have to use the possibility of criminal charges. OHH!

BTW, I have had something in my mind for a week now that I have been terrified that might come up before election but I don't feel that I should even bring it up here because you never know who might by trolling.

[Safrguns]

It's already started... just reported on fox

[midftfan]

The MSM is really scraping the bottom of the barrel for their October surprises. Sorry guys, but this won't have the impact you're hoping for. Tuesday can't come soon enough for me, and I know many of you feel the same way. I admit I've got election fatigue right about now.

[Question Liberal Authority]

The Red Sox victory parade and college football is all day Saturday. NFL all day on Sunday.

Curt Schilling endorsing Bush is worth more votes than this Halliburton non-story. Heck. Bush could win Massachusetts if the fans figure they don't want to risk another curse.

[Felis_irritable]

FBI investigation? The Army and the DoD both have inspectors general to investigate contract issues (among many others). And Congress could legitimately call in the GAO. They do contract stuff. But if the no-bid determination was made, and a document exists, the contracting officer could be accused of bad judgement (and busted) but I don't see a criminal (i.e., FBI) case. And ultimately, the contracting officer signed the thing.

Maybe the FBI will call in the hostage rescue team and then use APCs to get to the bottom of it.

[musicman]

Maybe Yasser will do us a BIG favor, and try to claim his 72 virgins within the next 8 hours.....

IMHO,...THAT would get us through until Tuesday........

[rodguy911]

I'm beginning to think that the 380 tons of

missing munitions, now the haliburton whatever and

who knows what tomorrow, is all part of a desperate

attempt to throw enough you know what against the wall

just to see if anything will stick. After all f'ing

stands for nothing, he will parrot anything his MSM

allies print or broadcast. It's a terrible way to

campaign but when you stand for absolutely nothing.....

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

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[jamaly]

It takes months to go through a bid and proposal process to get these huge government jobs. Believe me I know. I used to supervise the typing of the proposals, they are frequently 500 to 1,000 pages long. Just the document preparation itself can take weeks in the word processing department alone. The various engineers and other professionals spend weeks on any bid or proposal before it ever gets to word processing. Once the proposal is received it is usually weeks before a bid is chosen. After that there is much more work needed before work actually begins. There wasn't time to go through the normal process. Haliburton was chosen because they had the best track record. Period, end of discussion.