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.

[Waco]

Well, they could have given the contract to Tumpane,,,,,his,,,hic.

[tndarlin]

Keep harping on the editorial staff to ask if they know what Halliburton does and ask the questions about how many companies in this WORLD can do exactly the work Halliburton does.

Also hammer about the the exact contact that was awarded.

[RedMonqey]

"I smell a Rat in the FBI. A dirty DemocRAT."



Greenhouse's another Anita Hill wannabe ....

[Lancey Howard]

Tomorrow afternoon Bunnatine Greenhouse, attorney at her side, holds a tearful press conference announcing that she's receiving death threats!! and has shipped the kids off to Mom's house. The libs' last refuge....and the media will go all Bunnatine, all the time.

And hopefully by Saturday, child pornography will be discovered all over her computer.
Then we'll know who has the GUTS to win this thing.

[thecanuck]

I only got a bit of Chrissy's discussion with the lawyer for Bunny but I sensed a real hesitancy in pushing this story. Floating around the web it looks like everyone is still carrying the AP story only and not pushing their own coverage. Chrissy's questioning about the politics of the timing and his general demeaner seemed to suggest that even he knows the MSM and the AP in particular are starting to cross the line with their assault on Bush. They are starting to get reckless and people will turn on them and Kerry and rally around Bush if they feel the President is being attacked unfairly or for mere political gain.

[rocklobster11]

There cannot be much questioning, or the story will fall apart. It is apparent to me that this "investigation" has nothing to do with an investigation into Halliburton, but an investigation into a "whistleblower" has been treated unfairly after coming forward. There is an October 24 Time article online (for the Nov 1 issue) that talks about her case. Having said that, I'm sure the media will run with this story many times tomorrow.

[pawdoggie]

I hope to see this "story" debunked in less than 24 hours.

As they say in our military: "Hope is not a strategy".

[Allegra]

Halliburton?

Isn't that the company Dick Cheney had something to do with once? ;-)

[Henchman]

If KERRY wants to BLAME the Administration for everything, such as the alleged missing weapons in IRAQ, then he MUST CREDIT the Administration for the INVESTIGATION of Halliburton!

[WVbowhunter]

Well, it is now Monday morning and I am glad to see that this Halliburton story never caught on.

Yes, Matthews did focus on it for a good bit last week, but if it is on Hardboil, not very many people could have seen it, or their ratings would be higher than the Lumberjack World Championships on ESPN2 at 2:30 am.

Maybe the Osama tape overshadowed this story, or maybe their wasn't much there there. (I wasn't worried about the content of the story, I was just worried the MSM would be repeating Halliburton over and over.)

We are in the final 36 hours of this madness. History will not be kind to the Democrats for the sleezy, scorched earth campaign they ran this year. Ed Rendell may be a one term governor for illegally allowing PA prison inmates the right to vote, while trying to block and limit our military members.

I suspect there are a lot of veterans in the swing districts of PA.