FBI Investigating Bush Administration over Haliburton Contracts

Associated Press | 28 Oct 04 | Associated Press

[Peach]

I have to question the timing of this. LOL

Just last week didn't we see an article that there were tons of Bush foes in the FBI and CIA.

[WhistlingPastTheGraveyard]

At this rate, we might even get a replay of the DUI story...

There will be a fraudulent new "wrinkle", but it's coming.

[PilloryHillary]

The White House gave Halliburton special treatment???? That's it! I'm voting for Bush!

[snopercod]

Halliburton's earnings just came out. They are making a measly 0.3% return on the billions they have spent in Iraq.

Bet they'll never offer to do that again.

[Rutles4Ever]

Someone recently pondered who on earth would get the contracts instead of Halliburton? They seem to have a niche...

[sinkspur]

You don't think this might hurt W?

No. Halliburton is a dead issue. Has never worked.

[BushisTheMan]

No it won't hurt Bush.

The left wing nuts already think it is true.

Besides Clinton had Halliburton as a no-bid contractor.

[Argus]

Those "no bid" contracts were awarded to Halliburton under the Clinton Administration.

[hispanarepublicana]

Bunnatine Greenhouse

That's not REALLY her name, is it? LOLOLOL

[Howlin]

Your link doesn't work; you need a valid link.

And you need a spell checker.

[reagandemo]

[Jaded]

I wonder if Bush got Halliburton contracts in Kosovo and Macedonia in the 90's? (/so) Can they possibly waste any more money?

[oyez]

Like Cool Hand Luke, they keep coming back with nothing.

[Heff]

What does the FBI doing an investigation have to do with the RATS...and where the hell is our October surprise!!!

[AxelPaulsenJr]

Yes I think this is the October suprise. And yes I think it will hurt W.

[TonyInOhio]

The Kedwards internal polls must look really bad.

[tndarlin]

What was the nature of the contract. AND was there any other company in the world that could do this work?

I am so sick of hearing about Halliburton from nitwits that do not even know what Halliburton does.

There may have been one other company that could have done whatever the contract required, but it was a FRENCH company.

[Billthedrill]

Hokey smokes! That, coupled with the story on Bush's National Guard service that just came out, ought to put people to sleep all over the nation. Oh, the humanity!

[fidelio]

BC-Halliburton-Contracts, 1st Ld,480

URGENT
AP NewsBreak: FBI begins investigating how Halliburton got Bush administration contracts
Eds: ADDS 8 grafs with additional details, bgng, Asked about ...

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.

Asked about the documents, Greenhouse's lawyers said Thursday their client will cooperate but that she wants whistleblower 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 began collecting documents from Army offices in Texas and elsewhere in recent weeks to examine how and why Halliburton got the no-bid work in places like Iraq.

"The Corps is absolutely cooperating with the FBI, and it has been an ongoing effort," said Army Corps spokeswoman Carol Sanders. "Our role is to cooperate. It's a public contract and public funds. We've been providing them information for quite a while."

Wendy Hall, a Halliburton spokeswoman, said the company is cooperating with various investigations, but she dismissed the latest revelation as election politics. She noted Congress' auditing arm, the Government Accountability Office, found the company's no-bid work in Iraq was legal.

"The old allegations have once again been recycled, this time one week before the election," Hall said. "The GAO said earlier this year that the contract was properly awarded because Halliburton was the only contractor that could do the work.

"We look forward to the end of the election, because no matter who is elected president, Halliburton is proud to serve the troops just as we have for the past 60 years for both Democrat and Republican administrations," she said.

[AlexW]

This is probably another old regurgitated story..

Halliburton gets no-bid contracts because no one else can or will do the job.
Halliburton has lost many employees in the middle east,
and deserve our prayers.