Waxman: "Potentially Thousands of Criminal Cases Involving Fraudulent Contracts in Iraq"

[Hissyspit]

Source: House Oversight & Government Reform Committee

Waxman: "Potentially Thousands of Criminal Cases Involving Fraudulent Contracts in Iraq"

A letter (pdf) from House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman Henry Waxman (D-Cali.) states that there may be "potentially thousands of criminal cases involving fraudulent contracts in Iraq." Chairman Waxman's letter to Pentagon Inspector General Claude Kicklighter is based on an audit by the DoD IG that found that 4% of 702 transactions examined in a sample worth $1.5 billion "appeared to involve criminal misuse of taxpayer funds." Waxman's staff extrapolated this to the entire pool of 180,000 transactions. Thus, "there may be more than 7,000 potential criminal cases involving more than $190 million in federal spending that have not been identified." He added, "This is an astounding amount of potential criminal fraud."

Waxman requests that the DoD IG spend further resources and dig in to find and prosecute the full extent of the actual fraud. However, unless the DoD IG, Army Criminal Investigation Command and others are fully staffed and empowered to pursue procurement fraud, Waxman's request may be impossible to fully achieve.

Read more: http://pogoblog.typepad.com/pogo/2008/06/waxman-potentia.html

[babylonsister]

1. This could take awhile. nt

[defendandprotect]

2. Keep in mind a lot of the Halliburton contracts had NO ceiling -- !!!

[Raster]

3. No ceiling, no bid and usually the exact terms were SECRET!!!

Is it any wonder that ol' dick cheney*'s deferred income (stock) in Halliburton has grown over 3000%. Yes, over 3000%.

[defendandprotect]

24. Most of it leaves me speechless . . .

because it is so unresponded to ---

"the hounds didn't bark---"

There are small yelps from the Dems but no real barking still ---


And it's not just this theft --- it's a frightening privatization of the military ---
and it's a growth industry!!!

Meanwhile, I'm betting on secret Swiss accounts ---

[Mind_your_head]

29. That's what the APR on my credit card is!!!!!

3000%* !

What/who is going to stop these sharks! Seriously.

(*note the APR on my non-existent credit card is not 3000%. But who/what's to stop it from being that? Rates are outrageously high now. Back-in-the-day it was called "loan sharking" and was very very ILLEGAL. Why has that very same practice become 'legal/legitimate' now? Is it because some thug named 'Bruno' doesn't come "physically mess up your face" when you can't pay now?. When is Amerca gonna say, "ENOUGH" already! :sheesh:

[AlbertCat]

57. Halliburton was almost bankrupt...

....because of Dick. Remember? Dick's "Proudest moment" was when he absorbed some company into Haliburton....without telling anyone about all the asbestos law suits hanging over that company. This war is Dick's way of righting that little oversight, and making a few bucks as well.

Now Haliburton is headquartered in Dubai. No doubt Dick will be jetting there about .04 seconds before his term is up. Dubai has no extradition treaty with the USA. So long....suckers!

[louis-t]

58. I think you're mixing deferred salary with stock.

My understanding is he is receiving deferred salary of $150-200,000 a year, even if the company folds (fat chance now). I understand deferred salary, I know why they do it, I don't have a problem with it. BUT HE LIED ABOUT IT SEVERAL TIMES ON NATIONAL TV. Sorry.
He also has somewhere in the neighborhood of 444,000 stock options that have increased in value significantly. HE ALSO LIED ABOUT THAT. Sorry.
He also said, when FINALLY confronted with this, that he would donate any profit he made to charity. The 'liberal' media accepted this and no mention of it has been heard since. No mention of the original lie, no follow up to check if he ever donated anything to anyone.

[elehhhhna]

67. re; charity...they put a ton of $ into a family charitable trust and called it donating to charity

[louis-t]

71. AAAAARRRRGGGGGH!!!!!!!!!!

That just makes my head hurt.

[Monk06]

34. You forgot to mention payment guanteed regardless of contract completion.

[Frank Cannon]

40. Maybe Russert's successor can get Cheney on this weekend...

and ask him questions about his relationship with Halliburton and these contracts.

Yeah. That'll happen.

[Spouting Horn]

55. Gee,

don't you love it when a plan comes together?

:eyes:

[Overseas]

4. K&R -- Thousands of cases of war profiteering. It has been horrible.

[Raster]

35. It is very safe to say we have and ARE seeing war profiteering on a scale unprecedented.

And that's tough to do, since the Pentagon and the Military Industrial Complex has war profiteering down to an art form.

On edit: something more akin to strip mining.

[DavidDvorkin]

5. Terrible. Too bad nothing will happen.

No one will pay for this, unless it's a few minor underlings offered up as sacrificial lambs. Our money is gone, and nothing will be done to get it back or punish those responsible.

[lonestarnot]

10. Oh yeah, person of little faith. I say some will pay, and dick's wad will crash without his cart.

[DavidDvorkin]

18. Not little faith. No faith.

[NM Independent]

31. Dick's wad?

:rofl:

[truedelphi]

11. Well some who are involved will be promoted.

Halliburton will no doubt get more contracts to help rebuild the flooded MidWest.

[newspeak]

62. someone will pay for it

THE AMERICAN PEOPLE!!!!! The S&L theft at one time was considered one of the worst heists in the history of the world--this is just another hit on the American people. pathological, greedy corporations ripping off the public as fast as they can--but hey, those welfare moms, those deadbeats, they're the problem. :sarcasm:

[SpiralHawk]

6. "He is slandering our republicon crony profit crusade." - Commander AWOL

[slipslidingaway]

7. Bush Article of Impeachment XVI

Article XVI
RECKLESS MISSPENDING AND WASTE OF US TAX DOLLARS IN CONNECTION WITH IRAQ CONTRACTORS


http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/busharticleXVI

[proud2BlibKansan]

20. Great idea!!

[slipslidingaway]

50. Thanks and please join me in pointing to the Article number

when applicable :)

My email to Waxman contained that particular Article of Impeachment.

[BlueJac]

8. DO SOMETHING!

I have heard lots of hopeful things from Waxman, but little action. Quit teasing everyone and do something, finally. Threats are cheap and so is big talk. PLEASE DO YOUR JOB AND MAKE THE REST DO THEM TOO.

[L. Coyote]

14. He's a Congressperson, not a dictator or a god. What are you saying he should do?

That he isn't already doing. For Christ's sake, look at the poor man's work load, and compare what he does with any of us do.

ON edit: He brings this to light, and you crap on him! If this isn't doing something, what the hell is???????????????????????????

[Occulus]

22. Is it possible to introduce a bill rescinding ALL Iraq contracts?

Dovetail it with eliminating the funding for the war.

Sorry, I'm both thinking out loud and dreaming. Not a good combination....

[DailyGrind51]

45. Use the War Powers Act to nationalize the contractors

Bush actually made this possible when he expanded executive war powers.

[jeff30997]

9. Ah JC!!!

I'm sick of those clowns!

[KoKo]

12. IMPEACH....We are sick of this...we KNOW IT ALREADY!

Sheesh...I'm so sick of this!

[donco6]

13. Obama should put Bunny in charge

Remember Bunnatine Greenhouse? I say put her in charge of govt purchasing and contracting.

http://www.thelangreport.com/?p=708
(can't vouch for the source, but the article is pretty good.)

[Postman]

15. You've heard of "too big to fail" ...Now its "too corrupt to prosecute"

I believe the corruption of the US govt is soo large, it's too large to prosecute.

[Mind_your_head]

26. Don't EVER believe that.....

....or America will wind up just like Italy with 2500 soldiers on the street (b/c they can't "train 2500 police officers quick enough", says Bersco-full-o-baloney

MSM SAYS Berco is "too powerful to prosecute"......don't believe it.

[slipslidingaway]

16. Message to Chairman Waxman...contact link

http://oversight.house.gov/contact/

[windoe]

17. Loose the hounds! n/t

[bluesmail]

19. Something's going to give, maybe not in my lifetime

or yours. Watergate is an example of what can happen when a group of politicians are focused and determined as Waxman and Kucinich are. WE don't know what they have planned, otherwise The Dick would know and he'd be planning his next move, IMO.

[lovuian]

21. They stole and they stole and they stole and Congress gave

and approved more and more billions and trillions

without blinking an eye

there is SOOO much crime and fraud

they can't prosecute it

isn't that a heck of a excuse

[bjobotts]

23. Treasury ransacked by so many we don't have a posse big enough.

[Mind_your_head]

25. crazy

:crazy:

Where does a nation BEGIN to address this?

Oh, and btw, and why didn't "Congress" whose member ebb and flow, EVER exercise their 'powers-of-the-purse' (NOT to suggest that they are doing it NOW either! :sheesh:

okay, I guess a way to 'begin' is to cut out/stop/prosecute the OBVIOUS abuses and work down and further down from there.

[Sunnyshine]

27. There is toxic fraud and oily crimes everywhere!Why can't we help our own country out for a change?

Hello. Is there anybody in there?

Please make this stop. :grr:

[crickets]

28. Enough talk. Take action.

[Mind_your_head]

30. What action do you suggest we take? n/t

[crickets]

32. Actually, I was talking to Waxman and Congress :)

I'm not sure what action to suggest. I'm taking the actions I think we've always taken. Before the war started, I hit the streets to protest. Since then, I've moved to an area where protests don't happen, unfortunately (and no, I don't feel safe starting a one woman protest in these parts - I got enough scary crap for my bumper sticker one day). Recently I donated to Obama's campaign. Most often I pick up the phone to call various Congressional reps and ask, "Why aren't you taking care of (issue)? What do you plan to do about it and when do you plan to do it?" Last week, I picked up the phone to call Dennis Kucinich's office to say, "Thank you." I don't know how much good it does, but the thank you, in particular, made me feel better.

[NM Independent]

33. I am incredibly surprised at this...

Only $190 million in those 7,000 cases, and only that few cases. I'm not buying it for second. Not when we're spending $160 billion a year. WAY more fraud than that.

P.S. Claude Kicklighter, now, that a freaking cooool name.

[Botany]

49. The Claude went from the Army to helping oversee the army's spending

He looks like a man I can trust

[and-justice-for-all]

36. Are they just filling the Bush file full...

and when Shrub clocks out, put'em in hand cuffs then? so to speak.

[snappyturtle]

37. K&R Why am I not surprised? n/t

[The Backlash Cometh]

38. If you knew someone in the local area who was DoD, would you

be slightly concerned about their veracity?

[mwb970]

39. WHY CAN'T WE GET RID OF THESE CROOKS?

Continuous crime in the White House for eight years and absolutely nothing happens to anyone, ever. How can this be? I have never been so frustrated with anything involving politics as I am with the complete, total lack of accountability enjoyed by bush and his fellow criminals.

We used to execute traitors. Now we elect them, re-elect them, and allow them to destroy our country from within while we stand there and watch. What caused us to change? Where is everybody? America is dying right in front of us.

:mad:

[iamjoy]

41. We Have A Fighter....

Alan Grayson is running for Congress in Florida's 8th District. He has been fighting the war profiteers for years and actually won a case. The Wall Street Journal said Alan is "fighting a one-man war against contractor fraud in Iraq."

You can visit his website here:
http://www.graysonforcongress.com/

We get more people like this elected to Congress and we'll make those greedy jerks pay.

[whistle]

42. Start listing and organizing them, these two war criminals Bush and Cheney

...need to be prosecuted and punished for all of their activities after inauguration January 2001

[mdmc]

43. nothing to see here. move along democrats

no need for accountablitiy... or impeachment. Just reduce the GOP to minority status and stay the course.

[DailyGrind51]

44. Remember that Alberto Gonzalez would not look into allegations

of contractor fraud.

[Norrin Radd]

46. kr

[Botany]

47. Just remember we spent 7 years and 77 million to investigate a blow job

Dick Cheney's plans have paid off very well to both his friends and to "the Dick"
himself.

Under H.W. Dick outsources all kinds of pentagon jobs to private companies ....
as Veep he lies to start a war and then it is feeding time @ the trough as
the contracts were no bid cost plus models.

These fuckers should be in prison.

[JHB]

48. Related Story: Army Overseer Tells of Ouster Over KBR Stir

File under: "That '4%' is likely a severe underestimate"

Army Overseer Tells of Ouster Over KBR Stir

By JAMES RISEN
Published: June 17, 2008
WASHINGTON — The Army official who managed the Pentagon’s largest contract in Iraq says he was ousted from his job when he refused to approve paying more than $1 billion in questionable charges to KBR, the Houston-based company that has provided food, housing and other services to American troops.

The official, Charles M. Smith, was the senior civilian overseeing the multibillion-dollar contract with KBR during the first two years of the war. Speaking out for the first time, Mr. Smith said that he was forced from his job in 2004 after informing KBR officials that the Army would impose escalating financial penalties if they failed to improve their chaotic Iraqi operations.

Army auditors had determined that KBR lacked credible data or records for more than $1 billion in spending, so Mr. Smith refused to sign off on the payments to the company. “They had a gigantic amount of costs they couldn’t justify,” he said in an interview. “Ultimately, the money that was going to KBR was money being taken away from the troops, and I wasn’t going to do that.”

But he was suddenly replaced, he said, and his successors — after taking the unusual step of hiring an outside contractor to consider KBR’s claims — approved most of the payments he had tried to block.
****
(Emphasis added)
More at the link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/17/washington/17contractor.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

[Phred42]

51. We will need a Completely NEW DEpartment

Just to deal with This

[oldskool]

52. What are they waiting for

It is time for our elected officials (our employees) start
earning their paycheck. There are too many scandals not
too.They let it back up for years so now it may be impossible?
That is not the answer We The People want to hear. If they
don't want to do their job then it is time to step aside. They
all took an oath to uphold The Constitution, The Rule of Law.
It's time they start abiding by it.

[Joe Chi Minh]

53. You get the impression that they're almost congenitally incapable

of operating legally, if they can possibly find a way of introducing some criminal dimension to it. As a matter of principle. They should have their own dedicated bumper-sticker: "Honest is ugly!"

[cosanostradamus]

54. IT'S ONLY MONEY

.
There are plenty of lampposts to hang them from, come January.
.

[radhika]

56. Start by Enforcing Subpoenas, Henry

It's hard to take these pronouncements seriously, as long as he refuses to enforce subpoenas and use the tool of inherent contempt. Henry is the undisputed front runner of the Show Trials Marathon.

[Rhiannon12866]

59. K&R. We need more brave reps like Waxman and Kucinich...

:patriot:

[NBachers]

60. Run . . Run . . Run . . But You Just Can't Hide

And the Band Played On

[windoe]

61. I wish we could just print our own money

and start over. OK you guys, keep that paper, we only take honest money here, or barter, and trade amongst ourselves, support honest projects, ect.
I am dreaming again, it's my nature to look for alternative solutions, can't help it.

[newspeak]

63. funny, I've had the same dream

Of course, it might be a pipe dream:smoke: Remember when Jim Hightower while serving in Texas in Dept. of Ag--was for farmers to directly sell their crops to other countries, taking away the middleman , who was making a killing, while the farmer got a pittance (not talking about big corporate farms). Well, it's a dream, I know, but if enough people were hurting (in this country or the world) my dream would be that they would come together in force and determine a knew monetary or value system for trade. I know it probably would never happen, but it would greatly undercut those who have determined how the game's gonna be played for their benefit.

[windoe]

68. Starve the monster

hey we have to dream up new ways to live, I believe that. This dream is someone else's nightmare and it is not sustainable.
Dream on :)

[guitar man]

64. they'll send out

thousands of "strongly worded letters"...that will teach them :eyes:

[superconnected]

65. Bush's last act will be pardons.

Watch.

[indepat]

66. Finding an Iraqi contract let to friends/cronies which is not fraught with fraud might be as hard as

finding a proverbially honest man. :D

[TexasBushwhacker]

69. Suspend payments to any suspects

Seems pretty simple to me. If a company (HALLIBURTON) is suspected of fraudulent billings, all future payments should be suspended until the suspected billings have been fully investigated. What's the worst thing that could happen? They quit?! BFD! I'm sure there are dozens of companies that would be happy to pick up those NO BID CONTRACTS. Hell, they may even be willing to BID!

[orleans]

70. note to dems: DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT DAMNIT! n/t