Details the myriad illegal, immoral, and unethical activities of Dick Cheney when CEO of Halliburton, his obstruction of justice, and lies to the American public since his appointment as Vice President. For information on an equally corrupt politician, see link to Tom DeLay-Corporate Whore. Be sure to visit our cavernous vault of archives.

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WATCHDOG SUES PENTAGON FOR HALLIBURTON’S IRAQ OIL CONTRACT RECORDS

Pentagon Stonewalled Request for Halliburton’s “KBR” Contracts and Records Concerning Costs, Deadlines, Award Process, Spending Limits & Bonus Scales

(Washington, DC) Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced that it filed a lawsuit yesterday against the Department of the Army in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, seeking records requested under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”), pertaining to the decision to grant “sole source” contracts for work in Iraq to Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg, Brown and Root (“KBR”), as well as records concerning KBR costs, deadlines, spending limits, bonus scales, timetables and requirements. Sole source contracts are awarded to a company without the company’s having to go through a competitive bidding process. Judicial Watch filed its FOIA requests with the Defense Department on April 6, 2003 and June 16, 2003. No substantive response or production of documents was made by the Pentagon.

Vice President Richard B. Cheney was Halliburton’s chief executive and chairman from 1995 to 2000, when he stepped down to be President George W. Bush’s running mate. The Securities and Exchange Commission is currently investigating Halliburton's 1998 decision to change the way it accounted for revenue on cost-overrun projects. Recently, Halliburton and subsidiary KBR’s irregular government billing practices are reportedly under criminal investigation.

On September 12, 2003, Judicial Watch reported that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers claimed justification and approval documents for the award of a sole source contract to KBR and a number of e-mail messages were classified documents, and could not be disclosed to the public. The Corps of Engineer’s counsel went on to say that: “The [original KBR sole source] contract is for a period of two years, with three one-year options, and the total amount of the contract cannot exceed $7 billion dollars.”

“It is time for the Pentagon to level with the American public about its contracting practices in Iraq. The secrecy is intolerable and illegal. The Pentagon needs to come clean on Halliburton,” stated Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.