Cheney coordinated Halliburton Iraq Contract

The Kernel · Post by **The Kernel** » 2004-05-30 03:39pm

Yahoo News wrote: WASHINGTON (AFP) - A Pentagon (news - web sites) e-mail said Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites) coordinated a huge Halliburton government contract for Iraq (news - web sites), despite Cheney's denial of interest in the company he ran until 2000.

The March 5, 2003 e-mail, from an Army Corps of Engineers official, said that top Pentagon official Douglas Feith got the job of shepherding the contract, according to the newsweekly Time that hits newsstands Monday.

Feith had approved the multi-billion-dollar deal "contingent on informing WH (the White House) tomorrow. We anticipate no issues since action has been coordinated w(ith) VP's (vice president's) office," said the e-mail obtained by Time.

The newsweekly said it was three days later that Halliburton won the contract, although no other bids had been submitted.

"As vice president, I have absolutely no influence of, involvement of, knowledge of in any way, shape or form of contracts led by the Corps of Engineers or anybody else in the federal government," Cheney told NBC's "Meet the Press" in September, Time said.

Cheney had been Halliburton's CEO until 2000, when he accepted the vice presidential spot.

Halliburton's current CEO Dave Lesar told Time, "There are very few companies in the world that could or would adapt this quickly while, at the same time, (financing) an operation of this magnitude."

However, Halliburton was not up to the job, Lesar admitted.

"Our control system was not ready for the surge of activity," he told the New York-based weekly.

Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith was handed the job of coordinating the contract by his boss, Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, Time said.

Feith, Wolfowitz and Cheney, along with Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Cheney's Chief of Staff Lewis "Scooter" Libby, form the core of Bush administration "hawks" who pushed for the war in Iraq.

Stormbringer · Post by **Stormbringer** » 2004-05-30 05:54pm

Is it just me or isn't that an illegal conflict of interest?

The Kernel · Post by **The Kernel** » 2004-05-30 06:00pm

[quote="Stormbringer"]Is it just me or isn't that an illegal conflict of interest?[/quote

It isn't just you and it also means he was lying when he claimed he had cult all business contact with Halliburton when taking office.

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2004-05-30 06:33pm

Stormbringer wrote:Is it just me or isn't that an illegal conflict of interest?

I doubt its acutally illegal if true, seeing how Cheney's pension from the company isn't dependent on how well it does and he owns no stock in the company.

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2004-05-30 07:04pm

The Kernel wrote:
Stormbringer wrote:Is it just me or isn't that an illegal conflict of interest?[/quote

It isn't just you and it also means he was lying when he claimed he had cult all business contact with Halliburton when taking office.

He does receive a fixed pension from the company and got a rather large sum of money upon his, however he ceded all of his stock options to a charitable trust.

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2004-05-30 07:05pm

That should be "upon his resignation."

The Kernel · Post by **The Kernel** » 2004-05-30 07:24pm

Joe wrote: He does receive a fixed pension from the company and got a rather large sum of money upon his, however he ceded all of his stock options to a charitable trust.

So? All you are saying is that he doesn't stand to benefit finacially from the arangement (that we are aware of), that doesn't mean that he isn't using inappropriate bias, especially since he claimed he had no influence over the decision (why would he lie so blatently about this if everything was kosher?).

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2004-05-30 07:28pm

The Kernel wrote:
Joe wrote: He does receive a fixed pension from the company and got a rather large sum of money upon his, however he ceded all of his stock options to a charitable trust.
So? All you are saying is that he doesn't stand to benefit finacially from the arangement (that we are aware of), that doesn't mean that he isn't using inappropriate bias, especially since he claimed he had no influence over the decision (why would he lie so blatently about this if everything was kosher?).

Hey, no judgment for or against him yet, I was just pointing out the facts as I know them.

My guess is that this will end up just being a load of hot air like everything else about Halliburton but I wouldn't completely rule out misconduct.

SirNitram · Post by **SirNitram** » 2004-05-30 07:30pm

Joe wrote:
The Kernel wrote:
Joe wrote: He does receive a fixed pension from the company and got a rather large sum of money upon his, however he ceded all of his stock options to a charitable trust.
So? All you are saying is that he doesn't stand to benefit finacially from the arangement (that we are aware of), that doesn't mean that he isn't using inappropriate bias, especially since he claimed he had no influence over the decision (why would he lie so blatently about this if everything was kosher?).
Hey, no judgment for or against him yet, I was just pointing out the facts as I know them.

My guess is that this will end up just being a load of hot air like everything else about Halliburton but I wouldn't completely rule out misconduct.

Brief question. Does anything prevent him from rejoining Halliburton after his time as Vice President?

The Kernel · Post by **The Kernel** » 2004-05-30 07:32pm

SirNitram wrote:Brief question. Does anything prevent him from rejoining Halliburton after his time as Vice President?

No.

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2004-05-30 07:34pm

Brief question. Does anything prevent him from rejoining Halliburton after his time as Vice President?

His heart, more than likely.

The Kernel · Post by **The Kernel** » 2004-05-30 10:22pm

Joe wrote: Hey, no judgment for or against him yet, I was just pointing out the facts as I know them.

My guess is that this will end up just being a load of hot air like everything else about Halliburton but I wouldn't completely rule out misconduct.

Check out this quote I found from CNN:

CNN wrote:Cheney still receives about $150,000 a year in deferred payments for work he performed as chairman. He also holds more than 433,000 stock options, according to a report last fall by the Congressional Research Office requested by Sen. Frank Lautenberg, a New Jersey Democrat. (Full story)

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2004-05-30 10:41pm

The Kernel wrote:
Joe wrote: Hey, no judgment for or against him yet, I was just pointing out the facts as I know them.

My guess is that this will end up just being a load of hot air like everything else about Halliburton but I wouldn't completely rule out misconduct.
Check out this quote I found from CNN:

CNN wrote:Cheney still receives about $150,000 a year in deferred payments for work he performed as chairman. He also holds more than 433,000 stock options, according to a report last fall by the Congressional Research Office requested by Sen. Frank Lautenberg, a New Jersey Democrat. (Full story)

Yup, those are the ones I had in mind. He relinquished control over them and assigned them to a charitable trust, the administrator of the trust now has control over them.

Also, I forgot to mention that he placed an insurance policy on his deferred salary to avoid a conflict of interest.