FBI interviews Halliburton whistleblower
The Army Corps of Engineers contract officer, Bunnatine Greenhouse, was interviewed last week and now is gathering documents requested by the FBI and Army criminal investigators, her lawyer said Wednesday.
“They questioned her about all of her concerns, and they asked questions regarding potential involvement of people at higher-level positions,” attorney Michael Kohn said in an interview.
The Associated Press reported last month that the FBI had expanded a criminal probe into allegations Halliburton overcharged the government for fuel, adding questions about whether the Bush administration had improperly awarded business without bidding to Halliburton in Iraq and the Balkans.
Both the company and the administration deny any wrongdoing. Cheney’s office has said he has had nothing to do with the government contracts that have gone to the company, which he headed in the 1990s until joining President Bush on the 2000 Republican ticket.
Spokespersons for the Army and Halliburton did not immediately return calls Wednesday evening seeking comment.
Greenhouse has alleged that she began raising questions to her superiors about why the Pentagon was allowing business to go to Halliburton’s KBR subsidiary without competitive bidding and then was frozen out from decisions when she pressed her concerns.
Halliburton’s relationship with the Bush administration — along with allegations of possible favoritism — was made a campaign issue by Democrats. Greenhouse’s allegations last month caught the attention of the FBI.
Kohn said FBI agents interviewed his client for more than eight hours on Nov. 17, and asked questions about who in the Pentagon might have been applying pressure to get business to Halliburton.
Kohn declined to identify any of the higher officials that were discussed during the interview, but said no White House officials came up.
A legal source familiar with the interview, speaking only on condition of anonymity, said Greenhouse provided the FBI with new information about intervention on one of the Halliburton matters by a senior defense official. The source declined to be more specific, saying the lead was still being pursued by investigators.
Kohn said his client was continuing to cooperate. Greenhouse “has been requested and is in the process of providing additional documentation to both the bureau and the criminal investigation division of the Army,” he said.
Pentagon auditors and congressional Democrats have repeatedly turned up problems with Halliburton’s contracts. Some examples:
• The U.S. ambassador to Kuwait intervened to ensure that Halliburton retained a favored Kuwaiti subcontractor for gasoline imports to Iraq. Bush administrative officials have said only career contracting officials made decisions on Halliburton contracts.
• In 2002, Cheney’s chief of staff, a political appointee, was told the vice president’s former company would receive no-bid work to restore Iraq’s oil facilities. Cheney’s spokesman said the information was not given to the vice president.
• Halliburton charged the government $2.68 a gallon to import Kuwaiti gasoline to Iraq while a U.S. government agency did the same job for $1.57 a gallon.
• Pentagon auditors recommended withholding nearly $160 million in payments, saying the company charged the military for meals in and around Iraq that were never served.
