Say Anything Blog

KBR overcharged the U.S. Navy for providing meals to workers and service personnel in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, according to a Pentagon audit.

The Pentagon Inspector General said he could find no documentation in Navy contracting files to back up KBR claims it paid fair and reasonable prices to subcontractors that served meals in New Orleans.

“The prices KBR agreed to pay were greatly inflated,” the 86-page audit said.

“The Navy paid approximately $4.1 million for meals and services we calculate should have cost $1.7 million, more than a $2.3 million difference,” said the audit, signed by Assistant Inspector General for Acquisition Management Richard Jolliffe.

KBR paid for 227,500 meals over a 34-day period, yet the subcontractors served only 113,654, fewer than half, and the remaining meals were discarded, the audit said. It recommended the Navy demand a refund from KBR of at least $1.4 million.

The overcharges were one element of mismanagement by Houston-based KBR, of three Navy contracts valued at $229 million for cleanup and restoration of Navy facilities damaged after Hurricane Ivan in 2004 and Katrina in 2005, the audit said.

Altogether, the audit requested that the Navy seek refunds of at least $8.5 million for “inappropriate” payments to KBR.

KBR spokeswoman Heather Browne said “KBR does not agree with many of the conclusions contained in the report.”

WASHINGTON — Military lawyers warned against the harsh detainee interrogation techniques approved by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in 2002, contending in separate memos weeks before Rumsfeld’s endorsement that they could be illegal, a Senate panel has found.

The investigation by the Senate Armed Services Committee also has confirmed that senior administration officials, including the Pentagon’s then-general counsel William “Jim” Haynes, sought the help of military psychologists early on to devise the more aggressive methods — which included the use of dogs, making a detainee stand for long periods of time and forced nudity, according to officials familiar with the findings.

...Rumsfeld’s December 2002 approval of the aggressive interrogation techniques and later objections by military lawyers have been widely reported. But the November protests by service lawyers had not, and the interest by Pentagon civilians in military psychologists has surfaced only piecemeal.

...Rumsfeld later rescinded his own memo and issued new guidance in April 2003. Mora was among those military lawyers who logged objections to the administration’s treatment of detainees in that 2002 and 2003 timeframe, according to a February 2006 article in The New Yorker. In a July 2004 memo, shortly after images surfaced of abuses at Abu Ghraib, Mora detailed his 2 1/2-year effort to halt a policy that he said was illegal and cruel.

KABUL, Afghanistan — American soldiers herded the detainees into holding pens of razor-sharp concertina wire, the kind that’s used to corral livestock.

The guards kicked, kneed and punched many of the men until they collapsed in pain. U.S. troops shackled and dragged other detainees to small isolation rooms, then hung them by their wrists from chains dangling from the wire mesh ceiling.

Former guards and detainees whom McClatchy interviewed said Bagram was a center of systematic brutality for at least 20 months, starting in late 2001. Yet the soldiers responsible have escaped serious punishment.

...Nazar Chaman Gul, an Afghan who was held at Bagram for more than three months in 2003, said he was beaten about every five days. American soldiers would walk into the pen where he slept on the floor and ram their combat boots into his back and stomach, Gul said. “Two or three of them would come in suddenly, tie my hands and beat me,” he said.

When the kicking started, Gul said, he’d cry out, “I am not a terrorist,” then beg God for mercy. Mercy was slow in coming. He was shipped to Guantanamo around the late summer of 2003 and imprisoned there for more than three years.

According to Afghan officials and a review of his case, Gul wasn’t a member of al Qaida or of the extremist Taliban regime that ran Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001. At the time he was detained, he was working as a fuel depot guard for the U.S.-backed Afghan government.

...The eight-month McClatchy investigation found a pattern of abuse that continued for years. The abuse of detainees at Bagram has been reported by U.S. media organizations, in particular The New York Times, which broke several developments in the story. But the extent of the mistreatment, and that it eclipsed the alleged abuse at Guantanamo, hasn’t previously been revealed.

Guards said they routinely beat their prisoners to retaliate for al Qaida’s 9-11 attacks, unaware that the vast majority of the detainees had little or no connection to al Qaida.

Former detainees at Bagram and Kandahar said they were beaten regularly. Of the 41 former Bagram detainees whom McClatchy interviewed, 28 said that guards or interrogators had assaulted them. Only eight of those men said they were beaten at Guantanamo Bay.

...

WASHINGTON - Republican presidential candidate John McCain admitted on Saturday it can be difficult at times to be proud of the United States.

“I’ll admit to you … that it’s tough in some respects,” McCain said when asked by a questioner at a town hall meeting how to be proud of the country.

“We have not always done things right and we mismanaged the war in Iraq very badly for nearly four years.”

McCain’s wife, Cindy, pounced on Michelle Obama, the wife of presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama, for saying in February that she was proud of her country “for the first time in my adult life.”

The Arizona senator said it was important for the United States to be more humble and inclusive.

“I think we can be proud of America because of what we’ve achieved and accomplished in this world,” he said.

“What we have to do is tell our friends around the world that we will be proud of America because of what we’re going to do.”

Sen. John Ensign of Nevada has one of the least enviable jobs this year. As chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, he’s in charge of defending the 23 Senate Republican seats up for re-election (versus 12 for Democrats) in a chilly political environment for his party.

...Democrats are poised to increase their majority in both chambers of Congress, but while House Republican leaders still make optimistic—but unlikely—claims to have a shot at winning back a majority, Ensign is more pragmatic. “The chances of [Republicans] getting back in to the majority, obviously, it would be fairly miraculous,” he told reporters Thursday during a lunch meeting hosted by the Christian Science Monitor.

Of the 10 most competitive Senate races this year, nine are for seats now held by Republicans. Only one Democrat, Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu, faces a serious challenge in November. Ensign said his best-case scenario would be a three-seat loss on Election Day. “That would be a terrific night for us, absolutely,” he said. “I don’t want to slip below the four-seat loss. That’s kind of where we’ve set our absolute worst goal is to be down to 45 seats.”

...Ensign identified the 10 most competitive races in the states of Maine, New Hampshire, Minnesota, Alaska, Oregon, Colorado, New Mexico, Louisiana, North Carolina, and Virginia. Two — Virginia and New Mexico — are heavily favored at this point to flip to Democratic control. Asked if the NRSC was mulling walking away from these two races to focus resources elsewhere, Ensign was non-committal, but added, “You don’t waste money on races that don’t need it or you can’t win.”

Iraqi Prime Minister Says Security Agreement With U.S. at ‘Dead End’

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s prime minister said Friday that talks with the U.S. on proposals for a long-term security pact have reached an impasse over objections that Iraq’s sovereignty is at stake, but held out hope that negotiators could still reach a compromise plan.

In his strongest comments yet on the debate, Nouri al-Maliki echoed concern by Iraqi lawmakers that the U.S. proposals would give Washington too much political and military leverage on Iraqi affairs.

“The first drafts presented left us at a dead end and deadlock,” he told reporters in Amman, Jordan. “So, we left these first drafts and the negotiations will continue with new ideas until the sides reach a formula that preserves Iraq’s sovereignty.”

The security agreement would provide a legal basis for the presence of U.S. forces in Iraq after the U.N. mandate expires at the end of this year. Failure to strike a deal would leave the future of the American military presence here to the next administration.

U.S. negotiators offered new proposals this week after Iraqi lawmakers expressed outrage over the direction of the negotiations, claiming that accepting the U.S. position would cement American military, political and economic domination of this country.

“Any agreement that infringes on Iraq’s sovereignty and its components will be dismissed and will not be acceptable,” he added, promising any deal would be presented to Iraq’s parliament for final approval.

“It is a negotiation process that will continue until we reach a common ground that is acceptable by the Iraqi and the other sides,” al-Maliki said. “So, I see no reason to be worried about the possibility that Iraq will be chained by agreements. The Iraqi politicians are aware of the importance of sovereignty.”

Glenn Murphy Jr. had a top spot in local Republican politics and was making a name for himself as president of the Young Republicans National Federation. But after a Young Republicans get-together last July, a young man claimed Murphy made a bold sexual advance on him.

Police reports said Murphy shared a bunk bed with his victim, a 22-year-old who had had too much to drink, and the next morning the victim said he awoke to find Murphy performing a sex act on him. The victim said he told Murphy to stop and pushed him away.

Prosecutor Stanley Levco said other incidents involving Murphy would have been presented as evidence had the case gone to trial. A Clarksville police report shows Murphy was involved in a similar incident in 1988, but no charges were filed.

Levco said he thinks that may have been another reason Murphy pleaded guilty as charged.

Criminal deviate conduct is a Class B felony in Indiana. If the judge accepts his plea, Murphy will have to register as a sex offender. Sentencing is set for June 30.

Murphy resigned his political posts when the allegations surfaced.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A former underwriter who says she was forced to resign after blowing the whistle on fraud at Capital One Financial Corp’s (COF.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) subprime mortgage unit filed a $51 million lawsuit against her former employer on Thursday.

According to the suit filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, Rachel Steinmetz said she was forced into an “involuntary resignation” by her superiors in retaliation for refusing “to approve fraudulent, unlawful and bad loans” and reporting the activities to her superiors and authorities.

...She claims she was forced by superiors to approve loans that contained fraudulent information and that her bosses waited until she was out of the office to approve loans that she had denied.

Belgian brewer InBev is offering a big payday to shareholders of Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc., but its bid to create the world’s largest beer company is already facing a major obstacle - U.S. election-year politics.

...Republican Gov. Matt Blunt said Wednesday he opposes the deal, and directed the Missouri Department of Economic Development to see if there was a way to stop it.

“I am strongly opposed to the sale of Anheuser-Busch, and today’s offer to purchase the company is deeply troubling to me,” Blunt said in a statement.

WASHINGTON—The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that foreign terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo Bay have rights under the Constitution to challenge their detention in U.S. civilian courts.

The justices handed the Bush administration its third setback at the high court since 2004 over its treatment of prisoners who are being held indefinitely and without charges at the U.S. naval base in Cuba. The vote was 5-4, with the court’s liberal justices in the majority.

Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the court, said, “The laws and Constitution are designed to survive, and remain in force, in extraordinary times.”

...The court said not only that the detainees have rights under the Constitution, but that the system the administration has put in place to classify them as enemy combatants and review those decisions is inadequate.

...The court has ruled twice previously that people held at Guantanamo without charges can go into civilian courts to ask that the government justify their continued detention. Each time, the administration and Congress, then controlled by Republicans, changed the law to try to close the courthouse doors to the detainees.

Meet Bob Kelleher, the Republican nominee against Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) this year.

He is an 85-year-old attorney with some downright unconventional views. He believes the American system of representative government should be replaced by a parliamentary system. He calls for socialized medicine, advocates nationalizing the country’s oil and gas industries and believes taxes should be raised significantly to eradicate poverty.

It’s not the standard GOP platform, but nevertheless Kelleher defeated four other candidates in the primary to claim the Republican nomination.

Among those he bested were former state House Majority Leader Mike Lange and businessman Kirk Bushman, who had courted statewide donors and visited Washington to meet with national party representatives. It was Kelleher’s first victory after 15 losses as a Democratic Party and Green Party candidate.

Needless to say, the Republican Party wants nothing to do with him.

If Kelleher were an aberration, his candidacy might be easier for Republicans to swallow. But he’s not.

He’s one of a handful of GOP Senate nominees who are, well, not exactly who the party had in mind.

ALBANY — Federal law enforcement agents have raided the offices of an influential lobbying firm in Albany as part of the latest investigation connected to the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal in Washington.

Comment on This Article The raid was part of an investigation of former Congressman John Sweeney, an Albany-area Republican with ties to Mr. Abramoff. During the raid on Friday, about 10 F.B.I. agents spent several hours collecting computers and files from the office of Powers & Company, the lobbying firm.

The company is run by the former chairman of the state Republican Party, William D. Powers. Mr. Sweeney’s ex-wife, Gayle, worked for Powers & Company until early last year, and Mr. Powers was a longtime political patron of the congressman.

The raid was reported on Tuesday by The Times Union of Albany on its Web site.

In early 2006, Jack Abramoff, once a top Republican lobbyist and a power broker in Washington, pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiring to corrupt public officials.

...Mr. Sweeney lost his Congressional seat to Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democrat, in the 2006 election. Mr. Sweeney’s campaign was marred in its final weeks by reports in The Times Union that the congressman may have violated House rules by not reporting who paid for a trip that he took to the Northern Mariana Islands with an associate of Mr. Abramoff.

And then days before the election, a domestic violence police report surfaced involving Mr. Sweeney and Gayle, who was then his wife.

Mr. Sweeney was arrested on drunken driving charges late last year. He later pleaded guilty to those charges and paid a fine.

Mr. Powers has been an influential figure in Republican politics, leading the state party from 1991 to 2001 and serving as its chairman when George E. Pataki, who had previously been a little-known Republican state senator, was elected governor. He also helped with Rudolph W. Giuliani’s mayoral campaign.

....Investigators have also focused on the wife of Representative John T. Doolittle, a California Republican who announced this year he would retire.