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Many cliches, spin phrases, attempts at redirection or deflection of criticism abound shortly after allegations or accusations of a scandalous nature become public. That is why the small quantity of reports identifying a conflict of interest between Senator Dianne Feinstein’s committee activities including defense contract awards and her husband Richard Blum’s involvement in URS Corp and Perini Corporation not getting much play is a surprise.

Perhaps a scandal from these reports would involve so many other notable participants that it is ignored. In the early years, it is reported that Blum supported Moscone in SF politics. When Moscone was mayor of SF, Feinstein was President of the Supervisors. Feinstein was sworn in as mayor after Moscone and Harvey Milk were assassinated by Dan White. Somewhere during this time, Blum and Feinstein paths crossed and later they were married.

Blum had started in business with an investment firm. His interest in buying struggling properties or businesses and later reselling for a profit, launched his career as a financier. His first major success was buying the struggling - Ringling Bros - Barnum and Bailey. Circus for 8 million and a few years later selling it to Mattel,Inc. for 40 million.

Besides investing in URS Corp, Blum later helped them during an accounting scandal. URS Corp bought EG&G Technical Services from the Carlyle Group in 2002. This company has received contracts form the government which would contribute to the allegations of conflict of interest. President Bush 41, former British Prime Minister John Major and former SEC Commissioner Arthur Levitt are all involved with the Carlyle Group which is a 14 billion dollar buyout firm. Could these type of power brokers be what keeps some investigations from happening? Or is it just easier to appease the public appetite for political scandal with targets like the following examples.

Congressman resigns after bribery plea
California Republican admits selling influence for $2.4 million
Monday, November 28, 2005; Posted: 10:09 p.m. EST (03:09 GMT)

Congressman Quits Panel After Raid
Less than a week after the FBI raided the Northern Virginia home of his wife, Rep. John T. Doolittle (R-Calif.) gave up his coveted seat on the House Appropriations Committee yesterday amid concerns that he had used that post to advance the interests of convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff and other …

FBI Probe Sidelines GOP Lawmaker
CBS News, NY
(CBS/AP) For the second time in as many days, a Republican member of Congress is stepping down from a sensitive committee because he’s being investigated by …

Some have gone as far as to say Feinstein and her husband and possibly others have profited from blood money in the war in Iraq. While that may be a stretch or a personal viewpoint on anyone generates revenue as a result of a war, the following excerpts from GAO reports show some of the contracts awarded to Perini Corp.

About $1.38 billion has been made available for RIE projects to date.
Of this amount, $756 million was allocated from the Development Fund
for Iraq,[Footnote 70] and the remaining $626 million was made
available from funds Congress appropriated for the Iraq Relief and
Reconstruction Fund.[Footnote 71] The Corps’ Transatlantic Program
Center used $1.06 billion of this money to issue task orders to
contractors for the first phase of RIE projects, known as “RIE 1,”
beginning in September 2003. The three largest contract obligations for
this phase went to Perini Corporation ($356.5 million), Fluor
Intercontinental ($335 million), and Washington Group International
($310 million).[Footnote 72] According to Corps officials, as of May
5, 2004, the CPA’s Program Management Office had allocated to the Corps
almost $323 million for two additional RIE phases, known as “RIE 2″
and “RIE 3.” RIE 2 continues the efforts of RIE 1 to help achieve 6,000
megawatts of generating capacity by June 30, 2004. RIE 3 projects are
not of an emergency nature but are necessary to add additional capacity
to the electrical grid. Of the $1.38 billion made available for RIE
projects, about $1.32 billion has been committed to contracts and task
orders.

Security Concerns Add to Cost and Slow Reconstruction Pace:

To varying extents, RIE 1 contractors are reporting or are expected to
report substantial security costs. For example, Perini estimated the
total cost of security at $63.4 million through August 2004, or almost
18 percent of its $356.5 million contract, and Washington Group
International’s security costs were nearly $44.5 million, or 14.3
percent of its $310 million contract.[Footnote 76] According to Corps
officials, the variation in security costs is in part explained by
differences in the nature and location of the projects performed by the
three contractors. Fluor, for example, used the protection of the
coalition’s “Green Zone” in Baghdad for some functions. Security for
RIE projects under these contracts extends through the construction
period. At the end of construction, the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity
will assume responsibility for security.

* In March 2003, the Army Corps of Engineers conducted a limited
competition resulting in multiple-award contracts with three firms–
Washington International, Inc., Fluor Intercontinental, Inc., and
Perini Corporation–for construction-related activities in the Central
Command’s area of responsibility. These contracts had a maximum value
of $100 million each. In the latter part of August 2003, as efforts to
restore electricity throughout Iraq lagged and amid concerns that the
electrical shortages presented social unrest and security threats to
the CPA and the military forces, the Central Command tasked the Army
Corps of Engineers with taking steps to rebuild the electrical
infrastructure as quickly as possible. In response, the Army Corps of
Engineers issued task orders under each of these contracts causing them
to exceed their maximum value.[Footnote 21] Consequently, the orders
are outside the scope of the underlying contracts.

Appendix II: Iraq Reconstruction Contracts/Task Orders and Obligations
as of September 30, 2003:

Contracting agency/Contractor: Department of Defense:
Department of the Army: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers/
Brown & Root Services, a division of Kellogg Brown & Root, Inc;
Purpose: Restore Iraqi oil;
Procurement method: New contract;
Amount obligated: $1,390,095,044.

Contracting agency/Contractor: Department of Defense:
Department of the Army: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers/
Washington International Inc;
Purpose: Restore Iraqi electricity;
Procurement method: Task order;
Amount obligated: $110,960,000.

Contracting agency/Contractor: Department of Defense:
Department of the Army: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers/
Fluor Intercontinental, Inc;
Purpose: Restore Iraqi electricity;
Procurement method: Task order;
Amount obligated: $102,460,000.

Contracting agency/Contractor: Department of Defense:
Department of the Army: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers/
Perini Corporation;
Purpose: Restore Iraqi electricity;
Procurement method: Task order;
Amount obligated: $66,589,900.

One of the next posts on this topic should have similar information on URS Corp. It would also be helpful to provide soem more information on the other players who may be involved. And there is no reason not to look at contracts from the no bid arrangement with the likes of Halliburton, KBR and others. It is easy to guess but hard to explain why so little has been done in the way of oversight of these matters. With the flood of a Democrat-led push to uncover suspicious activity as long as it involves Republicans, some may like to know why their focus is so narrow if it is not only a political vendetta. Surely, the GOP is not the only party capable of wrongdoing.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

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This entry was posted on Saturday, April 21st, 2007 at 2:22 pm and is filed under Money Matters, wordpress, Politics, lobbyist, disclosure, ethics, oversight, Military, Sen Dianne Feinstein. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.