(Washington, DC) Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, today released an Army Corps of Engineers e-mail titled “RIO [Restore Iraqi Oil] Status Update” that was obtained in response to a lawsuit Judicial Watch filed against the Department of the Army over the production of Kellogg, Brown & Root (“KBR”) “sole-source” contracting records under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”). Judicial Watch filed it’s lawsuit against the Department of the Army on February 25, 2004. Interestingly, KBR moved the court to intervene in the litigation in order to protect its commercial and financial interests. Judicial Watch did not object to KBR’s motion.

The FOIA also sought 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.

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.”

“This e-mail points to a credibility gap in the Bush administration’s explanation of the KBR contract for restoring Iraqi oil production,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.

The e-mail is available on the Internet at www.judicialwatch.org