(Washington, D.C.) Documents related to a multi-billion-dollar contract awarded to Halliburton by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers obtained by Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, have prompted a call for an investigation of the federal contracting process.

The New York Times and TIME reported this week that the chief contracting officer for the Corps of Engineers, Bunnatine H. Greenhouse, has called for an investigation into contracts awarded to Halliburton for work in Iraq.  Both publications reported earlier in the year about an e-mail obtained by Judicial Watch that shows the possible involvement of Vice President Cheney in the awarding of the five-year, $8 billion sole-source contract to Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR).  Mr. Cheney was CEO of the energy company from 1995 until 2000, when President Bush picked him as his running mate.  The earlier articles also cited declassified documents, which Judicial Watch obtained from the Pentagon through a Freedom of Information Act request, that first raised questions about the integrity of the Corps of Engineers’ contracting process.

As part of its investigation into the matter, Judicial Watch interviewed Mrs. Greenhouse, who included on one of the documents a handwritten note expressing her concerns about the KBR contract:  “I caution that extending this sole source effort beyond a one year period could convey an invalid perception that there is not any intent for a [illegible] competition.”  She told Christopher Farrell, Judicial Watch director of investigations and research, that she believed the contract should be opened after one year to full competitive bidding with outside companies besides KBR.  She felt that extending the contract exclusively to KBR for any time beyond one year was not in the best interests of the Army Corps of Engineers’ contracting process.  Judicial Watch is continuing to investigate the Halliburton contract.

After articulating her reservations about the KBR contract to Pentagon officials, Mrs. Greenhouse claims she was excluded from reviewing other contracts and that her job status was threatened.  The Pentagon recently rescinded KBR’s long-term contract and opened it for competitive bidding.

“The Pentagon’s contracting process has been called into question by its top contracting official, and documents Judicial Watch obtained show there were irregularities in awarding a contract to Halliburton,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.  “We support Mrs. Greenhouse’s call for an investigation into the Army Corps of Engineers’ contracting process and the Halliburton contract.”

[Visit http://www.judicialwatch.org/5446.shtml to view the Halliburton contract documents.]