Business As Usual for Bush Administration and Halliburton

The Justice Department has under wraps dozens of whistleblower lawsuits against Halliburton to keep the issue under wraps during the election season. One such lawsuit has seen the light of day, It is typical of what's waiting DoJ release. Not suprisingly, AG Gonzales declines to join the case.
Los Angeles Times

The Houston-based company also defrauded the government by double- and triple-billing for Internet, food and gym services for soldiers, according to the lawsuit by a former employee for KBR, the Halliburton subsidiary that runs dining halls for troops in Iraq.


"The administration is not enforcing the laws against fraud when it comes to contractors in Iraq," said Alan Grayson, the attorney who filed the suit. "When it comes to seeing that the law is executed, the Bush administration is a no-show."


Halliburton denied the allegations, filed under the False Claims Act. Designed to prevent war profiteering, such lawsuits allow citizens to sue on behalf of the government and recover a portion of any damages.


[...]The Department of Justice chose not to join the lawsuit against Halliburton after conducting an investigation. Justice officials declined to elaborate Friday, but in legal circles such a decision is usually considered indication of a weak case.


Grayson accused the department of shirking its duties in the middle of a political season. Several dozen lawsuits alleging fraud in Iraq are believed to have been filed, but they remain under seal until the department completes its investigations.


[...]He said that the whistle-blower in the case, Julie McBride, came forward only after KBR officials ignored her complaints. McBride said in the lawsuit that she was placed under armed guard and then fired after she raised questions about Halliburton's billing practices. She could not be reached for comment Friday.


Justice Department officials "are stonewalling and keeping these cases under seal unnecessarily," Grayson said.


Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles), who has been the leader in Congress in attacking Halliburton, said that the charges were further proof of war profiteering by the oil services giant. "One former Halliburton employee after another tells the same story of outrageous and intentional overcharging," Waxman said in a statement. "Yet no one in the Bush administration seems to care."