U.S. Criminal Probe Looks at Former NASA Official's Contacts With Boeing Executive

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: The Wall Street Journal.

WSJ NEWS EXCLUSIVE BUSINESS

U.S. Criminal Probe Looks at Former NASA Official's Contacts With Boeing Executive

Investigation focuses on procurement-related information then-senior official shared with Boeing about lunar-lander competition

By Andy Pasztor, Andrew Tangel and Aruna Viswanatha
Updated Aug. 14, 2020 7:36 pm ET

Federal prosecutors have opened a criminal probe into whether a senior NASA official improperly told a high-ranking Boeing Co. BA 1.92% executive about the status of a lunar-lander contract, spurring the company to revise its bid, according to people familiar with the investigation.

The grand-jury investigation, which hasn't been previously reported, is being led by the U.S. attorney's office for the District of Columbia and is focused on communication that occurred early this year outside established contracting channels, these people said. Prosecutors, they said, are looking into contacts between Doug Loverro, before he resigned as head of NASA's human-exploration programs in May, and Jim Chilton, senior vice president of Boeing's space and launch division.

Mr. Loverro, who wasn't part of NASA's official contracting staff, informed Mr. Chilton that the Chicago aerospace giant was about to be eliminated from the competition based on cost and technical evaluations, according to some of the people. Within days, Boeing submitted a revised proposal, they said. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration formally determined the bid changes came too late to be considered, and three other companies won contracts in April totaling nearly $1 billion.

The investigation is in the early stages, according to the people familiar with it, and it isn't known whether the probe will result in a criminal case. Regardless of how it ends, the investigation heightens scrutiny of Mr. Loverro's conduct and raises new questions about Boeing's decision-making and internal contracting safeguards. Several mid-level Boeing officials, including an attorney, were pushed out of the company as a result of the controversy, people familiar with the personnel changes said.

The company has taken steps to improve compliance training following the episode, said a person briefed on Boeing's internal response.

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Write to Andy Pasztor at [e-mail], Andrew Tangel at [e-mail] and Aruna Viswanatha at [e-mail]

Read more: https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-probes-former-nasa-officials-contacts-with-boeing-executive-on-lunar-contracts-11597433060

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Hat tip, Joe.My.God.

Ex-NASA Official Under Criminal

Probe Over Boeing Bid
August 14, 2020

https://www.joemygod.com/2020/08/ex-nasa-official-under-criminal-probe-over-boeing-bid/

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Tue May 19, 2020
NASA human spaceflight chief Doug Loverro resigns on eve of historic SpaceX launch
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142497158

Tue May 19, 2020
Major personnel change at NASA 1 week before human spaceflight resuming from the Cape 👀
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100213458754

Sat Jun 20, 2020
Boeing tried to amend bid after guidance from NASA official, raising concerns it received inside inf
https://www.democraticunderground.com/122870203

[yaesu]

1. The space industrial complex? nt