Waxman Letter Sheds More Details About White House-MZM Contract: It Was ‘Related To WMD’

[kpete]

Waxman Letter Sheds More Details About White House-MZM Contract: It Was ‘Related To WMD’

On December 5, 2005, the LA Times reported that the White House awarded the defense firm MZM with a contract “to provide office furniture and computers for Vice President Cheney.” But Josh Marshall reported last month that the contract was really for screening the president’s mail, “presumably for Anthrax and other similar biohazards.”

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) reports that the White House counsel’s office has been “unable to identify any contracts for furniture within the Vice President’s office” but that there may be “a different contract ‘related to WMD.’” From a Waxman letter addressed to White House Counsel Fred Fielding:

On April 17, 2007, Mr. Flood contacted Committee staff by telephone to state that he did not yet have the requested documents or even a schedule by which some or all responsive documents would be provided. Instead, Mr. Flood stated that he had been unable to identify any contracts for furniture within the Vice President’s office, but that he had heard “rumors” about a different contract “related to WMD” that raised “certain sensibilities.” Mr. Flood requested one additional week to prepare a response to the Committee, to which Committee staff agreed.

Indeed, “certain sensibilities” have been raised. The White House awarded the one-month, $140,000 contract to an individual — MZM contractor Mitchell Wade — who never previously held a federal contract. Two weeks after he got paid, Wade used a cashier’s check for exactly that amount to buy a boat for now-imprisoned Rep. Duke Cunningham at a price that the congressman had pre-negotiated.

more at:
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/04/20/mzm-wmd/

[ck4829]

1. K&R

[thecrow]

2. Waxman's on a roll.... I think he's been waiting for this :)

K&R

[OffWithTheirHeads]

3. My God. Republics have no shame and no moral compass

n/t