"We anticipate no issue"

"since action has been coordinated w VP's office." From Judicial Watch. Judicial Watch today released a Department of the Army memo entitled “Justification and Approval (J&A) for Other Than Full and Open Competition for the Execution of the Contingency Support Plan,” dated 28 February 2003, 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”). Earlier this week Judicial Watch released a Pentagon e-mail concerning the KBR contract award stating: “We anticipate no issue; since action has been coordinated w VP’s office.” Judicial Watch filed it’s lawsuit against the Department of the Army on February 25, 2004. 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.” 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 case is before the US District Court for the District of Columbia. To view the document click here