July 12, 2004

• I wasn't able to find anything else about this, so it could be another "they captured Osama" type story. I'm not exactly sure what to make of capitolhillblue either, it just caught my attention.
• pete, i found a smattering of coverage in the financial times of london as well as an alternative weekly in LA. the veep under investigation?? well, isn't that WAIT! TERROR ALERT!! TERRORISTS ARE COMING TO GET US! HIDE! HIDE!!!! *scurries into basement*
• I say weigh Cheney against the Statue of Liberty. If he weighs less then he's made out of wood and is therefore a witch.
• We can only hope that this will lead to further indictments. Notice how the Republicans went after Clinton for eight years for things they could not prove and which there was little evidence. Notice how silent they are when there is a lot of evidence, but the defendant is on their side. Some of us will never forget nor forgive.
• Linking to CapitalHillBlue is like linking to Newsmax, you realize, right? Only Newsmax has slightly more cred.
• driving, i have a theory that this type of behavior has been going on since nixon resigned. and will continue. the GOP was pissed that nixon was forced to resign, the Dems are pissed clinton was impeached... etc. etc. etc. ad infinitum.
• shawnj, yeah now i'm feeling kinda guilty about it, hence my first post. SideDish, can you post those URLs to the related articles you found? I'm interested in what facts match up (and which are facts).
• oh and shawnj, the story is indeed out there in more mainstream media, here's the lede of the financial times take: Financial Times (London, England) June 23, 2004 Wednesday Halliburton tries to limit fall-out from Nigeria 'bribes' case By THOMAS CATAN, MICHAEL PEEL and WILLIAM WALLIS Last April, at an otherwise sleepy conference in Paris to discuss new anti-bribery laws, a Nigerian delegate caused a minor sensation by standing up and berating a US official in the audience. Everyone in Africa, he said, knew that US authorities would never seriously investigate allegations that Halliburton had been involved in a massive bribery scheme in Nigeria. After all, the company was headed from 1995 to 2000 by Dick Cheney, US vice-president. According to people present, Peter Clark, the US Department of Justice official who handles such cases, boomed in reply: "If you think for a moment that we would shy away from a case for political reasons, you would be sorely mistaken."
• (pete, i'll try to find URLs, i got that from a news database...)
• ah! finally found a non-registeration required version of the story here... it's not credited to financial times, but it's the same story.
• Not saying it's not out in the mainstream media, just that CapitalHillBlue is not a very credible source. And, as I have always preached, if you are going to link to a news story, find the most unbiased or most diametrically opposed to your viewpoint article you can find. If you're a Green, link to Fox News' AP story. That way the well can't be poisoned as easily.
• Thanks SideDish! I thought the date of the capitolblue article (7/8/04 i think) was a little old, but that one is from 6/23 and I haven't heard even the smallest peep about it on my usual "channels". The full article however seems to suggest the contracts in question were Nigerian and not the Iraq-war contracts that the capitolhillblue article implied. "If you think for a moment that we would shy away from a case for political reasons, you would be sorely mistaken." sheesh.
• i agree on caphillblue, which is why i found y'all the link to the financial times. that's one of the most respected publications in the world, IMHO.
• Not saying it's not out in the mainstream media, just that CapitalHillBlue is not a very credible source. Agreed. Atrios (no Bush fan) has said the same thing. It's the left wing Drudge Report/Instapundit. It merely rumors and talking points.
• Given that it's in the LFT article, why isn't it on CNN, CBS, ABC, NBC, Fox, Slate, Salon, Drudge, whatever? Partially I'm just wondering if I just missed it or if it was buried or even "out there" at all.
• oo! here's an update, methinks it's short enough to post if you'll pardon the plentitude of wordiness here... July 9, 2004 Friday Europe Edition 1 Halliburton partner in Nigeria faces inquiry By THOMAS CATAN and ADRIAN MICHAELS DATELINE: NEW YORK and WASHINGTON US regulators have requested documents from Technip, the French engineering company, a partner of Halliburton in a controversial multi-billion dollar business deal in Nigeria. The Securities and Exchange Commission has sought the documents from the French company as part of its inquiry into whether TSKJ - a consortium jointly-owned by Technip, Halliburton and two other companies - paid bribes to win a Nigerian construction project. The SEC does not comment on individual investigations. Technip declined to comment. Technip has, since last year, been under investigation by French authorities in connection with allegations that it participated in a bribery scheme to secure lucrative contracts to build a liquefied natural gas plant on Bonny Island, Nigeria. The SEC launched a parallel investigation last month. The fact that US regulators have now set their sights on the French partner in the consortium is significant, given the SEC's broad powers to compel the disclosure of inside information. Technip has denied that it is the direct focus of an investigation. In an untitled press release posted on Christmas Eve, Technip said the French investigation was against "unnamed persons". It also denied the existence, reported in the French media, of "secret payments" to executives, and threatened French newspapers with legal action. Technip's role has been overshadowed in the US by attention focused on Halliburton. The Houston-based oil services company was run by Dick Cheney, US vice-president, during part of the time the payments under investigation were made.
• Technip! sounds like catnip for a geek's cat
• hmm so the actual basis of the story is an investigation against a French company with ties to Halliburton that has to do with Nigerian contracts / bribes. Not the "slush fund" or no-bid contracts Cheney gave to his pals. Does Cheney still make money on Halliburton? The original article said he did, but given the source . .
• Does Cheney still make money on Halliburton? Yes. He's no longer an employee, but he has a compensation deal.
• It's called retirement.
• I think he's retired as long as the government doesn't find out about his other full-time employment. Considering all the other information he's sucessfully kept away from the government, he probably is listed as retired, drawing that sweet sweet social security money.
• According to the Guardian, Cheney's being paid out of a deferred lump sum paid out over 5 years. He arranged to have this done when he resigned and ran as VP with Bush.
• a bit from Bloomberg on posted topic. Nigeria ranked last year as the second-most corrupt country, behind only Bangladesh, in a poll by Transparency International, a Berlin-based group that seeks to expose bribery and encourage corporate practices that help combat it.
• That Albert J. "Jack" Stanley character seems to have alot of his fingers in the activities that are bringing Halliburton its negative press.
• "It's called retirement." It seems he didn't "retire" until his affiliations became apparent to the public. That doesn't really seem like retirement to me. And if you're receiving stock dividends (or whatever) from a company, should you be in a position to give them business? Like, say, post-invasion of Iraq?
• No, he "retired" when he started running for VP. And they're not stock dividends, they're monies that were stipulated by his contract when he first started working there, that even if Halliburton went under, he'd be guaranteed x amount of dollars paid over x amount of time. I've yet to see any *real* evidence that Cheney had anything to do with Halliburton's contract in Iraq.
• My *real* name is Halle Burton.
• When it comes to conflict of interest, you don't need *real* evidence. If Halliburton is the best company for the job, and the VP has close ties to it, then the contract should go to the second best company. At least that's how an *ethical* administration would run things.
• The ethical responsibilities of a public official are not to merely avoid conflict of interest, but to avoid event the appearance of conflict of interest.
• "Caesar's wife." I agree. *starts fumbling for his nitro tabs again*
• "Caesar's wife." Dick Messalina? *passes out*
• rocket88, I can agree with you on the second part of your statement. However, your dispensation of *real* evidence on the grounds that you don't *need* it is kind of spurious. Has this turned into a country where guilt is assumed without even the evidence to back it up? So, you're right--to avoid appearance of impropriety, Halliburton should have stepped off. And Cheney should have encouraged Halliburton to step off.
• Has this turned into a country where guilt is assumed without even the evidence to back it up? Excellent point, f8x: the PATRIOT Act is an unnacceptable encroachment on fundamental civil rights.
• A start as far as evidence is concerned. It may not have been him specifically, but there was certainly evidence of influence from his office.
• GAO didn't think so.
• That article is creepy. Something unsubtly Bushlicking about it.
• to avoid appearance of impropriety? no. to avoid 'impropriety'. btw, dick cheney is an evil cyborg. (it's true!)