McCain fundraiser accused of "war profiteering"

[sabra]

Source: MSNBC

A company that ships oil into Iraq for use by American forces there "appears to have engaged in a reprehensible form of war profiteering," according to a letter by Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Cal., Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. The company, International Oil Trading Limited, is run by Florida-based businessman Harry Sargeant, a top fundraiser for the presidential campaign of Senator John McCain.

Waxman's committee launched an investigation earlier his year following a May 2008 report by NBC News that first reported on the oil contracts.

Sargeant, the McCain fundraiser, is the president of IOTC, which won massive Pentagon contracts to provide U.S. troops in Iraq with fuel. NBC first reported on the contracts in May. This summer, Sargeant came under the spotlight again after the Washington Post reported that he was at the center of campaign-contribution "bundling" involving tens of thousands of dollars in political contributions from "unlikely" donors. In August the McCain campaign said it was returning about $50,000 linked to Sargeant's fundraising.

Today, Waxman released a letter he sent to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, calling for action on the huge oil contracts. "Over the last four years," Waxman wrote, "IOTC has been paid over $1.4 billion by U.S. taxpayers to deliver fuel through Jordan into Iraq and has earned a profit of over $210 million."

Waxman said that those profits were significant. "The IOTC contracts stand out for the extent of the company’s apparent profiteering. Of the $210 million in profits received by the company, at least one third--$70 million--appears to have benefited a single individual: Mr. Sargeant. If the IOTC contracts had been awarded to the lowest bidders, the taxpayers could have saved over $180 million."

Read more: http://deepbackground.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/10/16/1557549.aspx

[pleah]

1. K&R n/t

[saigon68]

2. Criminals

[ReadTomPaine]

3. War profiteering is a form of national service for conservatives..

it's the closest most of them get to actual service. The ones who do enlist wind up like "Ditch" McCain or Herbert.

[bluedeminredstate]

4. Why hasn't McCain repudiated this man's actions?

Why hasn't he been truthful about every meeting or phone call he's had with this man? Why has he lied about his supporters, saying last night, "I'm proud of my supporters." Is he proud of war profiteering? Isn't that wasting taxpayer dollars? Isn't war profiteering some form of class warfare?

Why does McCain hate America? Why?

[goodboy]

5. hmm...and McCain, the hatchet man...who'll "reign in spending" was where? (nt)

[Snazzy]

6. NYT: Top GOP Fund-Raiser Tied to Iraq Fuel Contract

October 17, 2008
Top GOP Fund-Raiser Tied to Iraq Fuel Contract
By JAMES GLANZ and MICHAEL LUO

The Democratic chairman of a House investigative committee presented documents to the Pentagon on Thursday alleging that a top Republican fund-raiser, Harry Sargeant III, has made tens of millions of dollars in profits over the last four years because his contracting company vastly overcharged for deliveries of fuel to American air bases in Iraq.

Mr. Sargeant, who is the finance chairman of the Florida Republican Party and a major fund-raiser for Senator John McCain, did not immediately return several messages left for him on Thursday, but in the past he has denied any improprieties on the part of the the company, International Oil Trading Company, known as I.O.T.C.

The company was briefly in the news over the summer when a former partner filed a lawsuit against Mr. Sargeant in a Florida circuit court. The former partner, a Jordanian named Mohammad al-Saleh, is the brother-in-law of the King of Jordan, and the court papers laid out what Mr. Saleh claimed was a seamy tale in which he obtained special governmental authorizations for the company to transport the fuel through Jordan and was then unlawfully forced out by Mr. Sargeant, who strongly disputed those allegations.

...

Mr. Sargeant came under scrutiny in August when media reports highlighted a cluster of more than $50,000 in unusual campaign contributions bundled together by Mr. Sargeant from a single extended family in California and a few of their friends. The donations sparked questions of whether they might have been made by donors in name only who were reimbursed by someone trying to skirt contribution limits.

It turned out that the donations were not actually solicited by Mr. Sargeant but another Jordanian business partner, Mustafa Abu Naba’a. The McCain campaign later said it would return all contributions solicited by Mr. Abu Naba’a and review all donations collected by Mr. Sargeant.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/17/world/middleeast/17fuel.html?_r=1&hp=&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin

[MH1]

7. 180 million? That's kind of like an "earmark", isn't it?

Only this "earmark" came via a foreign government, with the Pentagon's collusion, not the US Congress.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24846474

Sargeant is a Florida businessman and former Marine Corps pilot hailed by the McCain campaign as a "Trailblazer" for raising $100,000 or more in political donations. Through a company called International Oil Trading Co., or IOTC, Sargeant and a partner have a lucrative contract worth hundreds of millions of dollars per year to supply American military forces in Iraq with fuel, especially aviation fuel. The firm ships the fuel to Jordan and then trucks it across the border, where U.S. forces escort the convoys to air bases.

Sargeant’s IOTC has experienced phenomenal growth since the Iraq war started, transforming itself from an unknown business in 2004 to a major Pentagon contractor in only a few years.

The way the American military structured the deal, only a company with the blessing of the Jordanian government could win the contract. A bidder was required to have a Jordanian government "Letter of Authorization," and only IOTC received such a letter.

The lawsuit against Sargeant was filed April 10 in Florida state court by Mohammad Al-Saleh, who is married to the half sister of King Abdullah of Jordan. Al-Saleh’s suit says he essentially brokered Sargeant's contract by arranging the approval and cooperation of the Jordanian government, using his "connections and influence." The lawsuit alleges that Al-Saleh arranged for the Jordanian government “to issue a letter of authorization to IOTC.” Al-Saleh’s lawyer, Jonathan Frank, said, “Were it not for my client, they would not have been able to get that letter.”

‘Whoever got the letter got the contract’
"Without the letter, you can't bid," Al-Saleh said in an interview with NBC News. "Whoever got the letter got the contract."

:wow:

[DogPoundPup]

8. Top GOP Fund-Raiser Tied to Iraq Fuel Contract

Source: NYT

The Democratic chairman of a House investigative committee presented documents to the Pentagon on Thursday alleging that a top Republican fund-raiser, Harry Sargeant III, has made tens of millions of dollars in profits over the last four years because his contracting company vastly overcharged for deliveries of fuel to American air bases in Iraq.

Mr. Sargeant, who is the finance chairman of the Florida Republican Party and a major fund-raiser for Senator John McCain, did not immediately return several messages left for him on Thursday, but in the past he has denied any improprieties on the part of the the company, International Oil Trading Company, known as I.O.T.C.

The company was briefly in the news over the summer when a former partner filed a lawsuit against Mr. Sargeant in a Florida circuit court. The former partner, a Jordanian named Mohammad al-Saleh, is the brother-in-law of the King of Jordan, and the court papers laid out what Mr. Saleh claimed was a seamy tale in which he obtained special governmental authorizations for the company to transport the fuel through Jordan and was then unlawfully forced out by Mr. Sargeant, who strongly disputed those allegations.

But the latest claims of impropriety by the company go much further. In a letter addressed to Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, by Henry A. Waxman, the California Democrat who is chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Mr. Waxman uses emails, company documents, Pentagon reports and other information to make the case that Mr. Sargeant repeatedly received contracts to deliver the fuel even though his company was never the lowest bidder for the work.

In one case, Mr. Waxman’s letter asserts, Mr. Sargeant’s company was actually the highest of six bids but received the contract anyway. In fact, Pentagon contracting officers complained that the company’s prices were unreasonably high and initially said they could not justify giving the work to Mr. Sargeant. But for reasons the company was never able to explain, Mr. Waxman’s letter indicates, no other American company was given an authorization to transport the fuel through Jordan. And when United States Central Command declared that the need for the fuel was urgent, the Pentagon was forced to award the contract to Mr. Sargeant’s company.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/17/world/middleeast/17fuel.html?_r=1&ref=politics&oref=slogin

[Robbien]

9. Waxman wants probe of McCain fundraiser's company (McCain received $500,000)

Source: International Herald Tribune

A powerful House Democrat wants the Pentagon to investigate a company owned by a prominent fundraiser for Republican presidential candidate John McCain for allegedly overcharging the government to deliver fuel to Iraq.

Rep. Henry Waxman of California, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, on Thursday sent a letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates requesting an investigation of the International Oil Trading Co. The privately held company is owned by Harry Sargeant, who has raised at least $500,000 for McCain, according to the Arizona senator's campaign Web site.

In June, Waxman requested documents from the Defense Department related to four of International Oil Trading's contracts for delivering fuel to Iraq. The company has been paid more than $1.4 billion over the last four years by U.S. taxpayers to deliver fuel through Jordan into Iraq, and has earned a profit of more than $120 million, according to the letter.

International Oil Trading charged the government a price that was at least 36 cents per gallon too high, according to internal Pentagon documents Waxman cited. If the contract had been awarded to the lowest bidder, taxpayers would have saved more than $180 million, Waxman wrote, describing International Oil Trading's actions as a "reprehensible form of war profiteering."

. . .

Other contractors consistently offered to deliver fuel at cheaper prices, but the Pentagon continued to award the deal to Sargeant's company because it was the only one able to obtain authorization to transport fuel from the Jordanian government, according to Waxman's letter. The Defense Energy Support Center made personal appeals to Sargeant twice to lower his price, but he refused.

Read more: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/10/16/america/McCain-Fundraiser-Oil-Contracts.php

[FSogol]

10. K & R. n/t

[Kalifornia.Kid]

11. Harry Sargent - the McCain BUNDLER ...

Scumbag was allegedly laundering donations to the McCain campaign by reimbursing "donors". Donor who live modestly and never contributed in the past let alone registered to vote.

Source: http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/08/06/1249411.aspx

[xchrom]

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