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CNN Newsnight Aaron Brown
Cheney & Halliburton: Perception, Reality
Aired April 14, 2003 - 23:19 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Where there are oil wells, there may be fires, especially when war is being waged. Washington took that into account and made contingency arrangements ahead of time with an outfit that has deep experience in putting out oil well fires. The trouble is, that outfit is a subsidiary that Vice President Dick Cheney -- of the company that he used to run.
So now, instead of an oil well fire, there is a public relations fire to put out.
Reporting for us, CNN's Dana Bash.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Round and round revolving door, Halliburton and Cheney corporate war!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Round and round revolving door, Halliburton and Cheney corporate war!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Round and round revolving door, Halliburton and Cheney corporate war!
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): That is the perception in some quarters: the war in Iraq is about oil. Protesters made much of the fact that the vice president was CEO of Halliburton from 1995 to 2000. Adding fuel is this: Last month, the Army Corps of Engineers awarded to Halliburton subsidiary, Kellogg, Brown and Root, a contract worth as much as $7 billion to put out oil well fires in Iraq.
A prominent Democrat wants an investigation into why other companies were not invited to compete.
REP. HENRY WAXMAN (D), CALIFORNIA: This is particularly troubling, because Vice President Cheney came from Halliburton, received many, many millions of dollars from them, is still receiving some deferred compensation from Halliburton.
BASH: But the Army Corps of Engineers says KBR did win a 2001 contract, positioning them to put out the oil fires, and they were the only company capable of handling the -- quote -- "complex classified job."
The vice president's office maintains he has severed all corporate ties with Halliburton -- quote: "He has nothing at all to do with awarding these contracts, the bidding process or the current work orders."
Mr. Cheney still receives compensation from Halliburton, about $150,000 annually until 2005, but that is his salary from 1999, which he chose to defer before running for vice president. And sources close to him say he gets the money no matter how Halliburton fares financially.
Despite the perception problems for the vice president, a leading expert says the reality is quite different.
PROF. STEVE SCHOONER, G.W.U. LAW SCHOOL: There's really no chance that the vice president is actually exerting influence on this. One thing that's difficult to keep in mind is that award decisions for government contracts are made by career civil servants. The politically-appointed leaders are not going to get to choose the contractors.
BASH: Industry insiders concede there is no question Halliburton hired Mr. Cheney for his contacts in Washington and the Middle East. Halliburton's government work doubled during his tenure there, but analysts say the relationship is different today.
JIM WICKLUND, BANC OF AMERICA ANALYST: No public company, I don't think, would be foolish enough to try and call in favors on such an obvious basis.
BASH: Halliburton says accusations of preferential treatment are off-base; that the company's government work dates back 60 years. Still, there are signs they're aware of suggestions of favoritism.
Halliburton was invited to bid for a $600 million U.S. A.I.D. contract as the primary rebuilder of Iraq's infrastructure. The company declined to compete for the high-profile job, planning instead to bid for subcontracting work less likely to make headlines.
(on camera): But the big contracts are yet to come. Iraq's oil fields haven't been upgraded in a dozen years, and Halliburton is likely to get some of the lucrative work to modernize them. So as one analyst put it, there are still partisan rocks yet to be thrown.
Dana Bash, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired April 14, 2003 - 23:19 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Where there are oil wells, there may be fires, especially when war is being waged. Washington took that into account and made contingency arrangements ahead of time with an outfit that has deep experience in putting out oil well fires. The trouble is, that outfit is a subsidiary that Vice President Dick Cheney -- of the company that he used to run.
So now, instead of an oil well fire, there is a public relations fire to put out.
Reporting for us, CNN's Dana Bash.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Round and round revolving door, Halliburton and Cheney corporate war!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Round and round revolving door, Halliburton and Cheney corporate war!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Round and round revolving door, Halliburton and Cheney corporate war!
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): That is the perception in some quarters: the war in Iraq is about oil. Protesters made much of the fact that the vice president was CEO of Halliburton from 1995 to 2000. Adding fuel is this: Last month, the Army Corps of Engineers awarded to Halliburton subsidiary, Kellogg, Brown and Root, a contract worth as much as $7 billion to put out oil well fires in Iraq.
A prominent Democrat wants an investigation into why other companies were not invited to compete.
REP. HENRY WAXMAN (D), CALIFORNIA: This is particularly troubling, because Vice President Cheney came from Halliburton, received many, many millions of dollars from them, is still receiving some deferred compensation from Halliburton.
BASH: But the Army Corps of Engineers says KBR did win a 2001 contract, positioning them to put out the oil fires, and they were the only company capable of handling the -- quote -- "complex classified job."
The vice president's office maintains he has severed all corporate ties with Halliburton -- quote: "He has nothing at all to do with awarding these contracts, the bidding process or the current work orders."
Mr. Cheney still receives compensation from Halliburton, about $150,000 annually until 2005, but that is his salary from 1999, which he chose to defer before running for vice president. And sources close to him say he gets the money no matter how Halliburton fares financially.
Despite the perception problems for the vice president, a leading expert says the reality is quite different.
PROF. STEVE SCHOONER, G.W.U. LAW SCHOOL: There's really no chance that the vice president is actually exerting influence on this. One thing that's difficult to keep in mind is that award decisions for government contracts are made by career civil servants. The politically-appointed leaders are not going to get to choose the contractors.
BASH: Industry insiders concede there is no question Halliburton hired Mr. Cheney for his contacts in Washington and the Middle East. Halliburton's government work doubled during his tenure there, but analysts say the relationship is different today.
JIM WICKLUND, BANC OF AMERICA ANALYST: No public company, I don't think, would be foolish enough to try and call in favors on such an obvious basis.
BASH: Halliburton says accusations of preferential treatment are off-base; that the company's government work dates back 60 years. Still, there are signs they're aware of suggestions of favoritism.
Halliburton was invited to bid for a $600 million U.S. A.I.D. contract as the primary rebuilder of Iraq's infrastructure. The company declined to compete for the high-profile job, planning instead to bid for subcontracting work less likely to make headlines.
(on camera): But the big contracts are yet to come. Iraq's oil fields haven't been upgraded in a dozen years, and Halliburton is likely to get some of the lucrative work to modernize them. So as one analyst put it, there are still partisan rocks yet to be thrown.
Dana Bash, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
