Several experts described the pursuit of different legal opinions as out of the ordinary.
Defense Secretary Donald H. "Rumsfeld's political lawyers steamrollered the career guys to push through Halliburton's secret deal," said Charles Tiefer, a law professor at the University of Baltimore who recently wrote a book on government contracting. "It creates a disturbing appearance of influence when Cheney's lawyers are told several times Halliburton is getting special deals, and they never say, 'Make sure the career people agree this is being done right.' "
The next step in the process was taken in October 2002, when Mobbs reviewed his decision to use Halliburton with an executive committee of deputies from various government agencies. That panel included I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the vice president's chief of staff.
Mobbs told the panel that he never felt political pressure to award the contract. But he said he reviewed it with Libby and others to give them the chance to reverse his decision if they had political concerns.
Mobbs "confirmed that your office had a clear opportunity to exert influence over this proposal," Waxman said in his letter to Cheney. "He said that if anyone had raised an objection to selecting Halliburton without any competition, he would have gone back and reconsidered his approach."
On Nov. 8, the Army awarded Halliburton a $1.9-million order under the logistics contract to carry out the planning. Four months later, the Army gave Halliburton the no-bid job worth up to $7 billion to execute the plan that the company had developed, citing its role in drawing up the plan, according to documents obtained by Judicial Watch through a Freedom of Information Act request.
Democratic officials said that Mobbs knew all along that the lucrative contract would be given to the company that produced the plans in the first place.
"It was known it would lead to the... contract," said a senior Democratic staffer with knowledge of the briefing.
