Marcy Wheeler: Sun Microsystems, GSA's Lurita Doan, and Tim Griffin Meet In Arkansas

http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/04/sun_microsystem.html

April 22, 2007
Sun Microsystems, Lurita Doan, and Tim Griffin Meet in Arkansas
by emptywheel

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The case against Sun basically alleges that members of an Association including Sun would get a Systems Integration contract with the US government.Then, it would push contracts for other Association members, in exchange for kickbacks.

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But then Administrator Doan (who had assumed that position on May 31, 2006) got involved. Worried that if GSA ended Sun's contract, it would just go through a competing contracting agency and GSA would lose the contract, Doan demanded that the CO keep the contract. When he said he was unwilling to do so, given the results of the audits, he was reassigned. His replacement (the third CO) pounded through a new contract in five days, ceding even the discounts that Sun had been offering in the interim two years, much less the discounts normally accorded to the Federal government. And, apparently as a reward for pushing through this disadvantageous contract, the third CO got a transfer he had been seeking...

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The thing is--not only did GSA know that Sun was ripping off the government. The second CO (the one that got reassigned) was also aware that DOJ might get involved in this case:

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This is where the USA Purge comes in. As I said, the initial whistleblower Qui Tam case was first filed in September 2004. According to Waxman's communication, GSA also learned about the complaint in 2004, and knew that the IG was discussing a False Claims Act referral with DOJ. GSA's IG intervention may well be the reason DOJ intervened in the whistleblower lawsuit. We know from Waxman's letter that DOJ was considering intervening in summer 2006. And it finally did intervene on December 13, 2006, just two days before Bud Cummins resigned on December 15.

Now, as we heard from the Republicans repeatedly in the Alberto Gonzales hearing the other day, the USA for a particular office is not going to take the lead on such issues. And the Sun case is almost certainly NOT the reason Cummins was dismissed (I still find his investigations into Matt Blunt more disconcerting). Furthermore, the suit against Sun does not and could not relate to the contract signed by Doan (not least because that contract was signed knowing that Sun was overcharging the governmnet). Whatever investigation the GSA's IG pursues into the ongoing Sun contract, it will remain separate from this suit.

Still, Tim Griffin is now overseeing a suit that reflects heavily on accusations leveled against an embattled Bush official. Welcome to the Gonzales DOJ.

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Comments

For Lurita, the GSA was her payoff for being a loyal Bushie. IMHO, there is a reason for her appointment, it's just that no one has found it yet.

Posted by: Seamus | April 22, 2007 at 11:06

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A bunch of valuable info here.

a mob moll when I saw her testifying before Waxman's committee.