Walter Reed Inquiry Targets GOP

[radfringe]

Walter Reed Inquiry Targets GOP
By: Jeanne Cummings
March 20, 2007 09:53 PM EST
POLITICO

Congressional inquiries into conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center are taking a political turn as Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), a member of the House defense appropriations subcommittee, investigates whether high-profile Republicans used their influence to help a firm win a private maintenance contract.

Former Vice President Dan Quayle, former Treasury Secretary John Snow and former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld all have some connection to the firm, IAP Worldwide Services. The company's board is also populated with former top military officials.

IAP won the maintenance contract after a protracted competition with a group of former federal civil service employees who also bid for the work that was targeted for privatization during the Clinton administration.

In an interview, Kaptur said IAP's corporate connections "look like a Republican parking lot. Was the outsourcing a matter of favoritism with people with the right connections?"

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The contract's twisted trail raises a myriad of questions about its handling, including whether political pressure was brought to bear by the well-connected IAP, Kaptur said. Quayle is on the board of directors, and the company is run by Al Neffgen, a former Halliburton official. IAP is a subsidiary of Cerberus Capital Management, a hedge fund whose chairman is Snow. Rumsfeld, in personal disclosure reports, reported at one time being an investor with Cerberus. And Cerberus founder Stephen Feinberg has been a major donor to the Republican Party.