something needs Clairificartion: the $140,000 Cheney gave The Dukes Croney.. was there ever anything

[sam sarrha]

actually bought.. or was the money just laundered.. it has never been clarified if the guy actually performed a service.. was the $140,000 ..his Fee.?? suposidely the cost of the computers and furnature or was it his cut/finders fee/contracters fee??

or did they just say he did and he didnt .. it was just a transaction of taxpayers money for a Buisness deal.. a trade for political favors. BRIBE..!!??

[Hepburn]

1. My friend and I were talking about this the other day...

...and the most that we could come down to was that it was just too coincidental ~~ that sum of money was just off. It was not like it was an amount one would think of like $150K. Almost like they were trying to make an odd amount so that it would not be noticed. However it seemed to have the exact opposite effect. If the furniture donation had been, let's say, $139,722.64, then I don't think anyone would have put the two together, but the sums and the timing sure raised our eyebrows. I agree: This should be investigated and either tied down or discounted.

BTW: Why would someone be donating office furniture and equipment to Cheney? Doesn't the govt give him everything he needs? And Cheney is very wealthy ~~ one would think that he would be one of the last people who would warrant a donation for things that are pretty much necessaries and which just go with his office.

[originalpckelly]

4. I looked the contract up in both the official government contracting database...

and a private foundation's database. In both cases it did not say anything about furniture. It also only lists the recipient of the contract as only the "Executive Office of the President". However, Cheney's Office of the Vice President is included in the EOP.

Here is more info on that:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_office_of_the_president#Entities_in_the_Executive_Office

OVP is in the EOP.


If this contract did not accurately depict the actual transaction, whoever recorded the transaction could be liable criminally under the provisions of "False statements and entries generally" under Title 18 United States Code Section 1001, which also covers fraudulent records.

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode18/usc_sec_18_00001001----000-.html

[Hepburn]

5. Thanks for the info! n/t

[originalpckelly]

7. You're welcome. I'm still trying to make heads or tails of this...

but I just cannot find any more information that might be helpful.

[Hepburn]

12. I have not been able to find anything either...

...have not looked that hard, tho. It just does not sit right and it smells bad. But what else is new? Everything about BushCo seems to have that stench of corruption.

[originalpckelly]

15. Right now I'm trying to see if this was an earmark in an appropriations bill...

and I'm going to look in the Congressional record to find out more about it if or when I do find it.

[originalpckelly]

2. Here is info on this contract from a database that assembles government contracts:

http://www.fedspending.org/fpds/fpds.php?fiscal_year=&record_id=1205609&sortby=i&datype=T&reptype=r&database=fpds&detail=4&submit=GO

Here is what the database says was purchased:
Product or Service Information (Award)

D: Automatic data processing and telecom. services
D302: ADP Systems Development Services
541511: Custom Computer Programming Services

Whatever the hell that means! I don't know, if would seem to me we all need to look into this further.

[Hepburn]

3. Why wouldn't the govt just furnish these things?

That just sounds like stuff that would be something "normal" (whatever that is) in any complex office: Communications, data processing and programming. Maybe that is why they used those titles ~~ because it did seem like something no one would notice?

I wonder if ANYTHING was put in at all. Why would the VP's office just suddently need these things?

[originalpckelly]

6. We do not know what transpired...

other than the information we have from the public database of federal contracts.

We know several things from the entries in that database:
1. We know that the contract began on or about July 15, 2002 and ended on or about August 15, 2002.
2. We know that the agency listed as the recipient of the contract is the Executive Office of the President, there are many smaller offices included in that larger office, among them the Office of the Vice President. However, the database only says the Executive Office of the President (EOP) and nothing further. Therefore, we cannot conclusively say the Office of the Vice President was involved, though we cannot eliminate it or any other office within the EOP.
3. We know the amount of money provided in the contract to MZM Inc: $140,000.

We do not know:
1. If the description of the products/services received are accurate.
2. Which smaller office inside the Executive Office of the President took part in the contract.

We need to find those last two things out before we can say more definitively, but on it's face, the contract with MZM Inc is highly suspicious because of the proximity in time to the purchase of a yacht by MZM's owner for Duke Cunningham, wherein the yacht was purchased for a previously negotiated price of $140,000.

You would assume that if there was no cost, in other words if MZM didn't have to pay for materials and used 100% of the contract money for the Duke Cunningham bribe, that someone had to forge a document saying there was a transaction of the good in the Executive Office of the President (EOP).

On the other hand, if a service was provided by the owner of MZM to the EOP, then it would make sense and it is possible that no one in the EOP participated in a crime.

[sam sarrha]

8. look at the signed date 07 and the completion date 08.. was nothing done

[originalpckelly]

11. That's the question here.

What did MZM do or not do in the month between the contract's initiation and it's termination?

Which office inside the Executive Office of the President was the recipient of any services that may or may not have been provided?

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

9. What kind of furniture would Cheney need in his dungeon? Sado-masochistic chairs?

Bondage racks? Waterboarding tables? Beds of nails? What possible use could he have of $140,000 worth of custom-made furniture? That's a lot of money to furnish an office.

[originalpckelly]

10. Again, there were reports that cannot be confirmed through open source information...

that the Office of the Vice President was the recipient of furniture. The only information that is available publicly definitely contradicts that statement, because Automatic Data Processing is not the delivery of furniture.

On the other hand, we cannot conclusively tell whether or not the Office of the Vice President was the recipient of the services provided (or not provided) under the contract, because the only information in the public contracting database says the "Executive Office of the President" which includes the Office of the Vice President and a large number of other smaller offices.

[annabanana]

13. Maybe it's the NSA snoop files. . .Maybe every phone record

of the last 5 years was delivered directly to his office...

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

14. Let's assume for a moment the very worst possibility

Let's assume that Cheney received nothing from this contractor, no furniture, no equipment and simply gave $140,000 to this person. Instead of a valid contract, with consideration on both sides, it was simply a gift of taxpayer money. Why would Cheney use a middleman to transfer that money to buy a boat for Cunningham? In essence, Cheney is buying a boat for Cunningham with taxpayer money. The question is why.

What are the proposed reasons for this scenario? And what was in it for Cheney?

For all I know, it's a continuing pattern of illegal activity; Republicans using taxpayer money to send gifts and perks to each other under phoney contracts using middlemen, back and forth. If it's that blatantly corrupt and outrageous then they are a lot more audacious than I would have imagined. In that case, we need to start examining a host of contracts and the actions of contractors under them. But the idea of Cheney sticking his neck out for nothing in return and just playing Santa Claus to Cunningham, even if it was using taxpayer money seems pretty audacious even for the corruption of BushCo. What was it in the other deals of this contractor with the government that might have benefitted the White House? If this was a kick-back to Cunningham by the White House for bringing in this contractor to do other governmental work, my question is why? But if something else is happening here, I'm afraid I don't understand it.