Ex-Halliburton Worker Calls for Probe

[sabra]

http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.asp?feed=AP&Date=20060922&ID=6046646

Ex-Halliburton Worker Calls for Probe

All Associated Press NewsDALLAS (AP) - A former Halliburton Co. employee wants Congress to investigate what he claims are the company's efforts to cover up violations of corruption laws and to mislead investigators.

David A. Smith, who worked for Halliburton's Kellogg, Brown & Root unit, said that he received e-mails from a company attorney on how to handle federal investigations, but those notes were intended for David R. Smith, a vice president with Halliburton's tax group.

The e-mails, he said, focused on how the Houston oil field services conglomerate would defend itself against a federal review of bribery and corruption charges connected to Halliburton's natural gas operations in Nigeria.

David A. Smith, who says he owns a single share of company's common stock, filed a statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission Thursday, saying David R. Smith "was being asked to weigh in on how to explain away the source of the bribes paid to Nigerian officials."

[truthisfreedom]

1. hah! David A. Smith V. David R. Smith... what a royal blunder. stupid

corrupt people never can keep a lid on it, can they?

[sabra]

2. what a way to get busted :-)

[Tellurian]

45. Oh but the Little people...

The Big things never get ya..
But watch out for the little ones!


:rofl:

[deathdog]

3. That is too funny!

The truth will out!

[IChing]

4. David A. Smith hero..David R Smith traitor

Hallibuton, Mr. Cheney's money maker is going down.

Great news dump for friday.
nominated and kicked now to check my e-mail.

LOL

[rodeodance]

5. "Mann said the company does not allow unethical business practices"

te he.



Halliburton's Mann said the company does not allow unethical business practices and provides a toll free hot line for employees to report concerns.

"If he was so concerned about this information, we question why he did not raise the issue by means made available to him in the Code of Conduct information," Mann wrote in an e-mail.

[elehhhhna]

8. Yeah and the complaint would be routed to : THE LEGAL DEPARTMENT

lol

[Fridays Child]

6. Please let this be the one that finally blows up in Halliburton's face.

[elehhhhna]

7. uh oh and hardee--dee-har HAR. k&R

[Straight Shooter]

9. Does the "R" in David R. Smith stand for "Republican"?

LOL. This is too funny. Halliburton hoist on their own petard.

But, in all seriousness, who pulls the strings of the SEC and will they do anything about this?

[hvn_nbr_2]

10. It's all resolved now.

Halliburton investigated itself and found no problems. Case closed.

Isn't that how this gang operates?

[tanyev]

11. Woof!

That's beautiful. So much truth seeping out these days. I can't wait till the dam bursts wide open.

[NVMojo]

12. amazing

[Robbien]

13. I believe this call for a probe is number four hundred and something

And like the hundreds of previous call for probes, this will go nowhere.

It was heartbreaking to listen to the CSpan Democratic Panel on Military Spending. Case after case being reported to both the military and the government all resulting in silence.

[brentspeak]

14. k & r

[CorpGovActivist]

15. I Am David A. Smith

Sabra -

Thank you for posting the AP story here.

To see the SEC filing I made: http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1269476/000126947606000004/0001269476-06-000004-index.htm

To see the full text of the letter I sent to Capitol Hill lawmakers (referenced in the AP story and the SEC filing): http://www.shareholdersonline.org/pdf/092006senateinvestigationrequest.pdf

Please stay tuned to my new sites: http://www.HALwhistleblowers.org and http://www.BushBunglesBrigade.org.

Warmest regards,

- David A. Smith ("Dave")
(not to be confused with David R. Smith, VP of Tax at Halliburton)

P.S. To see how key the "other" David Smith is to the Cheney/Lesar "leadership" cabal at Halliburton, see his employment contract, and the latest Halliburton annual report:

* Employment contract, signed during Cheney's tenure as CEO: http://contracts.onecle.com/halliburton/smith.emp.1998.09.29.shtml

* Latest annual report (see under the heading, "Executive Officers of the Registrant," on page 10): http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/45012/000004501206000124/ed10k2005_final.htm

Thanks again for posting this here.

[unhappycamper]

16. Hi CorpGovActivist

Welcome to DU. :hi:

[mia]

17. David A. Smith - welcome to DU!

Thanks for your courage!
Your post deserves its own thread.

[Karenina]

20. And thanks to Mia, HERE IT IS!!!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x2211870

[acmavm]

18. It's always nice to see new names added to the DU list of posters

and truth tellers. Your's is an especially welcome introduction.

Thank you for you actions against the criminal cabal.

[Donnachaidh]

19. HEY!!!!! THANKS for speaking up!!!!

Welcome to DU!

[TahitiNut]

21. As a fellow whistle-blower, welcome!

I wish you the best of luck ... and representation. :hi:

[Scout1071]

22. Bravo CorpGovActivist.

And by all means, welcome to DU.

[CorpGovActivist]

23. Thanks for the Warm Welcome

Anyone having trouble following the links, just shoot me an e-mail at [e-mail].

Please keep my family and me in your thoughts and prayers. I'll post updates on both HALwhistleblowers.org (already up, soon to be fully live) and BushBunglesBrigade.org (up by tomorrow - taking a look at such Bush Bunglers as Santorum, Allen, and Burns).

Best to all,

- David A. Smith ("Dave")
(not to be confused with David R. Smith, the VP of Tax at Halliburton)

[Laurab]

32. Welcome to DU, CorpGovActivist

Thanks to you and your family, for your courage and patriotism!

:hi:

[ms liberty]

24. Welcome to DU! n/t

[Raksha]

25. Welcome to DU, David!

The best liberal board on the Internet just got even better! :yourock:

[lonestarnot]

26. Hell yeah! Good on you David A. Smith!

[EFerrari]

27. Bravo, Dave! Go get those bastards! n/t

[Telly Savalas]

28. Thanks, Dave!

On edit: Please disregard the request to post pictures of your kittens. That was meant for "CorpLuvActivist".

[autorank]

29. Thank you. You have the courage of 1000 Spartans!!!

[OzarkDem]

30. Good for you!

Hang in there, it will probably get a little bumpy for you! FWIW, we support you.

[sabra]

31. All I did was post the article...

thank you for the kind words. Your strength is an inspiration.

Good Luck!

[GOPS Worst Fear]

33. Dave, You better Watch Your Back!

You might be declared one of Bush's enemy Combatants and be the first American in one the new concentration camps they are building here.
You are a hero in my eyes my bro, but watch you back!

[grasswire]

34. welcome and thanks

The two David Smiths I know are admirable people. And now here's another one!

Welcome to DU, and thanks for your courage in these perilous times.

[Lochloosa]

35. Welcome to DU David A. Smith

:toast:

[CorpGovActivist]

36. Independent Counsel

Just a quick update. (I apologize in advance for not being able to respond to everyone personally.)

At least two major media outlets are now doing their fact-checking for a more in-depth look at this story. I have received notice from others associated with the story that they have been contacted to confirm their role. If/when something runs, I'll be sure to post notice here.

Meanwhile, here's a synopsis of the coverage so far: http://www.google.com/search?q=halliburton+nigeria+probe+OR+investigate+OR+investigation+%22david+a.+smith%22&hl=en&lr=&as_qdr=all&filter=0

(If that long URL doesn't work, I'll try to fix it.)

How can you help?

1. Call your local radio station (e.g., NPR), newspaper, and/or television station. Tell them you have something you'd like to fax/e-mail to their newsroom. The SEC filing and letter to Capitol Hill lawmakers are located here:

* SEC filing: http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/45012/000126947606000004/0001269476-06-000004-index.htm

* Letter to Capitol Hill lawmakers: http://www.shareholdersonline.org/pdf/092006senateinvestigationrequest.pdf

2. Call your local Member of Congress and your state's United States Senator (regardless of party affiliation), and demand an investigation:

* House: http://www.house.gov
* Senate: http://www.senate.gov

3. Call your local progressive candidate for Federal office (regardless of party affiliation - after all, some of those mavericks, moderates, and "RHINOs" are going to be key in breaking down the stonewall), and provide them the materials.

Public policy and politics are not spectator sports - they're meant to be participatory. The Founders used Committees of Correspondence to organize and coordinate - but they didn't just read each other's letters; they acted on the shared intelligence. If they were alive today, we'd have Thomas Paine and Benjamin Franklin blogging about Bunker Hill (with embedded photos of the "whites of their eyes").

We've got better tools than the Founding Mothers and Fathers - so we should be more effective against tyrannical Georges, right?

; )

Finally, for those who aren't familiar with how to find pending Federal requests for proposals, or Federal contract awards, check out this site: http://www.fedbizopps.gov/

1. In the upper left-hand corner, click on "Find Business Opportunities".

2. Click the "Both" radio button under "Documents to Search".

3. In the Full Text Search box, type any search string you like (e.g., Halliburton, KBR, Kellogg, Landmark Graphics, Dresser, etc.).

4. For more limited searches, you can use the narrowing functions further down the page to restrict your search to contract "Awards," or to limit your search to only one particular agency (e.g., DoD).

Among the currently-pending solicitations is a "Sources Sought" notice - seeking a firm capable of performing a "special audit" of the settlement between KBR and the U.S. Government: http://www.fbo.gov/servlet/Documents/R/1445399

Best to all, and I'll continue to post updates here and on my websites (the placeholders up now will soon be replaced; anyone with graphics know-how, please contact me):

* HALwhistleblowers.org
* BushBunglesBrigade.org

Cheers!

- David A. Smith ("Dave")
(not to be confused with David R. Smith, VP of Tax at Halliburton)

[CorpGovActivist]

37. Call the Houston Halliburton Hacks

One more way you can help:

Call up the PR and IR spin doctors that Halliburton uses as spokesflaks, and ask them to confirm:

1. That on Friday, July 23, 2004, the FBI demanded backup tapes of my e-mail account and the "other" David Smith's e-mail account. Ask them if the company turned those over or not, and if not, why not.

2. That the "other" David Smith would be in a position to confirm or deny whether untaxed, offshore money was used by the "rogue" Halliburton executives who were involved in the Nigerian bribes. Ask how the company's "robust" internal accounting controls didn't catch that expenditure.

Cathy Mann essentially called me a liar in last week's stories - and suggested that I had filed a false report with the Feds. Since she's so sure of herself and the denials she's spoon-feeding the media, she ought to be able to confirm or deny the above. (The prospect of seeing her take the Fifth in congressional hearings, once push comes to shove, comes to mind.) To paraphrase one of my favorite quotes: "Certitude is not the same thing as rectitude - especially when speaking with spokesflaks who keep their families fed by toeing the company line."

Cathy G. Mann
Director, Communications
5 Houston Center
1401 McKinney St., Suite 2400
Houston, TX 77010
(p) 713.759.2605
[e-mail]

Corporate
Melissa Norcross
Public Relations Supervisor
1401 McKinney St., Suite 2400
Houston, TX 77010
(p) 713.759.2608
[e-mail]

North America
Zelma Branch
Public Relations
10200 Bellaire Blvd
Houston, Texas 77072
(p) 281.988.2557
[e-mail]


Evelyn Angelle
Vice President –
Investor Relations
5 Houston Center
1401 McKinney, Suite 2400
Houston, TX 77010
(p) 713.759.2688
[e-mail]

Be polite, don't berate them, and let us know what they have to say. This is why they get paid the big bucks.

Best,

- David A. Smith ("Dave")
(not to be confused with David R. Smith, VP of Tax for Halliburton)

[Beetwasher]

39. Wow! Totally Cool! You're A Very, Very Courageous and Principled Person!!

You will fit right in here and I give a hearty welcome!!! :thumbsup:

Seriously, you've come to the right place, you will receive a tremendous amount of support from this community and you may very well need it, so please keep us updated and keep telling us what you need from us. We will give you heart and soul, brother. Thank you again!!

[wicket]

38. God bless you!!!

:yourock:

[durtee librul]

40. Hmmmm....

Nigeria? Home of Yellowcake? Hmmmmm..........the plot thickens methinks?

[CorpGovActivist]

41. Grass Roots Product Development for BUNGLED

If you read as far as the footnotes in my letter to Senators Byrd and Rockefeller, then you know that I've developed a new twist on an old classic - BUNGLED (winners cry out "Bush Bungled!").

Instead of letters and numbers on the playing cards, oft-uttered phrases from the Bush Bungles Brigade (e.g., Tony Snow, Condi, Rummy, Karen Hughes, Dick, etc.) occupy the game card spaces.

The free space - the "gimmee" - is the word NOOK-YOO-LAR.

I need help coming up with enough of the Orwellian words, phrases, and terms of art that the Administration flaks frequently use.

Suggestions?

Pre-orders for the print version of the game are being taken now. The online version of the game will allow friends around the country (and around the globe) set up a game (with each player pledging money and naming a non-profit of choice, and the winner of the game getting "winner take all" on donating the pot to his/her non-prof of choice). I've earmarked 50% of all gross sales between now and the mid-terms to be donated to non-profits/organizations with a progressive bent.

Serious and humorous game card phrase suggestions are welcome. For details, see footnote 6 of my letter to Capitol Hill lawmakers last week: http://www.shareholdersonline.org/pdf/092006senateinvestigationrequest.pdf

See also: http://shop.bushbunglesbrigade.org

Feel free to e-mail the suggestions. I have had friends and family noodling on this for a while, but the more terms we have, the more game cards we can generate (with planned special editions focusing on one specific spokesflak - e.g., Rummy's Self-Soliloquies edition, mocking his press "briefings").

"Against the assault of laughter, nothing can stand." -- Mark Twain

"And yet, the Bushies keep handing us more ammunition for the assault." -- David A. Smith

; )

Best to all,

- David A. Smith ("Dave")
(not to be confused with the curiously-quiet David R. Smith, VP of Tax for Halliburton)

[CorpGovActivist]

42. The KBR Spinoff: A Texas Two-Step

When Dick Cheney agreed to acquire Dresser Industries in 1998 (reportedly negotiated over a weekend of quail hunting), did he do so to hush up the Bush Family's Shame - namely, Prescott Bush's role in the Dresser asbestos tragedy?

http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/45012/0000045012-98-000009.txt

http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/040216fa_fact

After all, Prescott Bush - Bush 41's daddy and Bush 43's granddaddy (and benefactor, if all those buried run-ins Bush 43 had with the cops in New Haven are any indication) - was the longest-serving Director of Dresser Industries (the former Connecticut Senator sat on Dresser's Board of Directors for 22 years). Bush 41 himself worked for Dresser from 1948 to 1951. Prescott was a Director from 1930 until 1952 (and his position as a Director had nothing to do, of course, with Bush 41's paid position; nepotism? what's that?)...

Now, why would Dick Cheney be in such an all-fire rush to acquire Dresser (and Dresser's recently-acquired unit, M.W. Kellogg, which later got merged into Brown & Root to form KBR) in 1998?

Could it be that Cheney and the Bush Inner Circle knew that "our boy George" would be running for the GOP nomination in 2000? Could it be that the emerging mesothelioma cases threatened to bankrupt Dresser - right when Curious George would be making his run, which would invite unwanted media attention?

Now, that sort of embarrassment for the Bush candidacy just wouldn't do, would it? If only - if only - there were a big pile of money lying around somewhere that could be used to quietly and privately bail out Dresser (at least until after the election is over), to keep this out of the headlines.

That big pile of money was the Halliburton stockholders' capital. Cheney (and the Bushie Buddies on the Board of Halliburton) made that sweetheart deal in 1998 for political reasons, not for business reasons with the stockholders' best interests at heart. To some, that's known as "breach of fiduciary duties of loyalty and care," but to Bushies, it's known as "business as usual."

Old timers from Brown & Root used to say all the time that it was well-known within the company that the promise had been made that - if Curious George won the election - the Administration would more than make it up to Halliburton by steering contracts its way.

The only problem was - after Bush was elected, and after Kenny Boy Lay screwed things up by awakening Americans to these sorts of insider deals - KBR was much harder to get rid of. So Halliburton used the bankruptcy courts to curtail the Dresser/KBR liability (while the Administration passed bankruptcy reform to prevent divorced mothers from discharging debt to get a new start).

The final planned step of this Texas Two-Step has always been to get rid of this radioactive unit. It was just a matter of timing.

On April 14th of this year, Halliburton announced its intent to spin off KBR.

I immediately called the company. On April 17th, I spoke with an attorney in Halliburton's in-house legal unit. Curiously, the plan got put on life support.

Last week, I filed my SEC filing. The next day, the KBR spinoff was defibrilated (see the dates of those three filings):

http://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?company=kbr&CIK=&filenum=&State=&SIC=&owner=include&action=getcompany

The Halliburton attorney with whom I spoke was Jim Bullock. My records indicate that we spoke for 30 minutes on April 17th.

Don't let this Texas Two-Step happen. Call Waxman's office, call your local Member of Congress and Senators, and call Halliburton IR (especially if you're a shareholder). If you're not already a Halliburton shareholder, think about becoming one. The more progressive-minded shareholders who call HAL (and/or show up at the next shareholders' meeting to insist that Lesar give forthright answers), the better.

Best of luck to all,

- David A. Smith ("Dave")
(not to be confused with David R. Smith, the curiously-quiet VP of Tax at Halliburton)

[CorpGovActivist]

43. Today's SEC Filing

FYI, I filed the following today:

http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/45012/000126947606000005/0001269476-06-000005-index.htm

Best to all,

- David A. Smith ("Dave")
(not to be confused with the curiously-quiet David R. Smith, VP of Tax at Halliburton)

[CorpGovActivist]

44. Today's Second Filing (Thanks, Footnoted.org!!!)

http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/45012/000126947606000006/0001269476-06-000006-index.htm

See also: http://www.footnoted.org/spreading-like-kudzu

Best of luck to all,

- David A. Smith ("Dave")
(not to be confused with David R. Smith, the VP of Tax at Halliburton)