GAO to Investigate Corporate Monitorships

The Washington Post is reporting that Representatives John Conyers (D-Mich.) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) have requested the Government Accounting Office investigate the Department of Justice’s practice of ordering corporate monitorships. Monitors are individuals assigned to scrutinize companies that have been found guilty of malfeasance. Rather than indicting these companies in a way that would do damage to the overall company, and possibly cost workers their jobs, a monitor comes in and makes changes on the company dime.

As you may remember, last Sunday and the week before, Past and Prologue covered the story of former Attorney General John Ashcroft’s $28 million to $52 million no-bid contract to oversee a medical company named Zimmer who had been found guilty of giving kickbacks to doctors who proscribed this companies products. “The manner in which these contracts have been awarded and the lack of oversight in their implementation raises questions about the role of political or personal favoritism,” Leahy and Conyers wrote.

More on this as the story progresses…

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Out-of-work ex-politicos seek jobs, monitorships

Last week our dear moderator touched upon a story involving former U.S. attorney general John Ashcroft and a no-bid contract valued at just over $25 million to “monitor” a medical supplier who got caught giving kickbacks to doctors who used and proscribed their products. Today, Carrie Johnson of the Washington Post has an A1 talking about this practice of “allowing scandal-plagued companies to avoid criminal charges,” by agreeing to creating consulting positions dubbed “monitorships.” Read on to see how politicos are finding new and interesting ways to integrate themselves and friends into huge piles of multi-million dollar contracts.

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Ashcroft Gets No-Bid Contract

In a weird confluence of Bush’s foreign policy playbook and the corruption present at every level of the Department of Justice, it seems Ashcroft has landed himself a multi-million dollar no-bid legal contract. It seems Mr. Mukasey is leading a happy band of wise guys, who will carry on the Gonzo tradition of corruption even without a directive conversation. The full story on the flipside.

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