Grassley asked the Secretary of Energy for extensive records of the agency's dealings with the Lockheed Martin Corporation to determine if the Energy Department has fully cooperated with the Justice Department in the pending case and if the Energy Department has been too cozy with the contractor.
A whistleblower case has been filed against Lockheed Martin Corporation under the False Claims Act, which Grassley co-authored in 1986. The lawsuit alleges that Energy Department contractors misled workers and the government about environmental contamination at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant.
Grassley said he's asking questions because three years have passed without the Energy Department making its necessary recommendation on intervention with the Justice Department.
"The previous Energy Secretary personally apologized to the Paducah workers, so why the delay? I'm concerned because I've seen agencies too often put a premium on friendly relationships with contractors and neglect taxpayer interests. In this case, the taxpayer interests are over $1 billion," Grassley said.
A copy of Grassley's letter to Abraham follows here.
August 9, 2002
The Honorable Spencer Abraham
United States Department of Energy
1000 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20585
Dear Secretary Abraham:
I am writing today to voice my concern regarding the status of the long-standing False Claims Act (FCA) qui tam case against Lockheed Martin Corporation in the United States District Court for the District of Kentucky.
The Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Paducah, Kentucky is widely-known to be the site of some of the worst contamination anywhere in the country, and the multi-million dollar federal cleanup effort has been rife with allegations of fraud, mismanagement and wrongdoing since 1999.
As you know, the qui tam case alleges, among other things, illegal storage, dumping and disposal of radioactive waste, false reporting of plutonium and other contamination, and illegal placement of radioactive metals into commerce. The funds at stake are astronomical: if successful, the case would recover, at a minimum, over $1 billion in damages and civil penalties for the U.S. government.
I am concerned that, with stakes this high, the Energy Department may not be moving as quickly or efficiently as they could be, hamstringing the ability of the Department of Justice (DOJ) to make a final intervention decision in the case. After three years, I am troubled by the possibility that there may be a subtle effort underway at the Energy Department to slow, or even sideline the DOJ's long march toward an intervention decision due to pressure from the contractor in question.
As the Senate author of the 1986 amendments to the FCA, I believe it is critical that the FCA's qui tam provisions are used effectively and efficiently to combat waste of taxpayers' funds. The FCA's qui tam provisions have proven to be an extremely effective weapon in the war against wasteful spending in federal programs. Since 1986, over 1,100 cases have been filed against Defense Department contractors; over 1,700 cases have been filed against health care providers that bill Medicare and other federal health care programs. In total, over $5.2 billion has been recovered in FCA qui tam cases.
In these efforts to combat fraud against the government through FCA cases, it is vital that government agencies ? the so-called "client agencies" of DOJ ? provide full and complete cooperation on a timely basis to DOJ. While DOJ makes the final decision regarding intervention in an FCA case, input from their client agencies, and ultimately their recommendation on the merits of the case, is given substantial weight.
Too often in the past I have seen agencies place a premium on cozy relationships with their contractors, especially those with well-connected lobbyists on the job, over and above the need to protect the taxpayers' money. This misplaced priority has undermined efforts by DOJ to enforce the FCA and to protect the public fisc. It is unacceptable that such a situation should occur in regards to fraud and abuse by federal contractors at federal cleanup sites. It is your responsibility to ensure that the public is given the top priority in enforcing the FCA.
As you know, the qui tam relators in the Paducah case filed their claim for fraud against Lockheed Martin on behalf of the Energy Department in 1999. After three years, it is my understanding that pre-litgation investigations by DOJ and your department are concluded, and that DOJ officials have been engaged in extensive discussions with Lockheed Martin concerning the factual and legal basis of the relator's claims.
However, it is also my understanding that your department has yet to make a formal recommendation to DOJ on their pending decision to intervene in the case. While I am not weighing in on the merits of the case specifically or on the decision to intervene (that prosecutorial decision is, of course, the DOJ's alone), I am urging you to immediately provide all agency resources necessary to assist the DOJ in reaching a final prosecution decision in this case.
Given your commendable record in the Senate, I trust that you have applied both the letter and spirit of the law in the Paducah case during your tenure at the Energy Department. However, when it comes to federal agencies and their contractors, my prevailing practice has always been to trust, but verify.
Therefore, I am requesting that you provide me with a complete picture of the Energy Department's dealings in this case, both with Lockheed Martin and with DOJ. Specifically, I am seeking documents and other materials to determine whether any relationships with Lockheed Martin may be slowing, or stalling, your department's pace in reaching a resolution in this matter expeditiously. Specifically, I am asking you to provide me with:
1.Any correspondence, including meeting notes, memoranda, electronic mail and phone logs, from yourself or anyone on your senior political staff that detail any contacts and communications, either in meetings and/or teleconferences, with Lockheed Martin Corporation or any of its subsidiaries, consultants, or employees, regarding the Paducah case.
2.Any correspondence, including meeting notes, memoranda, electronic mail and phone logs, from yourself or anyone on your senior political staff that detail any contacts and communications, either in meetings and/or teleconferences, with DOJ officials, including employees at the supervisory and line attorney levels, regarding the Paducah case.
3.A complete list of all Energy Department employees who have participated in investigating the case against Lockheed Martin, including those employees who have been involved at supervisory, policy and technical levels, including all political appointees.
4.Make the individuals listed immediately above available for interview by Finance Committee staff for the limited purpose of ascertaining the nature and extent of the Energy Department's activity in this case.
5.Designate a member of your staff to keep the Finance Committee informed on an ongoing basis of Department developments that bear on the disposition of the Paducah case.
Please provide all materials from 1999 to the present, and do so within 14 days. Thank you for your time and courtesy on these issues.
Cordially yours,
Charles E. Grassley
United States Senator
cc: Attorney General Ashcroft