[Mb-civic] FEMA's Unholy Trinity

[ean at sbcglobal.net]

Another look at the dark underbelly of the Bush way of governing... 

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20060210/femas_unholy_trinity.php

FEMA's Unholy Trinity
Russ Baker
February 10, 2006

Investigative reporter and essayist Russ Baker (www.russbaker.com 
)is a longtime contributor to TomPaine.com. The following article is 
based on an investigation called "Unholy Trinity: Bush, Allbaugh and 
Brown," released on February 6, 2005, by the Real News Project, a 
new not-for-profit investigative journalism which debuted the same 
day.

With all the enduring mysteries about the Bush Administration’s 
doings, one looms as large any: Why was Michael Brown in charge of 
protecting Americans when Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast?

A new investigation released earlier this week by Real News  reveals 
why Brown—a man with virtually no experience in government or 
management of any type, and no familiarity with disaster 
response—secured the job of chief of America’s disaster response.

It all starts with Joe Allbaugh, Bush’s former Texas chief of staff and 
2000 presidential campaign manager. Allbaugh asked to be Bush’s 
first FEMA director and brought with him to Washington his little-known 
fellow Oklahoman Michael Brown. The investigation further explains 
why Allbaugh arranged for the eminently unqualified Brown to replace 
him in the top slot when Allbaugh left government to launch a career 
as a consultant and lobbyist.  Allbaugh then began signing up clients 
who wanted—and got—FEMA’s lucrative contracts.

When Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf States, Brown’s inexperience and 
lack of qualifications quickly became apparent to the world. Reporters 
discovered that Brown had substantially exaggerated his extremely 
modest accomplishments. Bush initially expressed his support for the 
embattled Brown, famously declaring, “Brownie, you’re doing a heck of 
a job.” But with criticism reaching fever pitch, the president—famous 
reluctant to hold subordinates accountable—took the unusual step of 
forcing Brown out.

Little more was heard about Brown, or how such an inappropriate 
choice could have ended up running an agency responsible for 
protecting the American public from natural and manmade disaster, 
including the aftermath of terrorist attacks.

But the aforementioned RealNews investigation, encompassing scores 
of interviews and hundreds of documents, shines a bright light on the 
connections between Bush, Allbaugh and Brown.

When Allbaugh brought Brown to Washington, he presented him as a 
lifelong associate of high character and substantial credentials. “I hired 
him solely on his ability as a strong ethics attorney,” Allbaugh said in 
an official FEMA press release at the time. “He is very experienced, 
knowledgeable, and professional and will be a great asset to the 
agency and to myself.”

The truth is that the relationship between the two rests on a decades-
long hidden partnership designed to advance both men's business and 
personal interests. By all appearances, that relationship drove 
Allbaugh's decision to ask Bush to let him run FEMA, and his decision 
to turn the place over to Brown so he could profit from their ties. Brown 
now also appears to be profiting from his ill-fated tenure at FEMA. He 
has formed a disaster-relief consultancy. The New York Times reports  
that when testifying on the Hill today, Brown did not name clients but 
said he had signed up a number of companies, including firms that sell 
communications equipment and work on rebuilding on the Gulf Coast.

Allbaugh and Brown's previously undisclosed longtime business 
relationships (replete with unpaid debts, personal bankruptcies and 
questionable business ethics) lie at the root of the disastrously failed 
government response to Hurricane Katrina.

The RealNews findings are too copious to list here. But among the 
revelations are that both Allbaugh and Brown appear to have deceived 
the Senate during their confirmation processes by failing to disclose 
litigation in which they were defendants—and despite explicit questions 
about such matters on confirmation questionnaires they completed.

Here are a few other things the RealNews investigation uncovered:

    *
      Once in Washington, Allbaugh and Brown characterized 
themselves as long-time friends, and were content to leave the 
impression that they knew each other from college and Republican 
circles. But lifelong associates of both men say that is untrue. Indeed, 
the association between the two appears to have been a largely covert 
one, based less on selfless brotherhood than on mutual self-interest, 
as represented by a series of murky business ventures. 
    *
      Both Brown and Allbaugh were accused in the past of fiduciary 
malfeasance. Before coming to Washington, both were known to 
associates and creditors not as rising stars but as ethically-challenged, 
and frequently failed, entrepreneurs.
    *
      In one business venture, Allbaugh worked for Brown, as a lobbyist.  
In another, Allbaugh partnered with Brown’s brother-in-law and sister-
in-law. That business involved mysterious, large amounts of cash that 
upset Allbaugh’s then-wife, and contributed to their divorce. One 
Allbaugh business partner would later be convicted of mail and wire 
fraud and serve time in a federal prison.
    *
      Brown, who was brought into FEMA initially by Allbaugh to run the 
legal operation, has a history as a failed low-level lawyer, replete with 
discontented clients, unhappy employers and damaging lawsuits.
    *
      Brown and Allbaugh had apparently agreed on Brown’s role in the 
Bush administration well in advance. For six months prior to Bush’s 
election in 2000, Brown was telling incredulous associates that he 
expected to land a high position in Washington. When Katrina struck, 
Brown was known to be planning his own exit—presumably to profit 
from his own FEMA ties.
    *
      At FEMA, Allbaugh launched a purge, forcing out many of the most 
experienced officials. Allbaugh and Brown also abandoned a recent 
agency tradition of hiring experienced professionals and filled high 
FEMA positions with political operatives lacking familiarity with 
emergency disaster management.
    *
      Allbaugh edged out his #2, one of the most experienced men in 
government, in order to replace him with Brown.
    *
      Under Allbaugh and Brown, FEMA changed the way in which the 
agency handled contracts, awarding them to numerous firms with 
political connections but little in the way of corporate infrastructure to 
handle the work. Some of these recipients were merely Enron-style 
shell corporations that subcontracted all the work to others, keeping a 
sizable share of the profits.
    *
      When Allbaugh left FEMA, he immediately began setting up a 
network of lobbying interests to benefit from his connections. His 
clients quickly won major contracts from several government agencies, 
notably the Brown-led FEMA.
    *
      One example of the way FEMA did business under Brown: In 2003, 
the agency, which had been dealing directly on a non-exclusive basis 
with a number of large bottled water suppliers, suddenly issued a sole-
source contract to a tiny, politically connected firm that had to turn to 
other companies to supply water. This cumbersome arrangement is 
blamed for substantial problems with deliveries of water following 
Hurricane Katrina.

Allbaugh’s close personal and professional ties to both Bush and 
Cheney cry out for some answers from the White House. Thus far, 
though, it has managed to avoid explaining the endless parade of 
apparatchiks, cronies, incompetents and worse into key agencies of 
vital importance to the American people. With these new revelations, 
will it be permitted, once again, to say nothing?

-- 
You are currently on Mha Atma's Earth Action Network email list, 
option D (up to 3 emails/day).  To be removed, or to switch options 
(option A - 1x/week, option B - 3/wk, option C - up to 1x/day, option D - 
up to 3x/day) please reply and let us know!  If someone forwarded you 
this email and you want to be on our list, send an email to 
ean at sbcglobal.net and tell us which option you'd like.


"A war of aggression is the supreme international crime." -- Robert Jackson,
 former U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice and Nuremberg prosecutor

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://www.islandlists.com/pipermail/mb-civic/attachments/20060210/33d7cb83/attachment-0001.htm