Billions in Military Contracts to Husband's Firms Were Approved by Sen. Feinstein's Committee, Metro Newspapers Investigation Reports.SAN FRANCISCO San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden -- Sen. Dianne Feinstein's husband was a major beneficiary of military appropriations blessed by a subcommittee that she headed, Metro Newspapers For other newspapers with the same name, see . Metro Newspapers is an American newspaper company based in San Jose, California. It currently publishes three free alternative weekly newspapers, Metro Silicon Valley, Metro Santa Cruz and the reports this week. Feinstein (D-Calif.) acted in apparent conflict of interest while approving billions of dollars in military construction expenditures, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. an investigative story by award-winning journalist Peter Byrne This name may refer to:
Following Feinstein's participation at the legislative level, large contracts were awarded to two firms -- URS URS Yours URS Ultimate Roulette System URS Uniform Reporting System URS User Requirement(s) Specification URS Undergraduate Research Symposium URS Unified Registration Statement URS Undergraduate Research Scholars Corporation and Perini Corporation -- that were controlled by an investment group headed by the senator's spouse, financier Richard C. Blum
Byrne's investigation reveals the following details about Feinstein's service as a member of the United States Senate's Military Construction Appropriations subcommittee (MILCON MILCON Military Construction ): * From 1997 through the end of 2005, with Feinstein's knowledge, her husband's group held a majority interest in two defense contractors active in Iraq and U.S. military bases. * While setting MILCON agendas, Feinstein supervised her own staff of military construction experts and lobbied Pentagon officials in public hearings. * From 2001 to 2005, URS earned $792 million from military construction and environmental cleanup projects approved by MILCON; Perini secured $759 million from MILCON projects. * Attorney Michael R. Klein, a Feinstein legal adviser and long-time Blum business partner, also served as vice-chairman of Perini's board of directors. In an interview with Byrne in September, Klein stated that, beginning in 1997, he routinely informed Feinstein about specific federal projects coming before her in which Perini had a stake. The insider information, Klein said, was intended to help the senator avoid conflicts of interest. Although Klein's admission was intended to defuse the issue of Feinstein's conflict of interest, it instead exacerbated it, and Sen. Feinstein did in fact vote on legislation that affected Perini and URS. The story published in Metro Silicon Valley and the North Bay Bohemian examines the many ways in which Sen. Feinstein committed repeated breaches of ethics as MILCON's chairperson from 2001-2005. Metro Newspapers is a group of three free circulation weekly newspapers based in Northern California. Research assistance was provided by the Investigative Fund of the Nation Institute. The story appears online at www.bohemian.com/feinstein or www.metrosiliconvalley.com/feinstein. |
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