Dana Hedgpeth

Washington Post

Friday, July 25, 2008

Auditors at a Pentagon oversight agency were pressured by supervisors to skew their reports on major defense contractors to make them look more favorable instead of exposing wrongdoing and charges of overbilling, according to an 80-page report released yesterday by the Government Accountability Office.

The Defense Contract Audit Agency, which oversees contractors for the Defense Department, “improperly influenced the audit scope, conclusions and opinions” of reviews of contractor performance, the GAO said, creating a “serious independence issue.”

The report does not name the projects or the contractors involved, but staff members on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee who were briefed on the findings cited seven contractors, some of whom are among the biggest in the defense industry: Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Fluor, Parker Hannifin, Sparta, SRS Technologies and a subsidiary of L3 Communications.

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Supervisors at DCAA attempted to intimidate auditors, prevented them from speaking with GAO investigators and created a “generally abusive work environment,” the report said. It cited incidents of “verbal admonishments, reassignments and threats of disciplinary action” against workers who “raised questions about management guidance.”

In a case later identified as involving Boeing, the GAO said the agency made “an upfront agreement” with the company to limit the scope of work and basis for an audit in 2002. The audit related to a cost-and-pricing system of aircraft that included the C-17, aerial refueling tanker, the B-1 and other planes, according to documentation provided to Congressional staff members. These deals were being negotiated by Darleen Druyun who was then a top Air Force acquisition official. Druyun later went to prison after admitting that she favored Boeing in selecting its tanker while she was seeking a job with the company.

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This article was posted: Friday, July 25, 2008 at 9:54 am

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