For Immediate Release
Contact: Robert Hughes
202-483-5700
ASHCROFT ASKED TO
INVESTIGATE SNIPER COMPANY CONTRACTS
WASHINGTON, D.C. – A letter has been submitted to Attorney
General John Ashcroft by Mr. John Edward Hurley asking for an investigation
concerning fraud and political influence relating to the issuance of millions of
dollars in federal contracts to a sniper equipment company.
Mr. Hurley of the Washington-based Confederate Memorial
Association, identified several contracts awarded to Ashbury International of
Sterling, Virginia. The letter cited a $67 million award by the Marine Corps
and a $27 million award by the Naval Surface Warfare Center. Hurley noted in
the correspondence that both awards were given when Ashbury International was
the only bidder. Also mentioned was a contract with the U.S. Secret Service,
where no dollar amount was listed.
It was stated in the letter that the contracts were awarded
after Richard Hines had registered to lobby for the company in Congress. Hines
is a major political contributor who financed the last-minute direct mail
campaign that was credited with giving George W. Bush his South Carolina
primary victory in 2000.
His suspicions were aroused, Hurley said, when he discovered
that Ashbury International's office was a few rooms in a non-nondescript
two-story building. He said that this hardly seemed like the site for a $100
million operation and that other investigations appeared to indicate an
off-shore account.
Hurley reminded Attorney General Ashcroft that he had failed
to prosecute Hines for his failure to list his political expenditures in the
presidential primary campaign, a requirement under the Foreign Agents Registration
Act. Hines was a $500,000 lobbyist for Cambodia at that time.
His special interest in this case, Hurley told Ashcroft,
stemmed from his discovery that Hines had used federal funds and personnel to
pursue fifteen years of litigation against his organization. The litigation
caused the closing of the century-old Confederate Memorial Hall and Museum in
downtown Washington.
Hines, a friend of White House aide Karl Rove, had interviewed
Ashcroft for the controversial Southern Partisan magazine. Aschroft was a
client of Rove's political consulting firm when he ran for the U.S. Senate.
"This is nothing
short of domestic terrorism from the White House against
a U.S. citizen," Hurley said.