WASHINGTON -- The FBI has widened its investigation into allegations of improprieties in Iraq and Kuwait by a Halliburton Co. subsidiary, published reports said Friday.
The Washington Post said agents broadened the investigation of subsidiary Kellogg Brown & Root Inc. by requesting an interview with a Pentagon official who raised the allegations.
The Pentagon official has complained the Army gave the Halliburton subsidiary preferential treatment in granting it a $7 billion classified contract to restore Iraq's oil fields just before the war began, the Post said.
The official is Bunnatine Greenhouse, a senior Army Corps of Engineers civilian responsible for ensuring contracting competition.
In a letter her lawyers wrote to Army Secretary Lee Brownlee and provided to members of Congress, she has said Army officials did not justify the award or show that Kellogg had "unique attributes," as required by procurement law, the Post said.
Vice President Richard Cheney was Halliburton's chief executive, and Democrats have accused the Bush administration of giving preferential treatment in Iraq to the oil-services company.
