Neil Gordon
TweetInvestigator
ngordon@pogo.org | Follow @NEGordon
Year Started At POGO: 2007
Areas of Expertise: Federal Contractor Misconduct, Contractor Accountability, Government Privatization
Neil Gordon joined POGO in 2007. His chief responsibility is managing POGO’s groundbreaking Federal Contractor Misconduct Database. He also works with the media, answers public queries, submits comments to the federal agencies on proposed regulations, and blogs on contracting issues and other public policy matters. Prior to joining POGO, Gordon was a researcher and writer at the Center for Public Integrity, working on the Center’s investigations of prosecutors, U.S. contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan, state legislators and lobbyists, and international corruption. From 1995 to 2000, Gordon practiced law in Maryland. He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Delaware and a law degree from the University of Baltimore. He has written for Nieman Watchdog, Washington Business Journal, and IRE Journal and has been quoted in Bloomberg Government, Federal Times, and FoxNews.com.
POGO highlights:
- Instrumental in the development of POGO’s revamped Federal Contractor Misconduct Database.
Environmental and Workplace Safety are Crucial Elements of Contractor Responsibility
The Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) has presented its findings on the April 2011 explosion and fire at the Waikele storage bunker in Hawaii that killed five people handling illegal fireworks seized by federal authorities. The five men were performing this work for a Treasury Department subcontractor, Donaldson Enterprises, Inc.
POGO makes comment on Contractor Compliance Program and Integrity Reporting
POGO supports contractor compliance program and integrity reporting, but the proposed rule’s mandatory reporting requirement must be clarified and expanded to require contractors to disclose a broader array of unethical conduct.
New Report Slams Contract Oversight in Afghanistan
The latest quarterly report from the Afghanistan reconstruction watchdog found serious shortcomings in contract oversight, including “a pervasive lack of accountability.”
Halliburton Pleads Guilty to Destroying Evidence
Halliburton pleaded guilty to destroying evidence pertaining to the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil rig disaster, which killed 11 men and triggered a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. POGO has obtained the criminal information outlining the government’s allegations and the plea agreement.
U.S. Reconstruction Project in Afghanistan Gets an F
A new watchdog report found that a teacher training facility in Afghanistan is in precarious shape, thanks to two contractors who were allowed to walk away from the job by the Army Corps of Engineers.
A White Elephant and Toxic Air at Camp Leatherneck
The Afghanistan reconstruction watchdog found two egregious examples of waste at Camp Leatherneck.
POGO Obtains Second Helping of “Compelling Reason” Memos
POGO has obtained the compelling reason determinations issued by the Defense Logistics Agency in 2009 and 2010 to waive the suspension of indicted logistics company Agility and extend its contracts to support the military in the Middle East.
New Details Emerge in Boeing Spare Parts Overbilling
A recent Pentagon Inspector General report found that Boeing overcharged the military for spare parts—again.
Defense Contractor Hit with Ginormous Fraud Judgment
An Ohio federal court ordered defense contractor United Technologies Corporation to pay the government hundreds of millions of dollars in damages in an Air Force contract fraud lawsuit filed in 1999.
DynCorp Accused of Being a Deadbeat
A Turkish construction company has filed a breach of contract lawsuit against DynCorp International, seeking nearly $6 million in overdue payments and damages for construction work in Afghanistan, including a project for which the government failed to hold DynCorp accountable.
Booz in the News and Whistleblower Blues
The revelation that it was Edward Snowden, an employee of National Security Agency contractor Booz Allen Hamilton, who blew the whistle on the NSA’s surveillance programs has thrust Booz Allen Hamilton into the spotlight. Unfortunately, their track record of business ethics and integrity has largely escaped scrutiny.
New Movie Documents Out of Control U.S. War Machine
"Dirty Wars," a forthcoming documentary based on the work of investigative reporter Jeremy Scahill, provides a glimpse into the shadowy world of the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), an elite U.S. combat unit waging a covert war around the world.
Pentagon Still Needs Better Service Contract Inventories
The Government Accountability Office has released its third and final review of Department of Defense service contract inventories.
Company Hit By Chinese Hackers Still a Trusted Fed Supplier
U.S. defense contractor QinetiQ North America got picked clean by Chinese hackers, but the government still awards the company contracts.
If At First You Don’t Succeed, Try Again…and Again…and Again
For the fourth time since 2007, Congress will try to pass a measure that will prevent companies and individuals who owe taxes from being awarded federal contracts.
Afghanistan Incinerators Burn Money, Not Trash
The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) found that the government wasted $5 million on an unused solid waste incineration system on Forward Operating Base Salerno. The base continues to dispose of its solid waste in dangerous open-air burn pits.
Defense Contracting Competition in Free-Fall
Although the Department of Defense has recently been making a concerted effort to increase competition in its acquisition of goods and services, a new GAO report finds that competition in defense contracting has been in steady decline over the last 5 years.
Fluor Pays $1.1M to Settle Hanford False Claims Case
Department of Energy contractor Fluor paid $1.1 million to settle a whistleblower lawsuit accusing the company of violating the False Claims Act by improperly using federal funds for lobbying.
Army Corps Stands By Its Sweetheart Deal With DynCorp
The Army Corps of Engineers stands by its decision to allow DynCorp International to walk away from a botched construction job in Afghanistan.
DOE Watchdog Sniffs Out More Waste at National Labs
In a new report, the Department of Energy Office of Inspector General found that the agency had improperly awarded salary increases for several executive employees of the contractor overseeing cleanup at the Oak Ridge nuclear facility.
POGO Celebrates Sunshine Week with Expanded Misconduct Database
POGO updates its Federal Contractor Misconduct Database with 12 new contractors and a new top 100 federal contractor ranking.
SIGIR Says “At Least” $8 Billion Lost in Iraq
The Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR), which sunsets this month, said the government has no idea how billions of reconstruction dollars were spent over the past decade, and estimates that at least $8 billion has been lost to fraud, waste, and abuse.
Did Blackwater Graymail Lead to a Whitewash?
Last week's surprising conclusion of the firearms prosecution of the company formerly known as Blackwater has many wondering if federal contractors have become too powerful.
Issa Proposes Contractor Responsibility Reforms
Representative Issa's proposal to overhaul the suspension and debarment system generates mixed reactions.
Should SIGAR Have Suspension and Debarment Power?
While the government considers whether to grant SIGAR suspension and debarment powers, dozens of companies and individuals suspected of aiding terrorists in Afghanistan remain eligible to receive U.S. taxpayer money.
Are FEMA Debt Collectors Too Easy on the Big Easy?
New Inspector General report finds flaws in FEMA procedures to recover improper disaster relief payments.
Company Behind Fireworks Disaster Still a Fed Contractor
A company blamed this week for a fatal fireworks explosion is still eligible to receive federal contracts.
Don't like competing for contracts? Head to the Department of Defense, which routinely awards contracts where it solicited or received only one bid.
Gallup Fraud Probe Nabs Ex-FEMA Official
Federal prosecutors charged former FEMA official Timothy Cannon with a felony conflict of interest charge for helping The Gallup Organization win contracts while seeking a job with the company.
POGO Obtains Army ‘Compelling Reason’ Memos
POGO obtained internal Pentagon memos explaining why the Army repeatedly waived the suspension of a contractor accused of defrauding the government.
SIGAR Probing Army Corps Deal with DynCorp
The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) has opened an investigation into why the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers allowed DynCorp International to walk away from a bungled construction job.
Government Fraud Recoveries Would Make "Honest Abe" Proud
The federal government has recovered another $5 billion of taxpayer money that otherwise would have been lost to fraud.
BP Suspension: What’s Behind Door Number Two?
Despite having several other companies from which it can purchase fuel, whichever company the Pentagon chooses to replace BP with will likely pose as great a responsibility risk.
Government Makes Opinion Heard in Contract Fraud Case
The government last week filed a complaint in a whistleblower lawsuit accusing The Gallup Organization of overbilling the federal government by millions of dollars and violating federal ethics laws.
EPA Sends a Message With BP Suspension
The EPA’s suspension of BP sends a message to all federal contractors, large and small, that they will be held accountable for their misconduct.
KBR November Litigation Round-Up
Despite a seemingly endless parade of legal troubles for KBR involving its Iraq logistics support work, the company remains a favored federal contractor.
Fluor Whistleblower Draws “First Blood”
The Department of Justice joined a False Claims Act lawsuit accusing large contractor Fluor Corporation of illegal lobbying.
Government Sues Triple Canopy for Iraq Contract Fraud
The federal government joined a whistleblower lawsuit alleging private security contractor Triple Canopy used hundreds of foreign nationals without proper firearms training to guard a U.S. airbase in Iraq.
SIGAR Slams Army Corps for Letting DynCorp Walk Off the Job
A new SIGAR report criticizes the Army Corps of Engineers for failing to hold contractor DynCorp International accountable for deficiencies in its construction of an Afghan Army garrison.
Lawsuit Alleges "The Most Trusted Name in Polling" Violated the Public Trust
The Department of Justice has joined a whistleblower lawsuit accusing opinion polling services company The Gallup Organization of committing a multi-million dollar fraud on contracts with the U.S. Mint, the State Department, and other federal agencies.
On Friday, Booz Allen Hamilton announced that its San Antonio office was removed from the Excluded Parties List System (EPLS) and regained full eligibility to compete for new federal contracts. Booz Allen entered into a three-year administrative agreement with the U.S. Air Force. We strongly encourage you to read the agreement, which contains several astonishing admissions about the company’s ethics environment and business practices.
GAO Finds Pentagon Still Can't Keep Track of Its Contractors
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has released the second of three annual reviews of Department of Defense (DoD) service contract inventories. As you know, POGO has repeatedly called for the government to improve the quality of these annual inventories, which are crucial for determining the true size and cost-effectiveness of the federal service contractor workforce and whether contractors are performing inherently governmental functions.
McCaskill, Webb Introduce Wartime Contracting Legislation that Could Save Taxpayers Billions
Senators Claire McCaskill (D-MO) and Jim Webb (D-VA) have introduced the Comprehensive Contingency Contracting Reform Act of 2012 (S. 2139), a bill that will greatly enhance transparency, sustainability, and accountability in overseas contingency operation contracting by the Department of Defense (DoD), the State Department, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
Booz Allen Suspension: A Successful Failure
POGO has learned more details about the Air Force's proposed debarment of Booz Allen Hamilton's San Antonio office. This new information raises a troubling prospect about the revolving door between government and private contractors. Namely, that stopping its abuses often isn’t as easy as it seems.
Two Former Watchdogs Ring in the New Year on the Other Side of the Revolving Door
Welcome to another episode of "As the Washington Revolving Door Turns." The two latest ex-government officials to land jobs with private companies formerly served as very high-profile watchdogs of those companies.
If you have been following the Wikileaks saga, you might remember the inciden involving an IT executive named Aaron Barr and the activist hacker group known as Anonymous. It's a comically bizarre story, but it has larger implications that deserve to be taken very seriously.
DoD Suspension and Debarment: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
The Department of Defense Inspector General (DoD IG) released the results of its audit of the suspension and debarment (S&D) process at the Services (Army, Navy, and Air Force) and the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA).
Spare Us Already: Investigators Find More Instances of Gross Overbilling on Defense Contracts
A new report by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) found that Dubai-based federal contractor Anham LLC overcharged the Department of Defense by at least $4.4 million for spare parts and equipment. The SIGIR audit found "egregious examples of overbilling" by Anham...
The Department of the Interior announced on Thursday that BP Exploration and Production, Inc., will provide $1 billion for early oil spill restoration efforts in the Gulf of Mexico as part of an agreement with the federal government and the five states bordering the Gulf. The money will be divided among the states, Interior, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to restore coastal marshes, beaches, and barrier islands and conserve ocean habitat.
Errors Continue to Plague USASpending.gov
It looks like the data gremlins have struck again at USASpending.gov, the federal spending information website managed by the General Services Administration (GSA).
Kabul Embassy Guards Back in the Spotlight
Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) continues to shine a light on the State Department’s controversial use of contractor security guards at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan. Last Friday, she sent this letter pressing the Department for additional information about its plans and goals for the scandal-plagued contract.
Audit of Blackwater Iraq Contract Finds Improper Charges, Weak Enforcement
The State Department failed to punish Blackwater (now known as Xe) for significant violations of its Iraq security contract. This and other shortcomings were detailed in a joint audit report released Monday by the State Department Inspector General and the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR).
POGO Testifies in Congress Today
Today, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is holding a hearing provocatively titled “How Convicts and Con Artists Receive New Federal Contracts.”
More Bad News on the Iraq Contracting Front
It's Halloween today, and taxpayers should be afraid--VERY afraid. On Monday, the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) released another report guaranteed to make you scream in terror.
Parsons Corporation in Iraq: Another Chapter in 'An Episodic Story of Waste'
Stuart Bowen, the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction (SIGIR), told the Associated Press on Monday that his agency's 120 audits on Iraqi reconstruction projects "tell an episodic story of waste."
Small Business Contractors Get a 'John Deere' Letter
Three weeks ago, the Department of Interior Office of Inspector General (DOI-IG) released a report entitled Interior Misstated Achievement of Small Business Goals by Including Fortune 500 Companies. The report found the DOI awarded $5.7 million in small business contracts in fiscal years 2006-2007 to companies that are anything but small, including Dell, Home Depot, John Deere and Xerox.
Steak and Cocktails? Lingerie? Charge It to the Taxpayer!
A report released this week by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found widespread abuses in the use of federal agencies' credit cards. Over the years, government employees have used their "SmartPay" cards to pay for gambling, breast implants for one inventive and compassionate federal employee's girlfriend, online dating services, iPods and lingerie.
