Friday, October 17, 2008

Top McCain fundraiser accused of ‘war profiteering.’


Thinkprogress:

International Oil Trading Company, which ships oil into Iraq for use by U.S. forces, “appears to have engaged in a reprehensible form of war profiteering,” according to the House Oversight Committee. The company is run by Florida businessman Harry Sargeant, who has raised at least $500,000 for Sen. John McCain (R-AZ). From Rep. Henry Waxman’s (D-CA) letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates:
[T]he prices IOTC has charged the government are not “fair and reasonable.” A “price negotiation memorandum” assessing the company’s June 2004 contract concluded that the price charged by IOTC, $2.10 per gallon of jet fuel, was at least 36 cents per gallon too high. … Of the $210 million in profits received by the company, at least one third — $70 million — appears to have benefited a single individual: Mr. Sargeant.

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