Senators Slam Boeing Deal

The Air Force ignored legal requirements and violated its own rules as U.S. officials pushed for a now-canceled deal to buy refueling tankers from The Boeing Co., the Pentagon's inspector general said Tuesday.

The report identified a half-dozen top Pentagon and Air Force officials as accountable in the $23.5 billion deal, which lawmakers have called the most significant defense contract abuse in decades.

Among them were former Undersecretary of Defense Edward "Pete" Aldridge, who oversaw Pentagon purchasing and approved the tanker deal in May 2003; former Air Force Secretary James Roche, who resigned under fire for his role in the Boeing deal; and Gen. John Jumper, the current Air Force chief of staff.

The report did not accuse the officials of illegal activity, although Inspector General Joseph Schmitz told Congress that as many as five laws would have been broken if the Boeing deal had been signed as officials intended.

The 256-page report also connected Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld to the proposed arrangement, recounting a statement by Roche that Rumsfeld had called him in July 2003 to say "he did not want me to budge" on the tanker deal, despite criticism.

The report is the most sweeping in a series on the failed tanker deal, which military and Boeing officials have long sought to blame on Darleen Druyun, a former Air Force acquisitions official now serving a nine-month federal prison term. Druyun admitted giving Boeing an inflated price on the tanker contract as a "parting gift" before retiring from the military and taking a job with the Chicago-based aerospace giant.

Despite its sometimes strong language, some members of the Senate Armed Services Committee called the report inadequate.

As CBS News National Security Correspondent David Martin observes, those who enjoy watching senior Pentagon officials grovel, would have loved Tuesday's hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

The acting secretary of the Air Force was one of many offering profuse apologies for some embarrassing e-mails detailing the behind the scenes wheeling and dealing on a now aborted plan to lease 100 airliners from Boeing to use as aerial refueling tankers.

Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and John Warner, R-Va., the committee chairman, appeared incredulous that Aldridge — who now serves on the board of directors of Lockheed Martin, a leading defense contractor — was not interviewed by investigators.

Schmitz said Aldridge did not respond to registered letters and telephone messages. McCain recommended the committee subpoena Aldridge.

Huge sections of the report were deleted or blacked out. The deleted sections include dozens of names — including members of Congress and White House officials — as well as e-mails from Air Force officials and others involved in the tanker deal, Schmitz said.

"Critical gaps in this report have placed a cloud over it and indeed over the inspector general's office," said Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, ranking Democrat on the committee.

Schmitz told Levin his office redacted the material under an agreement between committee members and the White House counsel's office.

White House press secretary Scott McClellan called the issue "a jurisdictional matter" and said the inspector general "had access to the information he needed to complete his report."

The report concluded that Aldridge and other officials violated Pentagon procurement rules, failed to use "best business practices" and ignored a legal requirement for weapons testing.

Besides Aldridge, others identified as culpable included Michael Wynne, a top Defense Department acquisition official who replaced Aldridge in 2003, and Marvin Sambur, a former assistant Air Force secretary for acquisition who resigned earlier this year.

Warner and other senators said the report disproved the notion — long pushed by the Air Force and Boeing — that Druyun acted alone.

"Darleen Druyun did not operate in a vacuum," Warner said.

A Boeing spokesman declined to comment on the report.

Air Force spokesman Douglas Karas called the report helpful. "We've learned from this experience" and will apply the lessons to large-scale contracts in the future, he said.