On Sunday, September 14, 2003 on Meet the Press, Tim Russert asked this question of then Vice President Dick Cheney:
MR. RUSSERT: Democrats have written you letters and are suggesting profiteering by your former company Halliburton and this is how it was reported: "Halliburton, the company formerly headed by Vice President Cheney, has won contrast worth more than $1.7 billion under Operation Iraqi Freedom and stands to make hundreds of millions more dollars under a no-bid contract awarded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, according to newly available documents. The size and scope of the government contracts awarded to Halliburton in connection with the war in Iraq are significantly greater than was previously disclosed and demonstrate the U.S. military’s increasing reliance on for-profit corporations to run its logistical operations." Were you involved in any way in the awarding of those contracts?
VICE PRES. CHENEY: Of course not, Tim. Tim, when I was secretary of Defense, I was not involved in awarding contracts. That’s done at a far lower level. Secondly, when I ran Halliburton for five years and they were doing work for the Defense Department, which frankly they’ve been doing for 60 or 70 years, I never went near the Defense Department. I never lobbied the Defense Department on behalf of Halliburton. The only time I went back to the department during those eight years was to have my portrait hung which is a traditional service rendered for former secretaries of Defense. And since I left Halliburton to become George Bush’s vice president, I’ve severed all my ties with the company, gotten rid of all my financial interests. I have no financial interest in Halliburton of any kind and haven’t had now for over three years. And as vice president, I have absolutely no influence of, involvement of, knowledge of in any way, shape or form of contracts led by the Corps of Engineers or anybody else in the federal government, so...
For those who were paying attention at the time, Cheney's response did more than raise a few eyebrows. John Nichols, posted an article 10/15/2003 on the Nation where he noted:
...A successful businessman and investor before his election to the Senate, Lautenberg notes that Cheney, who received a $34 million package when he left Halliburton to become Vice President, continues to collect hundreds of thousands of dollars in deferred salary and retains $433,333 in unexercised stock options...
Yes, even though ole Dick may think thousands of dollars in deferred salary and unexercised stock options constitutes "no financial interest in Halliburton of any kind" the reality-based part of planet earth tends to see things otherwise.
And with all the corruption swirling around Wall Street and Washington these days it would be easy to forget about Cheney's windfall. Fortunately, Senator Lautenberg has, as recently as September 15, 2005 "reiterated his call for Vice President Dick Cheney to forfeit his continuing financial interest in the Halliburton."
In a press Release, Senator Lautenberg points out that:
In September 2003, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) issued a memorandum to Senator Lautenberg concluding that holding stock options while in elective office does constitute a "financial interest" regardless of whether the holder of the options will donate proceeds to charities. CRS also found that receiving deferred compensation is a financial interest.
So the question remains, whatever happened to those stock options Dick? Some of us have memories that extend past that of even an elephant, we NEVER forget.