Monday, April 23, 2007

The Case of the Missing Data

The Governor put his Homeland Security Director Steve McCraw in charge of gathering nearly 40 million law enforcement records about Texans into a vast, heretofore secret databse, the Texas Observer reported earlier this month, including information about open criminal investigations. So what do you think McCraw did with it?

He gave it to a private defense contractor, Northrop Grunman, who apparently lost it but has supposedly now located it again, the Texas Observer blog reported today. Editor Jake Bernstein has posted this letter from McCraw online offering a convoluted explanation as to why his office didn't know what was going on with the Governor's TDEX database when he testified ten days ago. (See Grits prior discussion of the database.)

McCraw thought the data had been returned to DPS, as Grits reported here, but DPS said it never received the data back nor any evidence it was destroyed. That turned out to be true. McCraw insists that DPS was in charge of the project from start to finish, but Jake points out that also contradicts testimony from DPS that the Governor's political people managed the project. Given that McCraw just got caught in a fib - or at least a mistake that calls into question his competence - not to mention his past record of making demonstrably false public statements about homeland security threats, my money is on DPS as to who's telling the truth here.

Jake lists several unanswered questions that definitely deserve to be addressed before the Lege approves HB 13 - honestly I wouldn't lose any sleep if the bill went down completely.

SEE ALSO: Rep. Jessica Farrar's concerns with HB 13 and the TDEX database.

2 comments:

Jaime Kenedeño said...

Northrop Grumman has been poking around into various Kenedeno websites. I was wondering why?

Now this new info.

Thanks

Why would the Great State of Texas give it to one specific defense contractor?

$$$$$$$$$$$?

Does Northrop have dealings with OSI?

Unknown said...

OSI?

"Ocean Shipholdings" AKA "Ocean Sipholdings"?


“I remember Lencho telling me that his ideal dream team (to help BND) would be (lobbyist) Randy DeLay, (Monterrey consult-ant) Esther Rodriguez and ‘Madam Ping,’” Lasseigne said.

A Dream Team of Randy Delay Lobbying in Washington, Solomon Sr. nicely positioned on the House Arms Services Committee and his influential "friends" such as Congressman Ike Skelton, the distract and the DELAY side JOB Lobby at the Federal Bureau of Prisons / CCA / Private Prison Profiteering CON. The Daytime JOB is the Defense Contractor Ocean Shipholdings

Total Defense Contracts, 1998-2003: $1,094,875,569

Ocean Shipholdings Inc. builds, repairs and operates ocean-going marine vessels. Over the past six years, the company ranked as the Pentagon's second-largest provider of marine transportation of equipment.

Many contract dollars are classified as going to a small business or small disadvantaged business (minority-owed, etc.). Set-aside contracts are reserved for small businesses; large companies cannot compete for them.
According to records from the Texas Secretary of State. Corpus Christi businessman George Finley said he started DOS Logistics in 1999 to pursue minority contracts

http://coupdmaitre.blogspot.com/2006/11/nueces-county-jail-delayed.html

http://www.openairwaves.org/pns/db.aspx?act=cinfo&coid=103840658