Monday, April 1, 2013

State Dept, GSA Stonewall Investigation of Benghazi Security Contract

Two employees at the General Services Administration have stonewalled Breitbart News, and another has mysteriously "disappeared" as the investigation into the State Department "no bullets" contract with Blue Mountain Group, the British firm that provided security at the American mission in Benghazi heats up.

The stonewalling continued at the State Department, which failed to respond to followup questions from Breitbart News arising from our report that it had used the General Services Administration as a front to hide the identity and nationality of Blue Mountain Group. Despite repeated emails from Breitbart News throughout the day Thursday, the State Department had not responded to our inquiries by the time of publication.
Late Wednesday, GSA spokesperson Mafara Hobson refused to answer specific questions from Breitbart News on the growing scandal, referring all inquiries to the State Department before going silent:
Mafara Hobson: Michael, while GSA manages the Federal Procurement Data System website, this is a State Department contract. Please contact the State Department for information about this contract.
Leahy: Ms. Hobson:
But why is a GSA address and phone number listed in the vendor contact of the contract between the State Department and a "Miscellaneous Foreign Awardee," later revealed to be the British firm Blue Mountain Group?
Please answer that question.
Mafara Hobson: Check with the State Department.
Leahy: Ms. Hobson,
But GSA should be able to explain why a GSA address and phone number is listed in the vendor contact of the contract between the State Department and a "Miscellaneous Foreign Awardee," later revealed to be the British firm Blue Mountain Group.
You're a spokesperson for GSA. Why can you not explain that?
Ms. Hobson has not responded to our last question.
On Thursday, Breitbart News reached GSA employee Pat Brooks, whose office phone number is listed as the "vendor contact" phone number in the State Department contract with the "Miscellaneous Foreign Awardee" we now know is Blue Mountain Group.
Ms. Brooks refused to comment at the time but promised to call back before the end of the day in a conference call with a Public Affairs spokesperson for the GSA.
When the Breitbart News phone didn't ring, we knew it was Ms. Brooks.
Breitbart News also attempted Thursday to reach GSA employee Cory Smith, who is listed as the press contact for the Regulatory Secretariat of the GSA at its web site. The physical address listed as the "vendor contact" in the State Department contract with the "Miscellaneous Foreign Awardee" we now know is Blue Mountain Group is 1275 First St. NE, Washington, D.C. That address, however, is not one that belongs to Blue Mountain Group. Instead, it is the address for the offices of the Regulatory Secretariat of the GSA.
Cory Smith, however, seems to have disappeared from all official records at the GSA. Phone calls to the number listed at the GSA website as belonging to Cory Smith went to a disconnected line. And emails sent to Cory Smith's GSA email address bounced back.
Earlier this year, the GSA was involved in a series of embarrassing scandals that involved irresponsible spending of taxpayer dollars.

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