'Revolving door' spins between AT&T, GSA
That AT&T just won an eight-figure contract to provide the federal government’s General Services Administration with new mobile devices isn’t itself particularly notable.
What is: Casey Coleman, an AT&T executive responsible for “delivering IT and professional services to federal government customers,” oversaw the GSA’s information technology division and its $600 million IT budget as recently as January.
Officials both at the GSA and AT&T say all federal rules and regulations limiting former government officials’ interactions with current government employees have been followed during the contract bidding process.
“We won the contract on the merits," AT&T spokesman Jim Greer told the Center for Public Integrity. "GSA has been a customer of ours for decades. As in the past, our work on the [request for proposal] adhered to all GSA and federal guidelines.”
Added GSA spokeswoman Jackeline Stewart: "Casey Coleman was long gone before we received any proposals and had no involvement with the evaluation of the proposals that GSA received ... She had no direct or indirect part or involvement in the procurement or subsequent award. AT&T was awarded the contract through a competitive process.”
While there’s no evidence anything illegal took place, the public still should be aware of, and potentially worried about, Coleman’s spin through the revolving door between government and companies that profit from government, said Michael Smallberg, an investigator at the nonpartisan watchdog group Project on Government Oversight.
“Someone in Coleman’s position can provide some really valuable advice and guidance behind the scenes that helps win a contract,” Smallberg said. “The concern is that this can give one company an advantage over another, and you want to make sure the government is getting the best deal for taxpayers.”
There’s more to this story. Click here to read the rest at the Center for Public Integrity.
This story is part of Primary Source. Primary Source keeps you up-to-date on developments in the post-Citizens United world of money in politics. Click here to read more stories in this blog.
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Copyright 2014 The Center for Public Integrity. This story was published by The Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit, nonpartisan investigative news organization in Washington, D.C.
