Rep. Waxman asks White House for information on 2002 contract

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, is asking the White House for more information about a contract awarded in 2002 to MZM, a technology consulting firm.

In a March 26 letter to White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten, Waxman requested information, from e-mails to contract documents, on a $140,000 contract between MZM and the Executive Office of the President.

Waxman questioned how MZM’s first prime government contract came only two months after the General Services Administration placed the company on the Federal Supply Schedule. The contract was to provide computers and office furniture to the Office of the Vice President, according to Waxman's letter.

Waxman wrote that  “investigations have uncovered serious irregularities, and in some cases criminal conduct, by MZM employees, members of Congress and Bush administration officials relating to MZM contracts with the federal government.”

MZM has had trouble with government contracts, having been linked to former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-Calif.), who resigned from Congress in 2005 during a scandal and is now in federal prison.

MZM was run by Cunningham co-conspirator Mitchell Wade, who is cooperating with prosecutors after pleading guilty in February 2006 to bribing Cunningham in exchange for more than $150 million in government contracts for MZM. The value of some of those contracts has subsequently been questioned.

Waxman asked for all task order documents, invoices and analyses of MZM’s performance. He also requested communications between employees of MZM and the president’s office, GSA, the Interior and Defense departments, and congressional offices, according to the letter.