GOP donor allegedly overcharged Pentagon

WASHINGTON, Oct. 17 (UPI) -- A U.S. House investigative committee gave the Defense Department documents indicating a top Republican fundraiser overcharged the Pentagon.

Rep. Henry A. Waxman, D-Calif., chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said the information indicates Harry Sargeant III made tens of millions of dollars during the last four years because his firm, the International Oil Trading Co., overcharged for fuel deliveries to U.S. air bases in Iraq, The New York Times reported Friday.

In a statement Thursday, a lawyer for Sargeant, a major fundraiser for Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign and finance chairman of the Florida Republican Party, called the allegations "deeply disappointing" and not supported by the facts. Nothing in the documents indicates McCain or his staff tried to influence who received the contracts.

In his letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Waxman cited e-mail, company documents, Pentagon reports and other information to make the case that Sargeant repeatedly won fuel delivery contracts even though his company wasn't the lowest bidder.

The Pentagon provided Waxman with the information he requested, said Chris Isleib, a Gates spokesman.

"As a result of these documents and subsequent discussions with the committee, Congressman Waxman asked the secretary of defense to investigate allegations that I.O.T.C. has overcharged for the delivery of fuel," Isleib said in an e-mail to the Times.