Retired Army Maj. Gen. Robert A. Harding on Friday night withdrew his nomination to head TSA due to questions about over-billing the Defense Department by a company he once owned.
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The TSA has been without a political appointee at the helm for 14 months since Obama took office. The agency is led by acting administrator Gail Rossides.
Harding testified during confirmation hearings last week that his firm, Harding Security Associates, was awarded in 2004 a $50 million contract with the Defense Intelligence Agency to supply private interrogators. The contract was terminated after one year, and $6 million worth of work, following the Abu Ghraib torture scandal, according to White House documentation provided to two Senate committees, the political news Web site Politico reported.
Senators said they were satisfied with his responses regarding possible prisoner abuse by any of his employees, but questions subsequently surfaced about whether Harding Security Associates over-charged the military. The termination triggered an audit that found Harding’s company double-billed the government for more than $860,000 and it ultimately reimbursed the government more than $2 million, over one-third of the money it received, Politico said.
Harding sold his company last year.
The news site also said Harding had extensive financial arrangements that would have required him to recuse himself from decisions involving his former company and others he consulted for.
A Washington Post investigation found that Harding in 2008 received another defense contract, which was worth almost $100 million, after certifying he was a ‘service disabled veteran’ because he had sleep apnea, a sometimes chronic breathing disorder that disrupts sleep.
Harding was an intelligence officer in the Army and headed the Defense Intelligence Agency, and said he intended to improve the TSA’s intelligence capabilities if confirmed. ‘ Eric Kulisch
