The Walter Reed story gets messier

The first figure to resign in the Walter Reed disgrace was Maj. Gen. Weightman, however, Weightman had been in charge of Walter Reed for a little over six months.

Now, CNN reports that shortly after Weightman took over, one of his deputies penned "an internal memo from the commanding officer expressed concern that care provided there was suffering because of the Army's decision to privatize support services."

The memo was sent to the Army's medical command which was then led by Lt. Gen. Kiley who was the previous commander at Walter Reed.

So, Weightman walked into the Walter Reed job, saw alot of problems in the privatization and care, and saw that his channel of remedy was the same guy who had left the problems to him. So, he filed a CYA memo that would be available if the situation blew up. (Not noble, but it does give a paper trail.)

There's also the larger question that I would expect Waxman to focus on more, the allegation that the contract led to the poor veteran care.

In a letter to Weightman, Waxman pointed out that when the contract was signed, the number of workers went from 300 federal employees to 60 contract workers.

More: ABCBlotter has more,

In the letter, Waxman charged that the Army used an unusual process to award a five-year, $120 million contract to manage the center to a company owned by a former executive of Halliburton....

In 2004, the Army determined that Walter Reed's federal employees could operate the medical center more efficiently than IAP Worldwide Services, which is operated by the former Halliburton executive, Al Neffgen, Waxman wrote. After IAP protested, the Army "unilaterally" increased the employees' estimated costs by $7 million, making IAP appear cheaper, Waxman said. Rules barred Walter Reed employees from appealing the decision, Waxman wrote, and in January 2006 the Army gave the contract to IAP.

So, what I want to know, and presumably what Waxman wants to know, is who in the Army made the decision to revalue employee costs effectively granting IAP the contract?

Hearings on Monday.

(I'm really glad we have a Democratically controlled Congress.)