E-mails prompt requests for probe of Air Force secretary

The discovery of a number of e-mail exchanges dating from the spring of 2003 about the Air Force's plan to lease 100 Boeing tankers triggered requests for a Justice Department review of the potential violation of conflict-of-interest statutes, sources familiar with the investigation said Thursday.

Sources who have seen the e-mails said that in the exchanges between Air Force Secretary James Roche and OMB National Security Chief Robin Cleveland, Roche offered to help Cleveland's brother seek employment with Northrop Grumman Corp., where Roche served as a senior executive prior to his public appointment. According to sources, Cleveland is said to have agreed to back the Air Force's controversial proposal to lease the Boeing aircraft.

However, a press release issued Thursday by Lt. Col. Michael Caldwell, a spokesman for Roche, indicated that the Air Force's own chief ethics official deemed the e-mail exchange to be in compliance with law and federal ethics regulations.

"The secretary's e-mail reply to an individual in the Office of Management and Budget was a light-hearted exchange between longtime friends and colleagues," according to the press release. "Consequently, the secretary's comments were appropriate given his long-standing friendship with this individual."

OMB had initially opposed various aspects of the multi-billion tanker deal, and in February 2003 raised several concerns, including the aircraft price, contract clauses, system specification in the contract, the issue of termination liability, and the tax implications associated with relying on a special-purpose entity to carry the deal. But in May 2003, shortly before the Air Force awarded a contract to Boeing for the lease of up to 20 tanker aircraft and the purchase of as many as 80, OMB issued a statement in support of the deal.

The e-mails in question are part of a Senate Armed Services Committee inquiry into the Air Force's tanker lease proposal. A committee spokesman declined to comment on the matter. Chad Kolton, an OMB spokesman, said OMB had brought the documents to the committee's attention earlier this month.

"As part of our cooperation with the Senate Armed Services Committee, we brought to their attention certain documents," Kolton said, although he declined to discuss their contents.

Kolton said the Office of Government Ethics and OMB's own ethics council had reviewed the documents and concluded informally that they did not indicate a violation of relevant conflict-of-interest statutes, but that because some members of the Armed Services committee raised concerns about potential conflict-of-interest violations, OMB chose to refer the matter to Justice.

A spokesman for Roche said the Justice Department had not yet contacted the secretary regarding the investigation, but that Roche had been made aware of the probe through media reports.

"We welcome any investigation regarding his communications on the tanker lease proposal," Caldwell said Thursday. "He particularly welcomes any investigation regarding his communications that discuss an earlier proposal to lease air refueling tankers."