Ferret Out the Mole

ennan's problems stem not from anything he may have done wrong but rather from the danger posed by the anonymous leak or mole. Until he can get to the bottom of that, he, his boss, his agency and the project are subject to blackmail for purposes that are unclear.

Kennan's first step should be to inform Martin and the agency's counsel. He should not talk to Foster because she may be the source. Subject to the counsel's approval, Kennan should have the agency extend the deadline for filing bids by a Federal Register notice mailed separately to each of the bidders and any others who attended the first meeting but did not bid. This notice should include supplementary information that captures the essence of the information contained in the unsigned memo and which states that the bidders may wish to supplement their bids based on the notice. Kennan need not explain in the notice why the agency is doing this.

Once the Federal Register notice is launched, the agency should commence an investigation into the leak. While Kennan's unilateral meeting with James Bay was ill-advised, if there is any "sweetheart" deal in the offing, it is between the source of the leak and another bidder trying to use "ethics" to knock out a competitor. If the leak is indeed Foster, then the agency had better know about it. If the leaker turns out to be Foster, the agency is better off having cured any possible defect in the bidding, lest the agency be implicated by Foster in a scheme to disqualify what might turn out to be the lowest bid.

If the source is within James Bay, the company needs to be alerted to the fact that it has a disloyal employee, and the agency counsel has to determine whether to refer the matter to the inspector general for further investigation of potential interference with the bidding process.

C. Boyden Gray, former White House counsel to President Bush, is a partner at Wilmer, Cutler and Pickering, a Washington law firm.