[Infowarrior] - Chertoff's conflict of interest

[Richard Forno]

Ex-Homeland Security chief head said to abuse public trust by touting  
body scanners
By Kimberly Kindy
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, January 1, 2010; A07

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/31/AR2009123102821_pf.html
Since the attempted bombing of a U.S. airliner on Christmas Day,  
former Homeland Security secretary Michael Chertoff has given dozens  
of media interviews touting the need for the federal government to buy  
more full-body scanners for airports.

What he has made little mention of is that the Chertoff Group, his  
security consulting agency, includes a client that manufactures the  
machines. The relationship drew attention after Chertoff disclosed it  
on a CNN program Wednesday, in response to a question.

An airport passengers' rights group on Thursday criticized Chertoff,  
who left office less than a year ago, for using his former government  
credentials to advocate for a product that benefits his clients.

"Mr. Chertoff should not be allowed to abuse the trust the public has  
placed in him as a former public servant to privately gain from the  
sale of full-body scanners under the pretense that the scanners would  
have detected this particular type of explosive," said Kate Hanni,  
founder of FlyersRights.org, which opposes the use of the scanners.

Chertoff's advocacy for the technology dates back to his time in the  
Bush administration. In 2005, Homeland Security ordered the  
government's first batch of the scanners -- five from California-based  
Rapiscan Systems.

Today, 40 body scanners are in use at 19 U.S. airports. The number is  
expected to skyrocket at least in part because of the Christmas Day  
incident. The Transportation Security Administration this week said it  
will order 300 more machines.

In the summer, TSA purchased 150 machines from Rapiscan with $25  
million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds. Rapiscan was  
the only company that qualified for the contract because it had  
developed technology that performs the screening using a less-graphic  
body imaging system, which is also less controversial. (Since then,  
another company, L-3 Communications, has qualified for future  
contracts, but no new contracts have been awarded.)

Over the past week, Chertoff has repeatedly talked about the need for  
expanding the use of the technology in airports, saying it could  
detect bombs like the one federal authorities say Umar Farouk  
Abdulmutallab, a 23-year-old Nigerian, carried onto the Detroit-bound  
aircraft.

"We could deploy the scanning machines that we currently are beginning  
to deploy in the U.S. that will give us the ability to see what  
someone has concealed underneath their clothing," Chertoff said  
Wednesday in an interview on CNN. The incident on the Detroit-bound  
plane provided "a very vivid lesson in the value of that machinery,"  
he said.

Staff researcher Julie Tate contributed to this report.