Boeing will help in tanker probe

Published 9:00 pm Friday, December 12, 2003

WASHINGTON — The Boeing Co. said Friday it will cooperate with federal investigators examining the aerospace giant’s recruitment of an Air Force official while she was overseeing the company’s contracts.

"The company has been cooperating and will continue to cooperate with investigators," spokesman Ken Mercer said.

The Pentagon has postponed plans to lease 20 air refueling tankers from Boeing and buy another 80 while its internal auditors examine whether the two executives improperly affected negotiations. The scandal has also led to the resignation of Boeing’s chairman and chief executive, Phil Condit.

The U.S. Attorney’s office in Northern Virginia has begun a criminal investigation of the events surrounding the hiring of the former Air Force official, Darleen Druyun, The Wall Street Journal reported. Boeing last month fired her and the chief financial officer, Michael Sears, who had approached Druyun about working for Boeing.

A Boeing spokesman declined to comment on or confirm the criminal investigation. The Pentagon and the Justice Department also declined comment.

The main Senate opponent of the tanker deal, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said he was not surprised by the report of the criminal investigation.

"I predict that this will also sooner or later involve Air Force officials, because this was a relationship that the Air Force officials were working in close contact with the Boeing people," said McCain, a member of the Armed Services Committee.

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