Click to enlarge — Yup, we pick up the tab for this, every year

A top government contractor managing a key Department of Energy laboratory inappropriately sought help from lawmakers and Obama administration officials to obtain a no-bid contract extension worth $2.4 billion per year, according to a federal review.

…Department of Energy Inspector General Gregory Friedman cited planning documents from Sandia Corporation showing that the firm, a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin that operates Sandia National Laboratories, formulated a strategy to “campaign aggressively (Administration and Congress) to convince [then-Secretary of Energy Steven Chu] to extend the M&O contract.”

Former New Mexico congresswoman Heather Wilson, a Republican, was involved in the efforts, according to the review. The ex-lawmaker now runs a consulting firm and serves as president of the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology.

Sandia’s tactics included persuading the New Mexico congressional delegation, a former U.S. senator, the head of the National Nuclear Security Administration and top advisers to the energy secretary to pressure Chu…

Friedman said the costs of the efforts were “borne by the U.S. taxpayers,” because Sandia paid for them with money that the federal government had previously given to the firm. He added that the plan represented a violation of federal acquisition guidelines and a federal law barring the use of congressionally appropriated funds to influence contracting decisions.

Sandia had sought a six-year, no-bid extension, but the Department of Energy ultimately extended the contract for two years without competition so the agency could prepare for a “full and open competition,” the inspector general said.

Well, it’s a good thing the representatives of our government are so tough on scumbags using sleazy illicit tactics. How can Sandia possibly expect to keep the wolf from the door with only a two-year no-bid contract to prepare itself for an actual competitive bid?

This crap criminality doesn’t even make good fiction.

Thanks, Mike