CBS’s Smith: Halliburton & U.S. Accused of 'Covering Up A Terrible Crime’ Again

On Wednesday’s CBS "Early Show," co-host Harry Smith introduced a segment on a woman alleging she was sexually assaulted by Halliburton employees in Iraq and declared, "Halliburton, the company with $2 billion in Iraq contracts, once again is accused of joining the U.S. government in covering up a terrible crime by some employees." What does Smith mean by "once again"? Exactly when has the U.S. government covered up "a terrible crime" previously? How does Smith know there is a cover up now?

Smith talked to Republican Congressman, Ted Poe, the Texas woman’s representative who is pushing for an investigation of the charges. Smith asked Poe: "what is the status of the investigation, or is there one?" Poe responded, "We've contacted the Attorney General and the Justice Department, to find out what has been done, why aren't these people being prosecuted, bring them to justice."

Then Smith concluded the segment by asking Poe this question:

Halliburton and KBR have subsequently split since that happened. I just want to read real quickly a Halliburton statement that says in part, "Halliburton has no responsibility legal or otherwise for the actions alleged" expects to be dismissed from the lawsuit. KBR says "the safety and security of all employees remains KBR's top priority and KBR intends to vigorously defend the allegations raised in each case which we believe are without merit." This starts to sound a little bit like the contractors being without, beyond the reach of the law. Is this -- could this be the case here?

Poe responded by saying, "Well that's apparently what they're -- what they're saying and this is typical when a sexual assault victim is victimized, usually the perpetrators take the position it's without merit."

I’m surprised Smith did not mention Dick Cheney’s Halliburton connection and suggest he had something to do with the supposed "cover up."

Here is the full transcript of the segment:

HARRY SMITH: Halliburton, the company with $2 billion in Iraq contracts, once again is accused of joining the U.S. government in covering up a terrible crime by some employees. Jamie Lee Jones, now 22 years old, was working for Halliburton in Baghdad when she says a group of co-workers sexually assaulted her, then locked her in a shipping container, under guard without food or water, until she convinced a sympathetic guard to sneak her a cell phone to call her Dad in Texas.

JAMIE LEE JONES: If guys get away with this, they're going to continue to do this. If they were sick enough to do what they did to my body, they're going to do it to other people. So, I can't drop it -- I mean, I don't know how I could sleep at night if I saw the same thing happening to another woman, after me, and I did nothing.

SMITH: Jamie's father then called their Congressman, Ted Poe, who orchestrated her rescue and is helping her seek justice. Congressman, good morning.

TED POE: Good morning, Harry.

SMITH: What did you do once you got that phone call?

POE: Contacted the State Department after finding the right individuals and encouraged them and told them basically that this young lady needed to be rescued out of Baghdad. And so within 48 hours, they had gone to Baghdad, two agents, found her, rescued her, got her to an Army hospital, got her medical needs taken care of. And as soon as that was initially done, she was brought back home.

SMITH: And everything you understand, her accusations stand up?

POE: Yes, they do. And I think the proof is in the medical reports that she was brutalized while she was in Baghdad and that her story holds up, I think, and I certainly do believe her. And once she got back, that's when things seemed to stop. We could not get any satisfaction from the State Department on who these people were that assaulted her, where they were --

SMITH: Right, what is the status of the investigation, or is there one?

POE: Well, now that Jamie has made this public, it's all been confidential since the privacy -- because of her privacy. But now that it's made public, I expect that things are moving much faster. They are, in fact. We've contacted the Attorney General and the Justice Department, to find out what has been done, why aren't these people being prosecuted, bring them to justice. And we're going to get some answers now.

SMITH: Right. Halliburton and KBR have subsequently split since that happened. I just want to read real quickly a Halliburton statement that says in part, "Halliburton has no responsibility legal or otherwise for the actions alleged" expects to be dismissed from the lawsuit. KBR says "the safety and security of all employees remains KBR's top priority and KBR intends to vigorously defend the allegations raised in each case which we believe are without merit." This starts to sound a little bit like the contractors being without, beyond the reach of the law. Is this -- could this be the case here?

POE: Well that's apparently what they're -- what they're saying and this is typical when a sexual assault victim is victimized, usually the perpetrators take the position it's without merit. So this is nothing new. But, of course they're going to be held accountable. American law does allow the individuals who committed this crime, the specific individuals, to be held accountable and brought to justice. That hasn't occurred yet. But we want to move forward, encourage the Justice Department to finish this case.

SMITH: Alright, Congressman, thank you so much. Do appreciate it, sir.

POE: Thank you, Harry.

SMITH: You bet.