Congress, NASA, Other

The Congressional defense

On Monday the trial of former NASA official Courtney Stadd got underway in Washington. Stadd was charged earlier this year by federal prosecutors of steering nearly $10 million in NASA funds to a consulting client, Mississippi State University, during a brief stint at the agency in 2005 shortly after Mike Griffin became administrator. During the opening arguments, according to the AP report, the defense provided new details to explain what happened, explaining the money came from a $15 million earmark that the Mississippi’s congressional delegation and Griffin’s predecessor, Sean O’Keefe, agreed would go to the state:

Stadd’s lawyer, Dorrance Dickens, said Mississippi Republican Sen. Thad Cochran had pressured Griffin during his confirmation to uphold O’Keefe’s commitment, and Griffin told Stadd and other senior NASA officials to “get it done.” Griffin is expected to testify in the case.

Dickens said Stadd was trying to walk the line between carrying out Griffin’s orders and complying with ethics rules when he said the money should go to Mississippi, without ever specifying it should go to Mississippi State University.

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