Mr. President, I have made a career in the Senate fighting against government waste, fraud, and abuse. Most recently, I have found this waste in an office within the Department of Defense called the Office of Net Assessment. Its purpose is to produce an annual net assessment, which is a long-term look at our military's capabilities and those of our greatest adversaries. I am here to say to my colleagues that that office has lost its way. When I began a review of Stefan Halper's contracting work at the Office of Net Assessment, something didn't look right. So I asked the inspector general to look into it. For those who are unaware, Stefan Halper was a central figure in the debunked Russia collusion investigation. Stefan Halper secretly recorded Trump campaign officials during Crossfire Hurricane. Halper also received over a million taxpayer dollars from the Office of Net Assessment for several ``research'' projects, but the inspector general found some problems with that contract. The Office of Net Assessment didn't require Halper to submit evidence that he actually talked to the people he cited in his work, which included Russian intelligence officers. Secondly, the Office of Net Assessment couldn't provide sufficient documentation that Halper conducted all of his work in accordance with the law. And, three, the Office of Net Assessment didn't maintain sufficient documentation to comply with all Federal contracting requirements and Office of Management and Budget guidelines.…
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