Weh’s federal contracts skyrocketed during Bush presidency

While George W. Bush was president, the amount of money Republican gubernatorial candidate Allen Weh’s aviation business made from contracts with the federal government skyrocketed.

Weh was a political friend to Bush who contributed money to his 2000 and 2004 campaigns and provided other help, including hosting a Bush-attended fundraiser for the Republican National Committee at his home in 2000.

NMPolitics.net found no evidence of a correlation between the increase in federal contracts and the campaign contributions and other help Weh provided to Bush. Weh’s campaign didn’t directly answer a question about whether there was a link, but did say the contracts were competitively bid.

In the 11 years before Bush took office, Weh’s company, CSI Aviation Services, won $34.7 million in federal contracts, according to the Federal Procurement Data System, an online, searchable database of contracts.

Then, from 2001-2004 – the first four years of Bush’s presidency – Weh’s business won $29.4 million in federal contracts. During Bush’s second term, from 2005-2008, the total skyrocketed: Weh’s company won $119.8 million in federal contracts.

During the Obama presidency, the amount has continued to grow. The company has won $116.4 million in federal contracts since Barack Obama became president 17 months ago.

In all, Weh’s business has won federal contracts worth $300.4 million in 21 years, with about half of that – $149.2 million – coming during the eight years Bush was president, according to the online database. You can view a PDF containing information about all CSI Aviation federal contracts here.

‘All awarded through a competitive bid process’

Weh is president and CEO of CSI Aviation, an international air charter and leasing services company he founded in 1979. The federal system has no records of contracts from before 1990, but an employee who answered the database’s help line said it’s possible some data from before 2003 could be missing because the information was moved to a new system that year.

Weh’s campaign provided little help in determining what, if anything, is missing from the online database. Spokesman Christopher Sanchez refused to answer questions or release any information about CSI Aviation’s federal contracts, other than providing this statement:

“CSI Aviation has been competing for federal contracts since the mid-1980s. They were all awarded through a competitive bid process and through a variety of agencies. Obviously, all federal contracts are part of the public record and available for viewing and review by anyone who might have an interest in doing the extensive research, which in this case spans over two decades. CSI Aviation is proud to be a successful federal contractor standing among the likes of Coca Cola, General Dynamics and Johnson& Johnson.”

A friend to Bush

Weh has repeatedly condemned pay-to-play on the campaign trial and has pledged to put a stop to the corruption he says exists in the administration of current Gov. Bill Richardson. In a June 2009 interview with NMPolitics.net, Weh said state government under Richardson had become about the enrichment of politicians and their friends and associates, but that will change if he’s elected.

Weh was certainly a friend to Bush. He was the 2000 co-chairman of the GOP Victory operation in New Mexico – a national GOP group that helped carry Bush to victory over Democrat Al Gore (Bush narrowly lost New Mexico but won the presidency). Weh also hosted a $10,000-per-couple fundraiser at his home in 2000 for the Republican National Committee. Bush attended and headlined the fundraiser.

During the 2004 election, Weh was chairman of the Republican Party of New Mexico. In that position, he helped deliver the state to Bush.

In addition, Weh contributed $3,000 to Bush campaigns – $1,000 each in 1999, 2003 and 2004, according to the money-in-politics Web site OpenSecrets.org. He also gave $20,000 to the RNC – $10,000 each in 2000 and 2004.

Asked if there was any link between the contributions and contracts, Sanchez referred back to his statement that the contracts were awarded through a competitive bidding process, but he did not directly answer the question.

Details on the contracts

Before Bush took office, most of CSI Aviation’s federal contracts were with the U.S. Marshals Service. That continued through Bush’s first term in office. The company also had contracts between 1990 and 2004 with the Army, Energy Department, Federal Prison System and Immigration and Naturalization Service, which has since changed its name to the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection.

But during Bush’s second term, CSI Aviation branched out, winning more contracts with many of those same agencies and new contracts with other agencies including the Coast Guard, Secret Service and Department of Veterans Affairs.

The largest contract CSI Aviation won before Bush took office was a $3.9 million contract with the U.S. Marshals Service in September 1998. During Bush’s first term, the largest contract – also with the Marshals Service – was for $4.6 million. It was entered into in April 2003.

Much of the spike during Bush’s second term was due to new contracts with the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection. From 2005-2008, CSI Aviation won five large contracts with the agency – for $15 million, $12.8 million, $11.8 million and two for $13.1 million each – in addition to a number of smaller contracts.

Those large contracts with Customs have continued during the Obama presidency. The largest, awarded in March, was for $19.4 million.