March 28, 2017
The Honorable John McCain
Chairman
Senate Armed Services Committee
Russell Senate Building, Room 228
Washington, DC 20510-6050
The Honorable Jack Reed
Ranking Member
Senate Armed Services Committee
Russell Senate Building, Room 228
Washington, DC 20510-6050

Dear Chairman McCain and Ranking Member Reed:
As you consider the nomination of Heather Wilson for Air Force Secretary, the Project On
Government Oversight (POGO) hopes you will closely examine her post-government
employment with several Department of Energy nuclear laboratories and any potential conflicts
of interest that could arise due to that work.
In 2013, the Department of Energy Inspector General (DOE IG) conducted an investigation, at
the request of the National Nuclear Security Administration, into Ms. Wilson's contracts with
four Department-owned, contractor-operated sites.1 The IG found that the four facility
contractors paid Ms. Wilson's company $450,000 even though they did not receive any evidence
that work had been completed.
Additional documents related to the investigation, obtained by the Center for Public Integrity,
indicate that Ms. Wilson refused to provide any details about her work for the labs. DOE IG
investigators noted in their interview records that Ms. Wilson stated “she was not going to
account for her time in any detail.”2 POGO believes that the findings of the DOE IG raise
concerns about her willingness to provide information to the Committee and other oversight
bodies.

1

Department of Energy, Office of Inspector General, Concerns with Consulting Contract Administration at Various
Department Sites, June 2013. https://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2013/06/f1/IG-0889.pdf (Downloaded Mark 28,
2017)
2
Patrick Malone and R. Jeffrey Smith, “Trump pick for Air Force boss frustrated auditors with lucrative, murky
consulting for nuclear weapons labs,” February 28, 2017.
https://www.publicintegrity.org/2017/02/28/20740/trump-pick-air-force-boss-frustrated-auditors-lucrativemurky-consulting-nuclear (Downloaded March 28, 2017)

 Although the contractors in charge of the nuclear the labs in question have since repaid the
nearly half a million dollars spent on Ms. Wilson’s alleged consulting services, Ms. Wilson’s
company, of which she is the sole employee, has kept the money she received for doing who
knows what. This leads POGO to question how seriously Ms. Wilson will take her position as a
steward of taxpayer dollars.
If confirmed, Ms. Wilson will oversee billions of dollars of contract work done by the Lockheed
Martin Corporation, whose subsidiary managed the Sandia National Laboratory where she was
employed from 2009-2011. While this relationship does not technically fall within the legal
definition of a conflict of interest, POGO hopes Ms. Wilson will demonstrate to this Committee
that she will work to ensure there will not be even the appearance of a conflict.
POGO believes Ms. Wilson should be questioned about her past employment and that the
Committee should ensure she commits to an open and transparent relationship with oversight
bodies. We have attached a list of suggested questions and believe the answers to these questions
are key to protecting the integrity of the operations of the Air Force and to ensuring this
Committee receives the information it needs to conduct its constitutional oversight duties. Ms.
Wilson should not be confirmed until she has adequately provided the answers to these questions
and proven that she does not have a conflict of interest.

Sincerely,

Danielle Brian
Executive Director

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 POGO Suggested Questions for Air Force Secretary Nominee Heather Wilson

1. In 2013, the Department of Energy Inspector General (DOE IG) conducted an investigation, at the
request of the National Nuclear Security Administration, into Ms. Wilson's contracts with four
Department owned and contractor operated sites. The DOE IG found that the four facility contractors paid
Ms. Wilson's company almost half a million dollars ($450,000) even though they did not receive any
evidence that the work had been completed.
a. According to internal DOE documents obtained by the Center for Public Integrity, you
were asked by Los Alamos National Laboratories officials to provide an accounting of
your time and work but you refused. DOE IG Investigators wrote: “He stated that Ms.
Wilson was very direct with him, stating that she was not going to account for her time in
any detail.” Can you explain why you wouldn’t provide a detailed account of your work
for the nuclear labs?
b. Do you think it’s appropriate that the Labs in question returned the money to the
government but you were not required to return the $450,000 paid to you despite your
refusal to provide a detailed account of your activities? What do you think that says about
your integrity? Why should taxpayers trust you with their money?
c. Ms. Wilson, what projects did you work on while employed by Sandia National
Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the
Nevada National Security Site?
d. Did you inform the Office of Government Ethics about these projects?
2. The 2013 Department of Energy Inspector General also found that the original agreement
Ms. Wilson signed quote “specifically prohibited activity related to ‘business development.’ Despite that
prohibition, however, we found that these types of activities were actually one of the purposes of the
consulting activities.”
a. Ms. Wilson, do you recall signing an agreement that prohibited activity related to
business development?
b. Ms. Wilson, what did you understand to be the purpose of your agreement with these
labs?
3. In 2014 the Department of Energy Inspector General found that Lockheed Martin improperly used
taxpayer funds to develop a lobbying strategy to influence an extension of their Sandia National
Laboratory management contract--which they eventually won.
a.

Ms. Wilson, were you involved in any way in developing this strategy?

b. Ms. Wilson, did you know that developing this strategy was funded with taxpayer
dollars?
4. Ms. Wilson, if confirmed you will oversee billions of dollars of work done by the Lockheed Martin
Corporation who’s subsidiary ran Sandia National Laboratory where you were employed from 2009-2011

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 beginning one day after you left Congress. Though this relationship does not technically fall within the
legal definition of a conflict of interest, will you commit to the committee that you will ensure there will
not be a conflict of interest in your work?
5. President Trump recently issued an executive order barring his appointees from working on matters
related to former employers or clients for two years. What is your understanding of how this executive
order will impact your work as Secretary of the Air Force?
6. Your predecessor refused to publicly release the cost of the development contract for the B-21
bomber, claiming potential adversaries would be able to deduce information about the plane's weight and
range. She had no such qualms about releasing an artist's rendering of the plane or publicly saying where
major parts of it will be built and by whom. This is all information that could be even more useful to
potential adversaries. This casts some doubt as to the real motivations for hiding the cost from the people
who are stuck with the bill.
a. In the spirit of transparency and accountability for spending taxpayer dollars, would
you be willing to tell the American people how much they are spending to develop the B21?
7. The National Defense Authorization Act prohibits retiring A-10 aircraft until after F-35 comparative
testing is complete and reported to Congress as part of Initial Operational Test and Evaluation and you
have developed a plan for addressing any deficiencies and corrective actions to address deficiencies and
preserve the Air Force's ability to conduct close air support, combat search and rescue, and forward air
controller airborne missions. Will you commit to this committee that you will not retiring any additional
A-10s and report any evidence you receive of illegal destruction of A-10s?
8. If confirmed, will you ensure your agency staff timely and fully provides information and access to
appropriate documents and officials in response to requests made by this committee and other information
necessary to conduct effective oversight over the operations of the Air Force, including the GAO,
Inspectors General, the Defense Contract Audit Agency, the Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation
Office, and the Operational Test and Evaluation Office?

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