Marine One

Jean Claude looked poised and calm. We knew differently. We had spent countless hours preparing him. Half our time had been spent giving him information about the helicopter's construction and the contract with the government that he had either never known or grown unsure about. The other half was spent grilling him and pressing him harder than any senator was likely to have the nerve to duplicate. But there's a big difference between preparing for an inquisition and being in one. His hands were shaking slightly. Jean Claude knew it and kept his hands out of sight until he was able to settle down.

Blankenship began the questioning himself. This was the moment he had been waiting for. He spent the first two hours grilling Jean Claude on the U.S. operations of WorldCopter, trying to show that it was simply a front for WorldCopter France, and that the only manufacturing of the helicopter, in reality, occurred in France. Some 'assembly' took place in the United States, but by the end of the two hours everyone understood the helicopter was made in France.

Blankenship moved to the next tab in the notebook full of questions that had been prepared by the lawyers on his staff. 'From what I understand,' he said, his voice booming with the cameras whirring away, 'WorldCopter U.S. was established as a joint venture solely to satisfy the 'made in USA' requirements for the Marine One contract. Correct?' He made quotation marks with his bony fingers when saying 'made in USA.'

'In other words, you couldn't even compete for the contract-WorldCopter couldn't-without the U.S. subsidiary supposedly doing the manufacturing, right?'

'No, Senator. That's not right.' Jean Claude's English was quite good, but the more he spoke, and the hotter it got, the heavier his accent got. 'WorldCopter already had a U.S. subsidiary that has handled all American sales of WorldCopter. We have been selling and assembling helicopters in the United States for almost twenty years.'

'My mistake, Mr. Martin,' Blankenship said with an intentional American pronunciation instead of the French. 'I was unclear. I was concentrating on the joint venture part of this little arrangement. WorldCopter had a U.S. subsidiary, but it joined with the Hammer and Blalock Corporation, the major U.S. military contractor, which then agreed to produce one-fifth of the parts for Marine One. Isn't that right?'

'Partially, Senator. We did enter into a joint venture with Hammer Blalock to provide one-fifth of the parts for the helicopter, that's true.'

Senator Blankenship was unimpressed. 'Well, the point of my question, sir, is that it was that joint venture that allowed you to participate in the bidding process to manufacture Marine One, correct?'

'Well, sir, there was a requirement that at least twenty percent of the parts of the helicopter be actually manufactured inside the United States borders and that did allow us to meet that criteria.'

'Then as I understand your answer, it is yes?'

'It is what I said.'

'Well, prior, sir, to WorldCopter bidding on the Marine One contract, WorldCopter didn't make any parts in the United States, did it?'

'No, sir.'

'WorldCopter never utilized a single American worker to make any single part on a single WorldCopter helicopter before you decided to bid on Marine One on the government contract, isn't that right?'

'I'm not sure I would say it that way. We employ three hundred and forty American citizens in our subsidiary in the United States-'

'Now you do, but thirty days before this bid was submitted to get the Marine One contract, you had twenty-seven employees in the United States. Correct?'

'I believe that is correct.'

'And thirteen of them were French, correct?'

'I don't know the numbers exactly, Senator, but that sounds pretty close.'

'Well, only one person who was born in this country was even an officer of WorldCopter U.S. Right?'

'I'm not sure, Senator.'

'Not sure? Well, I sure am. Here's the list.' Blankenship held it up dramatically for the television cameras. 'Would you like me to read it to you?'

'I don't think that will be necessary.'

Blankenship sat back and stared at the president of WorldCopter. The tension built in the room. 'Sir, this whole joint venture is a charade on the American people. It was created to get the government contract. You certainly didn't need to have Hammer and Blalock build parts that were already being built in France, did you?'

'We were enthusiastic to participate with them in the manufacturing of Marine One and to have them help us manufacture Marine One in the United States. Just like Boeing transferred some of the manufacturing to China when it got the contract to build aircraft for Chinese airlines, or General Dynamics allowed Norway to help build the F-16 when it was placing those aircraft with NATO. It's very common, and I think it's very healthy for both countries involved.'

Blankenship looked at Martin as if he were stupid. 'Are you comparing the state of the United States aviation industry to that of the Chinese or the Norwegians? The United States already has a healthy helicopter industry, don't we? We don't need a European helicopter manufacturer here to 'show us how' or to 'get us going.' Particularly one that's faking the manufacturing just to satisfy the criteria in a contract bid!' Blankenship smelled an opening. 'Sir, at the time that General Dynamics sold F-16s to Norway, Norway certainly didn't have any native fighter industry, did it? And when Boeing agreed to allow China to help build Boeing aircraft, China didn't have much of a native commercial aircraft industry, did it? It's a completely different situation.'

Morton interjected, 'Senator, I don't think we're here to debate policy or whether it's wise for various countries to share technology with other countries.'

Senator Blankenship leaned forward and looked at Morton. 'Who invited you to this hearing, sir? I'm here to ask questions of the president of WorldCopter, not some high-priced Washington lawyer who's trying to keep the truth from coming out.'

Morton was stunned. 'Senator, witnesses have a right to counsel at these hearings as you well know.' He paused. 'I'm not trying to keep the truth from coming out at all, Senator. I'm trying to keep this witness from becoming a political tool.'

Blankenship turned beet red. 'A tool? You think this is about politics? Sir, this is about killing the president of the United States. This is about a foreign company winning a contract they didn't deserve to win, and then failing to comply with a contract resulting in the death of the president. This is about fraud. You think that's politics?'

Morton was appropriately quiet. Blankenship was aching for a fight.

Blankenship returned his angry gaze to Martin. 'Now I want to talk about fraud.' He turned the page dramatically in his notebook. 'You're aware there have been allegations of fraud in the contracting process for Marine One.'

Martin wanted to throw it right back at him, but restrained himself. 'I have heard people make reckless accusations.'

Blankenship didn't even look up. 'What was the bid and accepted price for the entire Marine One contract, sir?'

Martin said, 'Six point one billion dollars.'

'And by the time the first helicopter was delivered, the price for the contract was what, sir?'

'Twelve point five billion.'

'And that was in spite of the fact that the navy asked for zero changes. Right?'

'No, sir, the navy tasked us with nineteen hundred additional requirements that weren't in the original contract.'

Blankenship held up a document. 'I have a sworn statement from the lead navy contracting officer, sir. Let me read to you what she says: 'This idea that the navy gave them nineteen hundred additional requirements is simply not true. It's a myth, and it's becoming a legend.' ' Blankenship paused. 'Is she lying?'

Martin snapped back, 'They asked us for a helicopter, then because of the post-9/11 requirements said it had to be able to jam incoming missiles, be hardened to some nuclear blasts, and have the same videoconferencing and encrypted communications capabilities as Air Force One. That made it very expensive to essentially redesign the entire helicopter, and those requirements were not in the original contract.'

Blankenship smiled ironically. 'Funny you should mention Air Force One. Each of those 747s cost less than one of these helicopters. Did you know that?'

'That's not the case, Senator.'

'Yes, it is! These helicopters cost the U.S. taxpayers four hundred million dollars apiece! That's more than the 747!'

'Yes, well, the 747s were built many years ago-'

'No, sir! That's in today's dollars! I adjusted the price for inflation.' Blankenship paused. 'It is hard to believe that a helicopter can cost more than a 747, isn't it? You didn't believe it. You can see why we believe there's fraud. When you pay for an Indy car and get a VW, you look into it. At least this committee is certainly going to.'

At that point, I knew one of us was going to have to take a spear for WorldCopter. 'Senator, excuse me, I'm Mike Nolan-'

'Who, sir, asked you to speak?'

'Well, Senator, no one asked me to speak, but as an attorney I'm rarely asked to speak.'

The audience chuckled. Blankenship didn't see the humor. 'Please remain quiet, Mr. Nolan. Mr. Martin is represented here by competent counsel. Perhaps you can't see him. He's sitting on the other side of Mr. Martin.'

Nice. 'Actually he's being represented here by both of us, I just haven't spoken before this. I'd be happy to be quiet, Senator, but I need to say one thing first. You say this isn't about politics, yet you ask questions that imply dishonesty, fraud, lack of contractual compliance, and malice on the part of WorldCopter. The cost increases you just alluded to were based on changes requested by the government. And the cost increases were approved. This has been in the papers for years. There is nothing new here. And as to the implication that WorldCopter caused this accident, that is remarkable, particularly in light of the fact that no one has any idea what caused this accident. The NTSB hasn't issued its preliminary findings, yet you are ready to lynch WorldCopter when they may have done absolutely nothing wrong. You will find out, Senator, that the reason the clearances, for example, were not obtained in a timely fashion was because the FBI failed to do the investigation they promised to do. I-'

Blankenship took his large wooden gavel and was about to slam it down to try to shut me up when one of his aides approached him from behind and handed him a piece of paper. He stopped to read it, then looked at me over his reading glasses. The look on his face told me I didn't want to hear what he was about to say. He said nothing until the room was completely silent. He looked away from me toward Jean Claude. 'Sir, I've just been handed what is entitled 'Preliminary Assessment' from the NTSB. I am told this is remarkably quick for that investigative body, but they say it isn't a full 'Preliminary Report.' ' He paused, looked at the paper again. 'It says some things initially, then goes on to say, 'It is our initial assessment that there was no foul play in the crash of Marine One. We are concentrating on the possibility that there was a design or manufacturing defect that caused the crash.' '

I was still standing. I put up my hands up at my sides, palms out in surrender, and sat down.

Blankenship said to Jean Claude, 'Sir, let's back way up and talk about how this helicopter was designed and built. Because I have the same concerns as the NTSB.'