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Pulver Emails to/from DOE Office of Science

[April 2007 – August 2008]

 

----- Original Message -----

From: Streit, Devon <Devon.Streit@science.doe.gov>

To: pulverps@verizon.net

Sent: Wednesday, August 27, 2008 10:29 AM

Subject: Confidential Update to 5-Year Case: Litigation & Patent Fraud; Q-Clearance Violations; Health/Safety Implications for Lab Staff; Competing PNNL & Hanford Contracts [Bid-Protest]

 

Dear Mr. Pulver:

This email is in response your email dated August 24, 2008 sent to Under Secretary Orbach which provided, as you stated, an update on Battelle evidence to corroborate the allegations in your OIG complaints. We acknowledge your concerns; however, because the issues you raised are currently being addressed in your ongoing lawsuit against Battelle, action by this office is not warranted outside the context of that litigation.

Sincerely,

 

Devon Streit

_____________________________________

 

L. Devon Streit
Associate Director
Office of Laboratory Policy & Evaluation
Department of Energy Office of Science
1000 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, DC  20585
Phone:  202-586-9129    Fax:  202-586-3119

 

 

----- Original Message -----

From: Philip Pulver

To: Orbach, Raymond

Cc: Glenn Podonsky ; David Dillman ; Friedman, Greg ; Secretary Bodman ; James Rispoli ; fraudnet@gao.gov

Sent: Sunday, August 24, 2008 8:57

Subject:  Confidential Update to 5-Year Case: Litigation & Patent Fraud; Q-Clearance Violations; Health/Safety Implications

                     for Lab Staff; Competing PNNL & Hanford Contracts [Bid-Protest]

 

Attachments: CongressionalRecord-Laul-BattelleFraud-RepDavidSkaggs.pdf ; Dorow-Q-Clearance-ProjectsImpacted.pdf

 

This email & Web site is not currently available to or intended for dissemination to the public.

This information on fraud and abuse is being provided to those with the authority to act in the public interest.

This email & Web site is for sole use of the intended recipient(s).  Any unauthorized use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited.

 

CCOL Inc.

2415 South Garfield

Kennewick, WA  99337

  

August 24, 2008

 

Dr. Raymond L. Orbach
Under Secretary for Science

Office of Science

U.S. Department of Energy
S-4 / Forrestal Building
1000 Independence Ave., S.W.
Washington, DC  20585

 

Dear Under Secretary Orbach:

  

This email with its accompanying Web site is a five-year update/culmination of the preponderance of evidence that has confirmed the following

Battelle-PNNL fraud/abuse:  2003 Allegations [OIG - Misusing Technical Assistance Program (TAP)], Q-clearance holder fraud misrepresentation [falsification] of Radiation Portal Monitoring Project [RPMP], misappropriation [due to Use Permit], and violation of U.S. Code [False Declarations

(18 USC §1623), Perjury (18 USC §1621), False Statements (18 USC §1001) and False Claims (31 USC §3729)]. 

 

The evidence-testimony site [www.ccol-inc.com/1] consists of case background/chronology, the 2008 PNNL depositions, Battelle’s own documents [2006-2008], DOE letters [ORO & PNSO], relevant GAO reports, links to US Code statutes, descriptions & invention reports of TAP-funded 2002

MDM software, RDADS patent application, Battelle commercialization & Use Permit re: MDM, my prior emails & evidence to DOE, court filings by DOE-funded counsel Miller, WA Supreme Court and news articles condemning Miller’s prior firm [Bogle] for same litigation fraud, and other related information. 

 

This detailed email [with links to the evidence site] is organized in the following parts:

 

1.  Battelle Scientist Dorow Misrepresenting/Falsifying DHS Radiation Portal 

     Monitoring Project [RPMP] to Conceal Fraud [Violation of False Claims Act

     by Withholding DOE-Funded Research from Small Business TAP Recipients]

     [In 2006, Dorow obtained DOE Q-Clearance for DHS & DOD classified work.]

 

2.  DOE-Funded Counsel Litigation Fraud by Misrepresenting RPMP to Conceal

     Evidence. WA Supreme Court Sanctioned/Fined Prior Firm for Same Tactics,

     Hiding Smoking-Gun Evidence of Drug Toxicity that Brain Damaged 3-Year Old.

     Implications for Health/Safety Related Lawsuits at Office of Science Labs & Hanford.

 

3.  Patent Filing Fraud to USPTO.  PNNL Testimony Confirms Battelle Evades Statutory

     Deadlines by Rewriting Old Invention Reports & Renaming as “New” [Reset Clock].

 

4.  Potential Implications: Battelle Competing PNNL & Hanford Contracts [Bid Protests]

 

5.  Closing Points:  Consequences to Others if Battelle Ongoing Litigation Fraud Continues,

     Whistleblowers & Others Impacted, OIG Abdicating Oversight per its Policy, GAO Copied

 

The 2008 depositions of PNNL staff [http://www.ccol-inc.com/1/Depositions.htm] are the most significant new information. They confirm allegations in the lawsuit and the 2003 OIG complaint [I04RS007], but with one exception, Kevin Dorow.  PNNL depositions, Battelle documents, Dorow Lab Record Book, MDM software source code, his testimony, patent documents, and other evidence implicate Q-Clearance holder Dorow in the violations cited above and in Part 1; this evidence is posted on the site .  Because of these violations and given Dorow’s current access to classified information [via his Q], DOE’s Chief Health, Safety and Security Officer, Glenn Podonsky, has been copied on this email.  As cited in Part 1, the list of agencies potentially impacted by Dorow is attached and is not on the site.

 

This email and site [with Battelle documents & testimony] will serve as notice to other agencies [DHS, USPTO, FBI, DOD], GAO, US Attorney, media, watchdog groups, and others that you were well informed of Battelle’s 5-year misconduct that includes the following:  RPMP research misrepresentation & perjury by Q-clearance holder, False Claims Act violation, DOE-funded counsel fraud [discovery abuse], violating 48 CFR 970.5228-1 [Litigation], threats/retaliation/injury against my spouse at PNNL, and other misconduct used to conceal criminal violations and to protect Battelle’s corporate opportunities, e.g., Use Permit [root cause of fraud in this case and JC Laul’s].  If this ongoing litigation fraud is not finally stopped, many will ask why the DOE Undersecretary for Science [with a $4B budget] chose to continue financing it, especially in light of Battelle’s documents and testimony confirming the allegations. 

 

A court hearing will be held on September 23, 2008 in Richland, WA.  If DOE-funded counsel Miller and Q-clearance holder Dorow continue to falsify/misrepresent DHS Radiation Portal Monitoring Project [RPMP] and other material facts, then DOE Office of Science complicity in this ongoing litigation fraud will be confirmed.  [Note: Hearing was delayed & held on 11/18/08] Setting such a precedent & de-facto DOE policy would have long-term adverse consequences to Office of Science lab staff regarding health, security, safety, whistleblower, research integrity, and other important matters.  As shown in Part 2, Hanford workers [union & non-union] would also be impacted if Battelle is awarded the contract on 9/30/08.  Accordingly, Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management James Rispoli is copied on this email.

 

The GAO has been copied for two very critical reasons.  One, the OIG [under Mr. Friedman] closed the case in 2007 despite requesting and acknowledging extensive discovery evidence showing Battelle’s “intent to mislead” DOE and a Federal judge. [OIG told me to come back after my appeal.]  Two, the five-year evidence of Battelle misconduct pertains to the following topics in recent GAO reports:  DOE contractor litigation cost reimbursement; re-competing national labs; oversight; Radiation Portal Monitoring Project [Ports & Borders]; and DOE small business goals.  This case goes far beyond the general concern of paying litigation costs because DOE is funding fraudulent litigation tactics previously condemned by the WA Supreme Court and a federal court.  See http://www.ccol-inc.com/1/GAO-RelatedReports.htm.  

 

David Dillman, Chief Operating Officer of the Downtown Seattle Association, is copied for the following reasons:  1) He is a first-hand witness to Battelle's misconduct dating back to mid-2002 when Battelle commercialization staff began their abuse, Use Permit interference with TAP, and misappropriation; 2) Working with DOE-HQ, he obtained the original 3161 funding for PNNL Technical Assistance Program [TAP].  Battelle acknowledged his expertise in economic development and small business: http://www.pnl.gov/news/1996/bnw96_28.htm 

 

Although nearly every document cited is already public information, my assimilation and discussion of it is not.  Dr. Orbach, in the interest of other parties that may be impacted by the facts and evidence presented herein, please have your staff treat this information with elevated discretion.  At this time (before 9/23/08), I have no intention to make this site widely available to the public.  Because the site is a sub-directory, Google searches won’t find it.  The site can also be password-protected, and will be if Web referrer logs show unauthorized access by Battelle as happened last year after my 5/11/07 email below. 

 

If any recipient of this email has questions, needs more information, wants the CD version of the site, or finds a broken link, please let me know.

The detailed information now follows.

 

1.   Battelle Scientist Dorow Misrepresenting/Falsifying DHS Radiation Portal 

   Monitoring Project [RPMP] to Conceal Fraud [Violation of False Claims Act

   by Withholding DOE-Funded Research from Small Business TAP Recipients]

   [In 2006, Dorow obtained DOE Q-Clearance for DHS & DOD classified work.]

      [Evidence & Testimony at http://www.ccol-inc.com/1/Q-ClearanceDorow-RPMP-Falsification.htm]

 

1a. Summary

 

Under oath, software developer Dorow is falsely stating that (i) RPMP abandoned/junked the 2002-03 MDM software funded by the Technical Assistance Program [TAP] and (ii) RPMP instead, in 2004, funded development of all “new” mobile data software for radiation portal installers at US Ports & Borders, software completely unrelated to small business TAP-recipient Pulver and his exclusive license to MDM and follow-on [derivative] versions. [Dorow developed MDM].  He’s making these sworn declarations & testimony to claim the 2004 versions are irrelevant, thus block discovery of post-2003 MDM code and conceal that Battelle withheld TAP-funded research [software] when it delivered a non-working MDM version to Pulver on 8/29/03.  [Documents & testimony show Battelle was marketing their MDM version to Fortune 500 Ecolabs (1831 Use Permit opportunity) and nominating “their” MDM version for R&D 100 Award in 2003. In 2008, Battelle’s own software expert confirmed that the 8/29/03 MDM crashed.]

 

However, 2008 depositions of 3 PNNL staff, Battelle documents [2004 software screens, PNNL-RPMP emails, MDM Developer [Dorow Lab Record Book], and PNSO-provided timecard records refute Dorow and confirm RPMP indeed funded him to modify/adapt TAP-funded MDM to run on BlackBerry with enhanced searching & dialing.  This evidence confirms Dorow is misrepresenting RPMP-funded research and concealing “smoking-gun” evidence, i.e., post-2003 MDM versions that Battelle renamed RDADS.  He’s doing so for these reasons:  

1.     RDADS would provide further confirmation that Battelle withheld [“pocketed’] MDM code from the small businesses for whom DOE-TAP paid Battelle to develop MDM, and thus violated the False Claims Act [31 USC §3729]. [Cited in Congressional Record, Battelle previously made False Claims: http://www.ccol-inc.com/1/FCA-Violation-UsePermit-Dorow.htm  

2.     Verifying that RPMP-funded 2004 versions are follow-on to MDM would shut down any Battelle commercialization [licensing/ventures] of the newer versions due to Pulver’s exclusive license to MDM & derivatives as Battelle staff confirmed to DOE and others. [http://www.ccol-inc.com/1/Exclusivity-MDM.htm & http://www.ccol-inc.com/1/Commercialization-MDM.htm]

3.     Confirming RPMP funded enhancements to 2003 MDM would refute Q-clearance Dorow’s representations and implicate him in making False Declarations [18 USC §1623], Perjury [18 USC §1621] and False Statements [18 USC §1001] to DOE [SC & OIG] when claiming Pulver received the actual Best-Efforts TAP MDM version.

4.    The post-2003 RPMP versions would confirm that the “new code” [now called RDADS] invention is actually the MDM inventions, thereby implicating Dorow in fraudulently filing the RDADS patent to the USPTO. [See Part 3 below.]

 

6/30/08:  Pulver filed a declaration with complete evidence [e.g., source code, funding & timecards, TAP-completion reports, USPTO documents] confirming that Dorow violated the False Claims Act [31 USC §3729] by withholding code from the TAP recipients when he delivered MDM software to Pulver on 8/29/03.  See http://www.ccol-inc.com/1/FCA-Violation-UsePermit-Dorow.htm.

 

7/28/08:  In his reply, Q-clearance holder Dorow provided absolutely no evidence [nothing] to refute this serious allegation that he made False Claims against the US Government.  In fact, he even further implicated himself by stating the 8/29/03 MDM version was unfinished & pre-Beta [untested] quality, which is contradicted by  documents showing Battelle marketed “their” MDM to Fortune 500’s, nominated it for R&D 100 Award, and stated MDM was Beta quality [tested].  He again verified two versions: 1) An unfinished non-working MDM delivered to me [TAP recipient] and 2) The working Beta-quality MDM that they kept for themselves and Use Permit opportunities.

 

1b. Dorow Q-Clearance

 

1b-1.  As cited above, Battelle documents and PNNL testimony consistently confirm is violating the following U.S. Codes:  False Declarations [18 USC §1623]; Perjury [18 USC §1621]; False Statements [18 USC §1001]; False Claims [31 USC §3729].  I reiterate that Dorow, in response to my 6/30/08 sworn declarations, did not cite any evidence to refute my allegations that he violated the False Claims Act; he merely denied it, saying he’s offended.  Moreover, PNNL 2008 testimony and documents alone clearly show that Dorow, under oath, continues to misrepresent the Radiation Portal Monitoring Project to the court to block discovery of evidence that would implicate him in the violations cited above.

 

1b-2. At the same time, Battelle documents show that Dorow obtained his top secret Q-clearance from DOE in 2006.

Furthermore, they cite the following Gov. agencies or labs that involve classified work: 

   -  DHS Air Cargo Explosives Detection Pilot Program [ACEDPP] – ORNL, LLNL & PNNL

      [In his deposition, Dorow stated ACEDPP was using RDADS]

   -  Matchmaker software FBI work at Quantico

   -  RFID Development for PMJ-AIT [DOD]    

Attached is Dorow-Q-Clearance-ProjectsImpacted.pdf which cites excerpts of his 2006 & 2007 reviews also attached; these two documents are not on the site. [2009 Update: See http://www.ccol-inc.com/PvB/Dorow-Q-Clearance-ProjectsCited.pdf ]

 

1b-3.  Due to the extensive evidence of Dorow’s multi-year US Code violations, in conjunction with his current access to classified facilities and projects cited above [e.g., ACEDPP], the following Code of Federal Regulations is applicable: 

10 CFR 710 - CRITERIA AND PROCEDURES FOR DETERMINING ELIGIBILITY FOR ACCESS TO CLASSIFIED MATTER OR SPECIAL NUCLEAR MATERIAL.  The most relevant subparts are as follows:

§710.7 Application of the criteria. (a) The decision as to access authorization is a comprehensive, common-sense judgment, made after consideration of all relevant information, favorable and unfavorable, as to whether the granting or continuation of access authorization will not endanger the common defense and security and is clearly consistent with the national interest. Any doubt as to an individual's access authorization eligibility shall be resolved in favor of the national security. Absent any derogatory information, a favorable determination usually will be made as to access authorization eligibility.

§710.8 Criteria. Derogatory information shall include, but is not limited to, information that the individual has:...(l) Engaged in any unusual conduct or is subject to any circumstances which tend to show that the individual is not honest, reliable, or trustworthy; or which furnishes reason to believe that the individual may be subject to pressure, coercion, exploitation, or duress which may cause the individual to act contrary to the best interests of the national security. Such conduct or circumstances include, but are not limited to, criminal behavior...

§710.9 Action on derogatory information. (a) If the reports of investigation of an individual or other reliable information tend to establish the validity and significance of one or more items in the criteria, or of other reliable information or facts which are of security concern, although outside the scope of the stated categories, such information shall be regarded as derogatory and create a question as to the individual's access authorization eligibility.

§710.10 Suspension of access authorization. (a) If information is received that raises a question concerning an individual's continued access authorization eligibility, the Local Director of Security shall authorize action(s), to be taken on an expedited basis, to resolve the question pursuant to §710.9(b).  If the question as to the individual's continued access authorization eligibility is not resolved in favor of the individual...the individual's access authorization be suspended pending the final determination

 

1b-4. Dorow’s ongoing misconduct raises the following valid questions that others may have regarding how Battelle manages and safeguards access to classified information by its Q-clearance holders:  

 

·        In addition to misrepresenting DHS research [RPMP & ACEDPP] under oath, could Dorow be pressured by Battelle [or others] to misuse classified information for financial, career or other reasons?

 

·      Do any of the Battelle managers or internal attorneys [e.g. James Jackson] who pressured Dorow to make false representations under oath have Q-clearances themselves?

 

·      Is such Q-clearance fraud/abuse acceptable practice at all Battelle-managed labs [INL, NREL, BNL, ORNL and possibly LLNL], especially when its venture or Use Permit interests are at stake?

 

·      Was Dorow’s obtaining a Q Clearance Battelle’s reward/incentive for making false declarations and testimony in order to protect Use Permit and other commercial/venture interests?  Is a major criterion for getting a Q-clearance at PNNL the scientist’s ability to bring in profitable Use Permit business for Battelle Corporate?

 

·      Will DOE administer polygraph tests to Dorow, given the preponderance of evidence and testimony that, at the very least, creates a question as to his access authorization eligibility cited in 10 CFR 710?

       OR

·      Will Battelle do another “self-investigation” [run by managers with Use Permit compensation packages] which will result in false statements and cover-up that occurred in my case and Laul’s? [http://www.ccol-inc.com/1/FalseClaimsViolation--Laul-v-Battelle.htm]

 

·      Because Battelle is allowing or coaching Dorow to lie under oath to protect corporate interests, are there other “exemptions” from Q-clearance policy such as misusing/leaking/trading classified information that could give Battelle competitive advantages in securing commercial/ventures opportunities [domestic or foreign]?    

 

1b-5. In the interest of national security, DHS, DOD-Army, FBI and others that have provided classified information to Q-clearance holder Dorow should be notified; they are potentially at risk given his misconduct that’s substantiated by Battelle documents and testimony.  They should at least be shown the extensive evidence that he (i) repeatedly lied under oath regarding DHS-RPMP and (ii) he misused the Technical Assistance Program and violated the False Claims Act due to Use Permit opportunities.  Note, 10 CFR 710.10(c) addresses notification to such other agencies in this very situation.  At this time, I will defer disposition of this matter to Mr. Podonsky who is copied on this email. 

 

2.  DOE-Funded Counsel Litigation Fraud by Misrepresenting RPMP to Conceal

  Evidence.  WA Supreme Court Sanctioned/Fined Prior Firm for Same Tactics,

  Hiding Smoking-Gun Evidence of Drug Toxicity that Brain Damaged 3-Year Old.

  Implications for Health/Safety Related Lawsuits at Office of Science Labs & Hanford.

      [Evidence & Testimony at http://www.ccol-inc.com/1/DOE-FundedCounsel-Misrep-RPMP.htm]

 

2a. Summary & Motive

 

DOE-funded counsel Miller is also materially misrepresenting that RPMP (i) abandoned/junked the 2003 TAP-funded MDM software and (i) developed new & different mobile software in 2004 [called RDADS] to which Pulver had no rights. Miller stated to the court that “Battelle has developed a new software product called RDADS (Rapid Data Acquisition and Dissemination System).  RDADS was created for and is being used in the Department of Homeland Security’s Radiation Portal Monitoring Project. It has absolutely nothing to do with Plaintiffs [MDM, Pulver] or their lawsuit.” [Exh. 2 link above.]  

 

However, Battelle & USPTO evidence unequivocally refute Miller.  As cited in Section 1a, 2008 Battelle testimony and documents [from Battelle, DOE & USPTO] clearly confirm that RPMP funded Dorow to adapt/port MDM to the BlackBerry with enhanced features, i.e., derivative [follow-on] MDM versions.  This evidence confirms that Miller is misrepresenting RPMP-funded research to conceal “smoking-gun” evidence, i.e., post-2003 MDM code [RDADS].  Like Q-clearance holder Dorow, he’s falsifying RPMP for the following key reasons: 

1.    RDADS would provide further confirmation that Battelle withheld [“pocketed’] MDM code from the small businesses for whom DOE-TAP paid Battelle to develop MDM, which violates the False Claims Act [31 USC §3729].

2.    Verifying that post-2003 versions are derivative to MDM would shut down Battelle’s commercialization/venture of any follow-on versions [e.g., RDADS] due to Pulver’s exclusive license to MDM & derivatives.

3.    The post-2003 code would thus confirm Miller materially misrepresented RPMP to conceal evidence, the same tactic [discovery abuse] for which his prior firm was condemned by state and federal courts; see Part 2b. 

4.    Examining the post-2003 “new code” [RDADS] would show it’s based on the 2002 MDM inventions, thereby implicating Battelle in fraudulently filing the RDADS patent to the USPTO. [See Part 3.]

 

2b. Miller’s Prior Firm Sanctioned/Fined by WA Supreme Court for Discovery Abuse

      Litigation Fraud Condemned for Withholding “Smoking-Gun” Drug Toxicity Evidence

      [Part 2c shows relevancy & potential impact to Office of Science lab staff.]

 

Delbert Miller was managing senior partner in the litigation group at now-defunct Bogle & Gates law firm which engaged in the same litigation abuses to conceal evidence that he’s now using in Pulver’s case by blatantly misrepresenting RPMP [DHS Customs & Border Protection] and other commercialization matters.  

In one of the most notorious litigation fraud cases, the WA Supreme Court unanimously sanctioned Bogle $325K for flagrant discovery abuse in the Fisons personal injury case because they withheld smoking-gun documents on a toxic drug [theophylline] that permanently brain damaged a 3-year old girl.  The following excerpts of articles on Bogle & Gates discovery abuses speak for themselves:  

 

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/archives/1994/9401300070.asp  

BOGLE & GATES AGREES TO PAY SANCTION FOR MISCONDUCT IN SUIT

“Bogle & Gates, one of Seattle's three largest law firms, and a New York drug company agreed

yesterday to pay $325,000 for withholding "smoking gun" documents in a lawsuit involving a

3-year-old girl left brain-damaged by an asthma medication.

The case, which produced a landmark decision by the Washington State Supreme Court, has

drawn national attention as breaking new ground in the field of lawyer ethics…Bogle acknowledged

that it advised its client, the New York drug maker Fisons Corp., to withhold documents that

indicated the pharmaceutical company was concerned with the toxicity of the medication.

The sanctions are the largest ever imposed in Washington for attorney misconduct and

among the highest ever imposed in the United States, legal experts said.”  

 

http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=900005514051 

THE MORAL COMPASS: Calculated Malfeasance.  The ongoing abuse of discovery requires stronger, surer sanctions.

“Less than 2 years after Fisons opinion, their litigators were in trouble again.  This time Bogle & Gates

represented Subaru of America on charges that the driver's seatbacks in Subaru's Justy could collapse

backwards when hit from the rear, potentially causing grave injury. In the view of federal Judge Robert Bryan,

Bogle obfuscated, stonewalled, and gave answers that were just plain wrong. In one request, plaintiffs had

asked for National Highway Traffic Safety Administration records that showed the collapse of driver's seats

from a rear-impact force of 30 miles per hour.  Bogle's response was that the request was "vague, confusing

and unintelligible…Specifically, 30 miles per hour is a velocity, not a force, and due to this confusion of

technical terms, no meaningful response can be given."

Judge Bryan called this "lawyer hokum," and forced Bogle to pay the other side's attorneys' fees.”

 

More national articles on Bogle’s litigation abuses are at http://www.ccol-inc.com/1/Articles-BogleGates.htm.

 

The WA Supreme Court Fisons decision is downloadable from Cornell Law School:

http://ww3.lawschool.cornell.edu/faculty-pages/wendel/Law%20Governing%20Lawyers_files/fisons.pdf

 

The extensive evidence [incl. 2008 PNNL testimony] confirms that Miller is using these same Bogle discovery abuse tactics by misrepresenting DHS-RPMP [US Customs & Borders Protection] to withhold smoking gun evidence that would implicate Battelle in violating the following statutes:  False Statements [18 USC §1001], Perjury [18 USC §1621], Subornation of Perjury [18 USC §1622], False Declarations [18 USC §1623], and False Claims [31 USC §3729].      

 

The attached ORO letter confirms that Office of Science is financing Battelle and Miller’s litigation fraud, tactics for which his prior firm was condemned by courts and legal community as among the most egregious discovery abuse in US history.  Financing his falsification of Federally-funded research [RPMP] is misappropriation of DOE funds and violates the “litigation in good faith” provision in 48 CFR 970.5228-1 [http://www.ccol-inc.com/1/48CFR970-5228-1.pdf].  Appropriations committees and GAO would be concerned that taxpayers are funding Miller’s false representations that are concealing fraud, security breaches [Q-clearance], and criminal violations by the tax-exempt charitable trust that manages half the national labs and possibly the Hanford site on 10/1/08. 

 

For years, Congress and watchdog groups have been concerned/outraged that DOE reimburses contractors’ defense litigation costs, e.g., http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d04148r.pdf.  In my case, Battelle and Miller’s conduct goes one giant step further by forcing taxpayers to fund research falsification [RPMP], security clearance breach, hiding commercialization ventures, and other litigation fraud to wrongfully conceal smoking-gun evidence that would implicate them in violating statutes cited above and misusing the small business Technical Assistance Program for Use Permit opportunities.  Fisons and Subaru financed their litigation fraud, not the taxpaying public.  If DOE Office of Science, after receiving all extensive Battelle testimony and documents confirming this fraud, continues to allow 501(c)3 Battelle to soak taxpayers for this ongoing litigation fraud, Congress, GAO, watchdog groups and others will have justifiable concerns.   

 

2c. Office of Science, by funding litigation fraud in Pulver case, will set the

     stage for Battelle to use Fisons-like tactics in safety/health-related lawsuits.

 

While my case dealt with commercial/business litigation, GAO reports [GAO-04-148R] that most lawsuits against DOE contractors pertain to “radiation and/or toxic exposure, personal injury, and wrongful discharge.” DOE’s authorizing “personal injury defense lawyer” Fisons tactics in my case to conceal critically relevant evidence is most relevant to staff at Office of Science labs that entail HAZMAT, radiation, machinery, high-temperature apparatus, and other potential work hazards. This sets a potentially dangerous precedent.  With my case, Battelle now knows these are allowable tactics toward anyone suing them at the five labs it manages and at Hanford if DOE awards them the contract on 9/30/08.  In summary, litigation fraud [condemned by WA Supreme & federal courts] used to conceal drug toxicity warnings [Fisons] and rear-impact crash injury data [Subaru] is apparently approved procedure at Office of Science labs and potentially soon at Hanford.   

 

Illustrating the possible impact of such tactics could be a scenario in which a staff member sues Battelle for personal injury due a malfunctioning apparatus involving radiation and/or HAZMAT.  During discovery, Battelle would object to releasing relevant data [e.g., maintenance records, usage logs, mfr. warnings, safety infractions, bulletins, defective part or material notices, recall notices, accident history, witness accounts]; they would object to such requests being “overly broad, unduly burdensome, harassing, and not reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence” in the same way Miller’s prior firm did to the parents of Jennifer Pollack [permanently brain damaged by Fisons drug] [Ref: http://www.ccol-inc.com/1/WA-SupremeCourt-Fisons.pdf - See Page 9]   Miller had nearly identical responses in my case, but went even further by misrepresenting RPMP as irrelevant and concealing it; for example, when I requested SBMS procedures [at PNNL’s suggestion], Miller claimed this request was harassment.  As my case shows, if “unhelpful” evidence was produced, Battelle will direct/coach/suborn scientists to make false/misleading declarations and perjured testimony to “neutralize” the evidence, and soak taxpayers in the process.  Such tactics would financially drain the injured worker and likely cause him/her to drop the lawsuit; Miller and Battelle know this.  The adverse implications for Office of Science lab staff and Hanford workers are self-evident.

 

An actual example suggesting that Battelle would invoke such tactics in health/safety-related lawsuits is their conduct in an ORNL whistleblower case.  7 years ago, ORNL health physicist Janet Westbrook voiced concerns of Battelle’s quintupling radiation dose exposure alarm levels [rem/hour] and having technicians [not engineers] conduct radiation safety reviews; both were implemented to increase profit.  Battelle responded by ignoring these health issues, downgrading her performance rating, and terminating her.  DOE Office of Hearings & Appeals ruled that Battelle had engaged in “manipulation of the system to reach a predetermined result” (termination) and “used the criterion “transferability of skills” in a distorted manner...an afterthought, one designed to downgrade Westbrook and target her for termination.”  See http://www.oha.doe.gov/cases/whistle/vba0059.htm for OHA Director Breznay’s decision repudiating Battelle’s retaliation tactics against Westbrook.  Currently, Battelle-ORNL has dose exposure alarm levels 2½ times the average of all other national labs. 

 

The Westbrook case, in conjunction with DOE funding RPMP and other falsification in my case, undoubtedly confirms that Battelle & DOE will violate 48 CFR 970.5228-1 and use Fisons-like litigation fraud to withhold smoking-gun evidence relevant to cause of injury, illness, cancer, wrongful death or other damage incurred someone [or their estate] suing Battelle at Office of Science labs. This effectively eliminates Battelle’s financial and legal risk of not only violating civil or criminal statutes but also ignoring/relaxing staff safety/security regulations, violating DEAR, and undermining recently enacted whistleblower laws; this could further incent Battelle to relax staff health/safety/security policies to reduce overhead costs. 

 

[One final footnote is a harbinger of things to come if Battelle keeps PNNL and wins Hanford contract.  One day after I filed an 8/31/07 declaration that Battelle misrepresented the RPMP to the court, its senior management [Chief Research Officer Doug Ray with Use Permit compensation] threw my wife Sharon Pulver out of her job.  For the next few months Battelle made her “tin cup” for funding, urging her to take a position requiring lifting heavy equipment which resulted in her being injured.  Within two weeks and realizing she would lose health insurance, Battelle terminated her when she had an open injury claim [L&I].   Are you aware that Doug Ray shelved a DOE-required investigation of the April 2005 phone threats against her at PNNL, shortly after I filed the lawsuit?  These incidents further how this case is very germane to health/safety/security/whistleblower issues at Battelle-managed facilities that may include Hanford.] 

 

2d. Questions Regarding DOE-Funded Litigation Fraud

    

·        Was Battelle instructed to retain an attorney with a history of litigation fraud, i.e., discovery abuse via misrepresentations to conceal smoking-gun evidence?  Was the determination made that Fisons tactics were “necessary” for Battelle to escape accountability/prosecution in my case? 

 

·      Was Battelle told to repeatedly suborn perjury, protract litigation at taxpayer expense, and have me “go away” thereby letting them get away with fraud/abuse against the Government and my small business?

 

·      Is the purpose of the ongoing DOE-funded perjury to have this case ultimately appealed, which would occur well after any re-bid or quiet renewal whereby Battelle retains PNNL without controversy or bid protest?  [In March 2007, acknowledging the perjury, OIG told me to come back after my appeal.]

 

·      Why would industry, individuals, and universities risk working with Battelle after Office of Science funded nationally repudiated Fisons tactics to cover up Battelle fraud, false claims and plagiarism in my lawsuit?  

 

·      Do you realize the impact of making Miller/Battelle/Fisons tactics standard practice at Office of Science labs, especially on whistleblowers and staff suing for health, injury and wrongful death?

 

·      Have you considered adverse effects on safety/security at DOE labs by funding product injury defense lawyers who falsify research to block discovery production of injury, radiation exposure, equipment maintenance logs, HAZMAT, or other necessary data needed by staff suing to recover damages due to Battelle’s negligent or tortuous conduct? 

 

3.  Patent Filing Fraud to USPTO.  PNNL Testimony Confirms Battelle Evades Statutory

     Deadlines by Rewriting Old Invention Reports & Renaming as “New” [Reset Clock]

        [Details & Evidence at http://www.ccol-inc.com/1/BattellePatentFraudAbuse.htm]

 

Battelle exhibits and 2008 deposition testimony by a senior commercialization manager confirm that Battelle violates patent filing rules of the US Patent & Trademark Office.  Testimony, Battelle exhibits and the RDADS patent application confirm the following:

 

1.     Battelle practice is to write “new” invention reports on prior [older] inventions when they want to patent them but have run out of time.  By “resetting the clock”, Battelle is circumventing/violating statutory bar rules of the USPTO and misrepresenting the originally-dated inventions. 

2.     In 2005, Battelle wrote a “new” invention report on the original TAP-funded 2002 MDM inventions, renamed it RDADS and reset [circumvented] the USPTO Statutory Bar from 10/1/03 [original] to 1/31/06, and filed a patent on the “new code” in Sept. 2005. [Note, the 2003 MDM code was refinement of the 2002 inventions; Battelle coined “PDAC” as alias to MDM in August 2002.]   

 

Nationwide, Battelle files far more patents than most other government, educational or industrial organizations. USPTO would likely want to know the extent of this fraudulent practice at Office of Science Labs and other facilities that Battelle manages or owns [e.g., Ft. Detrick]. 

 

Because of your critical role as DOE Coordinator for Technology Transfer and Commercialization, I provided you with Battelle documents, patent application, and surprisingly candid Battelle-PNNL testimony confirming the above abusive practices and citing RDADS “new code” from TAP-funded MDM [PDAC] as an example of such patent filing fraud. 

 

If I don’t soon hear from anyone on this email regarding this patent fraud that Battelle testimony confirms is systemic at PNNL, I will contact the Dept. of Commerce and USPTO directly.  The integrity of Battelle’s patent process is in question; they are violating USPTO rules. [http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/documents/appxr_10_23.htm]

 

4.  Potential[Likely] Implications:  Battelle Competing PNNL & Hanford Contracts [Bid Protests]

 

A DOE decision to continue financing Battelle’s litigation fraud and cover-up of their five-year misconduct would likely trigger a bid protest or Congressional/GAO investigation if Battelle wins PNNL or keeps it via renewal.  Many will ask why DOE knowingly funded Battelle’s cover-up of the following:  DEAR & CFR violations; abuse of technical assistance program; harassment/threats of whistleblower spouse; and, evidence of their violating 18 USC§1001 [False Statements], 18 USC §1623 [False Declarations], 18 USC §1621 [Perjury] and 31 USC §3729 [False Claims]. They will have greater concerns if Battelle keeps its unique & lucrative Use Permit which was motive for the fraud/abuse/perjury and criminal violations in my case and the well-documented Laul False Claims case. [http://www.ccol-inc.com/1/FalseClaimsViolation--Laul-v-Battelle.htm] 

 

Losing bidders, who spent millions to compete, may conclude that DOE solicited the PNNL bid under false pretenses that there was a level-playing field, when in realty it was a pre-determined result that Battelle would keep the lab for decades to come.  In sum, it would strongly suggest that DOE is rebuffing the intent of Congress: Objective competition of national labs.  See related GAO report at http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d03932t.pdf. 

 

For example, LA-based AECOM Government Solutions, GAO and others would be dismayed that DOE-Science awarded Battelle the PNNL contract after financing cover-up of fraud/abuse by using the following tactics:  falsifying DHS-RPMP research; false declarations & perjury by Q-clearance holder working on air cargo explosive, military, FBI and other classified projects; throwing my wife out of her job one day after my declaration that Battelle misrepresented RPMP; admitted patent fraud; and DOE-funded counsel litigation tactics previously condemned by WA Supreme and federal courts [Fisons & Subaru] as among the most egregious discovery tactics ever.

 

If there’s even the perception that DOE and its Inspector General are waiving enforcement of statutes [CFR, DEAR, US Code] and financing litigation fraud to protect Battelle’s corporate interests, then the objectivity of the PNNL re-compete will be questioned by competing bidders [and Representatives], Congressional oversight and appropriations, watchdog groups, science community, media [e.g., Nature] and the GAO.  DOE’s unprecedented canceling of the PNNL re-bid on the same day I deposed Battelle’s Associate Lab Director Mike Schwenk regarding Use Permit misconduct would feed that perception.

 

Finally, this case could impact public reaction to Battelle’s winning the Hanford contract.  As cited herein, Battelle’s conduct in my case pertains to the following issues: Security [Q-clearances]; Litigation Fraud [Fisons] in whistleblower and personal injury cases; and, Retaliation/threats toward whistleblower relatives.  If Battelle wins the Hanford contract, staff [union & non-union] could witness similar misconduct and then incur DOE-funded retaliation and cover-up if they report fraud/abuse against Battelle corporate.  Occurring both at Hanford, Laul’s case and mine already establish a pattern that this will happen.  Battelle’s documented [OHA(Breznay)] retaliation against health physicist Janet Westbrook [re: radiation dose exposure] is a third example of Battelle’s treatment toward those voicing concerns that impact corporate profit.  In its role of managing Hanford, Battelle may train other contractors to use Fisons tactics to ward off lawsuits from injured or sickened workers, many whom are exposed to toxic and high-level radiation on a daily basis. The implications are clear. 

 

5.  Closing Points, Consequences to Others if Battelle Ongoing Litigation Fraud Continues,

     Whistleblowers & Others Impacted, OIG Abdicating Oversight per its Policy, GAO Copied

 

Undersecretary Orbach, as stated above, this detailed email and Web site [http://www.ccol-inc.com/1/] is a five-year culmination of evidence confirming Battelle’s fraud/abuse, Q-clearance holder misuse and violation of U.S. Code [False Declarations [18 USC §1623], Perjury [18 USC §1621], False Statements [18 USC §1001], False Claims [31 USC §3729].  The evidence substantiating these violations is all from Battelle’s own documents, 2008 PNNL scientist depositions, court filings by DOE-funded counsel Delbert Miller, and DOE letters [ORO & PNSO].  All of this evidence substantiating the violations is on the site.

 

In context of current events, Martha Stewart, Scooter Libby [VP Chief of Staff] and US Senator Ted Stevens were each indicted for violating 18 USC §1001 on a minor fraction of evidence in this case showing Battelle’s  multiple U.S.C. violations. In contrast with Battelle, attached ORO letter confirms that DOE is funding their litigation despite the preponderance of evidence provided to DOE since 2003.  Is tax-exempt Battelle immune from prosecution because of a double-standard?  Bidders on the PNNL and Hanford contracts, and others potentially impacted, would like to know.   

 

To date, well over $200K [taxpayers] has been squandered to cover-up Battelle’s Use Permit motivated fraud/abuse.  My case shows a systemic corporate conflict of interest previously exhibited in the Laul False Claims case that cost taxpayers over $1M and for which John Layton [prior IG] recommended criminal sanctions against Battelle for “theft, conspiracy and false statement”.  The extensive evidence confirms that Battelle is a repeat offender of Use Permit fraud/abuse.  However, after requesting/receiving/acknowledging discovery evidence confirming the “intent to mislead on the part Battelle” [http://www.ccol-inc.com/1/DocsToOIG.htm], the OIG closed my case in 2007, said to come back after my appeal, stating that OIG has a hands-off litigation policy.  

 

Mr. Friedman’s policy to exclude litigation from OIG purview has thus given Battelle carte-blanche to engage in false declarations & perjury by scientists [inc. Q-clearance holders], research falsification; Fisons-like discovery abuse, obstruction of justice, retaliation against plaintiffs’ spouses, and other litigation fraud.  This policy ignores many millions DOE spends yearly on contractor litigation; see http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d04148r.pdf.  Laul’s case being featured on NBC’s Fleecing of America and placed in Congressional Record illustrates ongoing concern of Battelle et al. misusing DOE-funded litigation indemnification policy.  Note, Bill Madia cited this policy as a threat to whistleblowers after Battelle settled with Laul and the Justice Dept. for False Claims violations.  See http://www.ccol-inc.com/1/Laul/Tri-CityHerald--Madia-Laul--010497.pdf  &  http://www.ccol-inc.com/1/FalseClaimsViolation--Laul-v-Battelle.htm. The OIG, by addressing and curtailing such emboldened abuse could return significant funds to DOE.

 

Therefore, the GAO [Fraudnet@gao.gov] is being copied because the OIG has relinquished oversight of this DOE-funded litigation waste, abuse, and fraud [e.g., perjury by Q-clearance holder] that’s happening now, in real-time.  The meter is running for taxpayers.

 

Congressional appropriations & oversight committees will want to know if DOE [taxpayers] intends to continue financing Battelle’s litigation fraud [outside counsel & Q-clearance holder Dorow] that’s occurring at the expense of national security, whistleblower rights [§629 EPA-2005], integrity of research, and taxpayers.  The key consequences of Office of Science choosing to still fund this fraud will be as follows:

 

·      Emboldened by Dorow’s misconduct, Battelle may coach other Q-clearance holders to misuse/leak classified information to gain competitive advantage winning commercial contracts or closing venture deals [Use Permit] at home or abroad including China or India where it recently opened offices. 10 CFR 710 and related procedures will be selectively enforced.

 

·      Fisons-like litigation tactics, condemned by state & federal courts, will be policy at Office of Science labs and the whole Hanford site if Battelle wins the pending contract.  These tactics will be used against those suing for radiation, toxic exposure, personal injury, and/or wrongful discharge. Realizing they can invoke such DOE-funded tactics Battelle may relax health/safety procedures to increase profit. Hence, many thousands of lab employees will be at greater risk.

 

·      Battelle will have de-facto license, at taxpayer expense, to “coach” its lab scientists to engage in research misrepresentation, false statements & declarations, perjury, obstruction of justice, retaliation, hostile work environment, and other abuses to conceal misconduct and protect corporate/venture/UsePermit interests. 

 

·      Phone threats and other intimidation of whistleblower’s spouses is now acceptable at Office of Science labs [For example, Battelle’s Chief Research Officer Doug Ray blocked investigation of PNNL phone threats against my wife when my lawsuit was filed.] 

 

·      DOE directives for staff to report fraud/abuse/waste will have been issued under false pretenses.  Instead of protecting/assisting those coming forward, DOE will finance retaliation against them.  Especially at risk are staff reporting corporate-motivated fraud at any of 5 Battelle-run labs.  

 

·      Businesses & universities working with Office of Science labs will face greater risk of Battelle’s predatory commercialization/venture practices [misappropriation, misrepresentation] because DOE-funded Fisons litigation fraud will effectively shield Battelle from accountability.

 

·      Patent fraud will be allowable practice at Office of Science labs. Battelle can continue misrepresenting original inventions by rewriting & renaming them to “reset the clock” and bypass statutory bar USPTO rules.

 

·      Bid protests and GAO investigations will occur if Battelle wins/keeps PNNL or wins the pending Hanford contract on 9/30/08.  Losing bidders will perceive that Battelle’s keeping PNNL was a pre-determined result because DOE financed this cover-up that pertained to security, research integrity, treatment of staff and other relevant issues.

 

·       The critical provision [right to jury trial] in recent whistleblower laws having overwhelming bi-partisan support in Congress will be severely undermined. [e.g., §629 in 2005 Energy Policy Act]  Battelle would repeatedly suborn perjury [at taxpayer expense] to financially drain whistleblower plaintiffs and win by default.  Such blatant shredding of these protections by the manager of five national labs will concern/anger many.

 

Battelle’s fraud and abuse in this case has continued unabated for five years.  As in Laul, taxpayers are incurring escalating costs in my lawsuit.  Battelle’s litigation fraud by outside counsel and Q-clearance holder Dorow is occurring in real-time and violating the following US Code:  48 CFR 970.5228-1 [Litigation], 10 CFR 710 [Access to Classified Material], 18 USC§1623 [False Declarations], 18 USC §1621[Perjury], and [18 USC §1622] [Subornation of perjury].

 

On September 23, 2008 [in Richland, WA], court hearing will be held on this case.  If DOE-funded counsel and Q-clearance holder Dorow continue to falsify/misrepresent DHS RPMP and other material matters, then DOE-Science complicity in this real-time litigation fraud [e.g., Dorow perjury] will be confirmed.  [Note: Hearing was delayed & held on 11/18/08]  As discussed above, setting such a precedent would have long-term implications adversely impacting Office of Science lab staff regarding health, security, safety and other material matters.  Hanford workers [union & non-union] would also be affected if Battelle is awarded the contract on 9/30/08; this could be very problematic given very hazardous working conditions that have been basis for lawsuits involving health afflictions.  

 

As you’re aware, such a decision to continue the fraud and protect Battelle’s corporate [Use Permit] interests, would contradict prior DOE public statements.  In Oct. 2007, DOE acknowledged PNNL Use Permit conflict of interest: “In order to ensure that [PNNL] laboratory resources are dedicated to the public benefit and governmental purposes” the Permit won’t be in the new PNNL contract. [http://www.energy.gov/news/5663.htm]  And, in your public opposition to the Use Permit you stated “no other arrangement like this exists at any other DOE national laboratory because a use permit creates at least two significant problems. First, it permits a private entity to use government facilities to compete against the private sector.” 11/12/07 Tri City Herald Article [Orbach on Permit]  

 

Dr. Orbach, this case provides you with an unprecedented opportunity to effectively address Battelle’s decades-long conflict of interest due to special privileges that they’ve misused against JC Laul, me and others. 

 

If anyone needs more information or wants the CD version of the site, please let me know.  A Word version of this email is available.

 

Sincerely,

Philip Pulver
CCOL Inc.
2415 South Garfield
Kennewick, WA  99337
(509) 586-3051
(509) 528-9212 cell

 

Attachments

 

  

----- Original Message -----

From: Philip Pulver

To: Orbach, Raymond

Cc: Secretary Bodman ; Friedman, Greg ; Jeff Salmon

Sent: Friday, May 11, 2007 13:58

Subject:  CONFIDENTIAL - Update - Evidence Battelle-PNNL Violated the False Claims Act

 

 This confidential online communication is for Government Use Only.  Per DOE Order 221.11, this information

on fraud and abuse is being provided to those who have the authority to act in the public interest.

This information is not openly available and is not intended for dissemination to the public. 

 

CCOL Inc.

1177 Jadwin Avenue

Richland, WA  99352

 

 

May 11, 2007

 

Dr. Raymond L. Orbach
Under Secretary for Science

Office of Science

U.S. Department of Energy
S-4 / Forrestal Building
1000 Independence Ave., S.W.
Washington, DC  20585

  

Dear Under Secretary Orbach:

 

Per DOE Order 221.11, I am sending this supplemental update to my detailed April email below.  Further examination of the RDADS patent application and discovery documents reveals that Battelle actually withheld [“skimmed”] TAP-funded software development [functionality] when they delivered the Mobile Data Manager software to me on August 29, 2003.  This functionality pertained to “drill-down-thru-category-levels” that’s necessary and critical for handheld/mobile and online catalogs.  Exhibits also show Battelle was concurrently pursuing private [1831] commercial business with Ecolabs [$3.8 bil. rev.] to license MDM as a handheld catalog [sales automation] solution for use by its worldwide sales force.

 

In summary, Battelle “pocketed” DOE-funded functionality and deprived it from the Government’s intended technical assistance program [TAP] recipients.  As discussed below, these actions violated the False Claims Act and confirm the critical allegation [sabotage] in OIG complaint I04RS007 [“Alleged Irregularities in Administering the Technical Assistance Program”].  Office of Science directly funded this TAP development work on MDM.

 

Summary points, supporting evidence, and observations/concerns are presented below. 

All evidence substantiating these serious allegations is from Battelle’s own documents.

 

Summary Points

 

  Battelle [Dorow et al.] removed the TAP-funded category drilldown [and other] functionality from the MDM software and delivered a non-working MDM version to Pulver on 8-29-03.  Their explicit Aug. 1, 2003 TAP project report confirms that the catalog functionality was already developed for MDM.  However, the 8-29-03 MDM source code shows that this functionality was removed and missing from the software’s main control panel,

rendering the TAP-delivered code dysfunctional; the software was inoperable. 

See http://www.mobiledatamanager.com/OIG/1A-Graphics.htm#Drilldown and other evidence in the next section. 

[Note, Pulver provided Battelle with sample catalog data sets [for category drilldown] during the 2002-03 MDM TAP development; 

his online catalog clients were interested in handheld catalogs.] 

 

  Battelle kept the functionality in “their” MDM version to pursue Ecolabs [et al] and prevent Pulver from being a future competitor to their highly profitable 1831 corporate business.  The RDADS patent application clearly confirms they kept this critical TAP-funded and commercially valuable functionality for themselves.  2003-04 documents show Battelle promoted/represented MDM/PDAC as having handheld catalog functionality.  [Note:  In 2004 statements to OIG & SC, Vince Branton, Battelle-PNNL's Manager of Intellectual Property Legal Services affirmed Pulver’s exclusive rights to MDM [and derivatives] and warned Battelle staff NOT to market/demo MDM/PDAC to non-Government prospects; see http://www.mobiledatamanager.com/OIG/Intro-Timeline.htm#Branton.  Battelle management ignored this legal obligation, and instead hired a DOE-funded attorney who committed wanton discovery abuse and had scientists make false declarations to conceal Battelle’s illegal RDADS private/1831/commercial pursuits.]

 

  Battelle violated the False Claims Act [31 USC §3729].  They received Government [Office of Science] payment for research that they claimed was provided to the technical assistance recipients through Pulver.  Their withholding TAP-funded work and delivering non-working dysfunctional/skimmed software [while marketing “their” MDM working version] prove Battelle’s claims for payment were false. [See PNNL timecard, SC funding, 8-01-03 TAP report, laboratory record book and software screens in the next section.]  31 USC §3729 text is at http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/31/usc_sec_31_00003729----000-.html

 

  Their withholding/skimming DOE-funded work and sabotaging the TAP-delivered MDM proves that Battelle again misled [18 USC §1001] DOE when it told SC & OIG in 2004 that “best efforts” were delivered.  Battelle’s 2006 admission of pursuing private PDAC/MDM business and discovery evidence further prove they kept the “best efforts” version for their corporate opportunities.  In 2003, Spanner [TAP manager at PNNL] improperly funded Battelle staff to engage in MDM licensing discussions re: Ecolabs, a clear MDM license violation and 1831 conflict of interest with the DOE-funded TAP work.  

 

  After removing critical TAP-funded functionality, delivering a crippled/sabotaged non-working MDM version to Pulver, and keeping “their” MDM version [a.k.a. PDAC, RDADS], Battelle misled the district court in July 2006 by audaciously declaring that Pulver’s “little” MDM was so functionally inferior, thus unrelated to RDADS, and that discovery on RDADS should be denied.  Battelle then demanded and received sanctions [$17K] for his filing a motion to compel them to deliver the patent application and other RDADS documents.  The revealing patent application now further proves Battelle misappropriated/falsified DOE research, suborned perjury, and used/manipulated the court as means for “de facto extortion” [against Pulver] to conceal their false claims against the Federal Government and their commercial misappropriation of DOE-funded MDM technology.  See http://www.mobiledatamanager.com/OIG/Index-PatentSection.htm and http://www.mobiledatamanager.com/OIG/FalseStatementsToTheCourt.htm.

  

Supporting Documentation/Evidence

 

Funding directly from Office of Science:  http://www.mobiledatamanager.com/OIG/GES-00227(011904-OfficeOfScienceWP).pdf

DOE-HQ approval of TAP work:  http://www.mobiledatamanager.com/OIG/GES-00252(071702-DOE_HQ-ApprovesJES).pdf

 

RDADS patent application vis-à-vis MDM screens showing [catalog drilldown] functionality missing from 8-29-03 MDM: 

http://www.mobiledatamanager.com/OIG/1A-Graphics.htm#Drilldown 

 

 Scientist Dorow’s and other Battelle documents:

 

August 1, 2003 TAP report explicitly stating handheld catalog functionality [“category drilldown”] had already been developed for MDM:  http://www.mobiledatamanager.com/OIG/GES-00202(080103-TAPreports-MDM-DrilldownDone).pdf   Excerpt:  “drill-down capability for multiple levels based on categories defined in the extraction plan…The coding required to support a “drill-down” mechanism on both the administrative application server component and the handheld application was completed. This included modifications and additions to the web pages of the administrative application server component [control panel] to support defining the fields to be used as the “drill-down” categories”

 

2003 exhibits of Battelle [Dorow, Goodwin, et al] 1831 (corporate) business pursuits that show conflict of interest with TAP-funded MDM and motive to skim Office of Science funded research from the software delivered to the recipient of the technical assistance:  http://www.mobiledatamanager.com/OIG/Ecolabs-2003-HandheldCatalogOpportunity.htm

 

Dorow laboratory notebook showing catalog drilldown functionality in MDM prior to 8-29-03 delivery to Pulver:  http://www.mobiledatamanager.com/OIG/DorowLabRecordBook-Excerpts.htm

 

Source Code of TAP-delivered MDM on 8-29-03 showing removed of functionality: 

http://www.mobiledatamanager.com/OIG/SourceCode-MDM-082903.zip  [IdentifyFields.java --> catalog drilldown missing from control panel]

  

Observations and Concerns

 

The two main allegations in OIG Complaint I04RS007 complaint were 1) sabotage/crippling of the MDM software and 2) Battelle’s plagiarizing & competing against Pulver with the working/functional MDM/PDAC version.  This latest evidence of their withholding TAP-funded code from the 8-29-03 TAP-delivered MDM version confirms the first.  Battelle’s discovery evidence and their 10-26-06 admission to the court confirm the second main allegation.  

 

Battelle financially damaged the government.  By withholding the critical MDM catalog and other TAP functionality from the non-working 8-29-03 TAP version delivered to Pulver, Battelle prevented him and his team from selling MDM and generating royalties to DOE-PNNL.  Pulver and Battelle had signed a royalty-bearing license for the TAP-funded MDM .  Battelle suppressed this material fact from SC & OIG in 2004; Pulver was also informed that the local site office would thwart any future False Claims Act claim by testifying to a US attorney that Battelle didn’t financially damage the government because no royalties were at stake.

 

The preponderance of evidence [e.g., Ecolabs] shows Battelle’s motive for its fraud & abuse was their 1831 Use Permit [to 1830 M&O PNNL contract], which is a rare/unique privilege that lets Battelle use Government facilities to conduct private/corporate business.  My case shows that DOE’s conflict-of-interest directive on Non-Interference with DOE-funded work was willfully ignored by Battelle management, including an Associate Lab Director who was involved in the fraud/misappropriation as discovery documents show.

 

This latest update further shows the following compelling commonality between my case and JC Laul:

  -  Violation of the False Claims Act driven by 1831 corporate/commercial interests.

  -  False statements to cover-up and mislead DOE and OIG  [18 USC §1001]   

  -  Misrepresenting scientific data to mislead district court. [Laul--chemistry,  Pulver--software engineering]

  -  Blatant retaliation [In my case, this included uninvestigated phone threats against my wife at PNNL.]

  -  Exploiting taxpayer-funded litigation reimbursement to “churn the process” to escape accountability 

[For details, see my March 8, 2007 letter to House Oversight and Government Reform Committee below.  JC can be reached at LANL.]

 

This update regarding Battelle’s violation of the False Claims Act is very significant.  Evidence from 2003-2007 now proves Battelle withheld/skimmed DOE-funded research from the technical assistance recipients to whom they were statutorily and contractually obligated to provide.  As the OIG said in 2003, Congress didn’t appropriate funds for Battelle to use the technical assistance program as means to take advantage of small business and compete against them.  The Energy Policy Act [§1001 re: annual DOE reports] shows Congress remains very concerned about such abuses. 

 

As indicated by its documents, Battelle is nevertheless proceeding ahead with its deception [to DOE, OIG, district court, patent office, firms that signed RDADS NDAs] to escape accountability for documented violations against the US Government and small businesses. 

 

In this supplement to the April letter, I provided additional and material evidence for DOE to diligently address Battelle’s fraud, abuse and false statements in OIG cases that began in 2003.  It will serve notice to other government organizations that may choose to investigate allegations of False Claims Act violations and any other information provided herein.  More detail on this updated information is at the main site: http://www.mobiledatamanager.com/OIG/.

 

Sincerely,  

Philip Pulver
CCOL Inc.
1177 Jadwin Avenue
Richland, WA  99352
(509) 946-1110

(509) 946-2411

  

 

----- Original Message -----

From: Philip Pulver

To: Orbach, Raymond

Cc: Secretary Bodman ; Friedman, Greg ; Jeff Salmon

Sent: Wednesday, April 25, 2007 4:25 PM

Subject:  CONFIDENTIAL - Update and Delivery of Evidence of Fraud, Abuse & False Statements Per DOE Order 221.11

 

This confidential online communication is for Government Use Only.  Per DOE Order 221.11, this information

on fraud and abuse is being provided to those who have the authority to act in the public interest.

This information is not openly available and is not intended for dissemination to the public. 

 

CCOL Inc.

1177 Jadwin Avenue

Richland, WA  99352

 

  

April 25, 2007

 

Dr. Raymond L. Orbach
Under Secretary for Science

Office of Science

U.S. Department of Energy
S-4 / Forrestal Building
1000 Independence Ave., S.W.
Washington, DC  20585

  

Dear Under Secretary Orbach:

 

Per DOE Order 221.11, I am sending this email to provide DOE with an update on Battelle evidence including their admissions or acknowledgments that corroborate the allegations in my OIG complaints [2003 - 2007].  These allegations include Battelle's false statements to mislead DOE-SC and OIG, plagiarism, misrepresentation of funded research, discovery abuse and misrepresentations by DOE-funded Battelle outside counsel, misappropriation, and others cited in this email or at the evidence site referenced below.  Note, all the evidence substantiating the allegations is from Battelle’s own documents. 

 

This letter will also serve notice to any other government body (Congress, GAO, DOJ, etc.) that I have provided all necessary evidence to the Office of Science beforehand and have given DOE the opportunity to properly address Battelle’s continued fraud, abuse, and false statements to the government.  This email and all content at evidence site will be copied to CD and sent by certified mail to your office by May 1, 2007. 
 

This email consists of the following three parts:

    1.  Evidence and Other Documents Re: Allegations  

    2.  Emphasis on Certain Issues/Allegations   
    3Closing Summary Points

  

 

1.  Evidence and Other Documents Re: Allegations

 

Based on the evidence released in 2006, Battelle’s statements to the court, and the OIG’s request for Battelle discovery documents, an allegations-with-exhibits Web site was developed in late 2006; note, the site is configured to make it unreachable by search engines [e.g., Google].  The site material has been since updated with new evidence, including Battelle’s RDADS software patent application [released 3-22-07] that clearly confirms my OIG allegations [e.g., false statements, plagiarism, misappropriation].  This online material includes the actual Battelle documents corroborating the allegations; relevant excerpts are cited to expedite review.  The information can be found at the following locations:  

 

1A.  http://www.mobiledatamanager.com/OIG/ is a comprehensive site detailing the allegations with supporting evidence of Battelle-PNNL fraud, abuse, and false statements to SC & OIG.  The site was developed in response to the OIG November 2006 requests for discovery documents showing Battelle's intent to mislead.  It includes the following topics:  Background & timeline [2001- 2007]; Pulver detailed emails to DOE & OIG; Battelle false statements to DOE & OIG [18 USC §1001]; Concealing corporate/1831 pursuits; RDADS “new code” misappropriation; Misrepresenting DHS US Customs & Border Protection Radiation Portal Monitoring Project [RPMP] research to conceal fraud; False statements/declarations & material suppressions to district court.

 

1B.  http://www.mobiledatamanager.com/Patent/ presents new evidence discovered in FY07 that materially substantiates allegations in the site above.  It consists of the following sub-sections:  RDADS patent application [released 3-22-07] with graphics and detailed text showing plagiarism/misappropriation of MDM software; Named inventor on patent repeatedly stating RDADS is new name for PDAC/MDM; Battelle’s 10-26-06 admission of pursuing private business for PDAC/MDM thereby implicating itself in making false statements to SC & OIG in 2004; Timecards showing that Battelle misrepresented US Customs & Border Protection RPMP work.  The patent application and other new evidence consistently confirm that Battelle has been misleading DOE, OIG and the court.

 

1C.  http://www.mobiledatamanager.com/OIG/022607-Issues-Summary-OIG.doc summarizes the following issues in the OIG complaints including fraud, abuse, false statements, and damages to the government:

        I04RS007:  Alleged Irregularities in Administering the Technical Assistance Program

        I05RR039:  Sabotage & Misrepresentation of PalmFon

    P07HL035-1:  Submission of fraudulent copyright documents and invention reports to DOE.

    P07HL035-2:  False statements by outside counsel and two Battelle scientists. [All DOE-funded]

    P07HL035-3:  Deliberate sabotage and manipulation by Battelle of the DOE-funded MDM software.

    P07HL035-4:  Material misrepresentations to OIG and Science.

    P07HL035-5:  Misrepresentation of DOE technology pertaining to licensing DOE-funded technology.

    P07HL035-6:  Battelle’s false statements to mislead the court to impose financial sanctions on Pulver

    P07HL035-7:  DOE-Science funding Battelle’s litigation costs to defend willful misconduct

 

1D.  http://www.mobiledatamanager.com/OIG/030807-LetterToCommitteeOnOversight.htm is an initial letter to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform sent on March 8th.  It discussed how my OIG cases and abuses by Battelle outside counsel, if left unaddressed by DOE, undermine the intent of Congress to protect whistleblowers via the Whistleblower Enhancement Act of 2007 and the 2005 Energy Policy Act [§629: “… seeking relief under this paragraph, such person may bring an action at law or equity for de novo review in the appropriate district court of the United States”].  Cited are GAO reports and Chairman Waxman’s 2003 letter to the Energy Secretary indicating concern over how DOE practices [that subsidize contractors engaging in willful misconduct or illegal activity] will encourage wrongdoing contractors to needlessly protract lawsuits at significant taxpayer and whistleblower expense.  The relevant JC Laul fraud case is cited because (1) It was a prior instance of Battelle-PNNL making false statements that the OIG confirmed, (2) Battelle issued a blunt public warning to future whistleblowers, and (3) An in-depth article on Battelle-PNNL's conduct toward DOE, taxpayers and Laul was placed in the Congressional Record by Rep. David Skaggs.   

Per the Committee’s February request, I made recommendations to help prevent Battelle et al. from misusing taxpayer funds in order to conceal fraud, abuse whistleblowers, and escape accountability.  I promised to keep the Committee posted.  Two material events have occurred since the March 8th letter:  1. The Patent and Trademark Office released the RDADS patent application which further confirms the allegations.  2.  The OIG, after requesting and receiving discovery evidence of Battelle’s "intent to mislead”, summarily closed the case.  However, prior to sending an update to the Committee chairman, I am sending this letter with the extensive evidence [Battelle documents] to you and Secretary Bodman; although Mr. Friedman closed the case, I'm copying him as a courtesy.   

  

2.  Emphasis on Certain Issues/Allegations 

 

Within extensive information provided at the links above, there are some issues that warrant emphasis due to their impact on DOE, oversight, taxpayers, others doing business with Battelle-managed labs, the court, and future whistleblower protection. The issues are as follows: 

 

2A.  Battelle repeatedly misled Science and OIG to conceal their fraud and abuse; extensive exhibits are at http://www.mobiledatamanager.com/OIG/FalseStatementstoScience&OIG.htm   For example, emails from two PNNL staff prove that Battelle made false statements to DOE when they denied any wrongful competing/misappropriating.  Mark Goodwin [later promoted to a director], who plagiarized and interfered with the technical assistance MDM software project in 2002, was goaled on 1831 [private] business volume; he willfully violated the MDM license agreement, marketed the MDM software under Battelle’s PDAC alias and misled a major corporation[s].  Kevin Dorow [MDM developer/inventor], two weeks after delivering non-working software in 2003, stated he would demo the working MDM version to my prospects only if Battelle thought it would lead to the more profitable 1831 business.

  

2B.  Battelle’s outside counsel engaged in discovery abuse [misrepresentation] and PNNL scientists made false/inaccurate sworn declarations to the court in order to conceal Battelle’s misappropriation/plagiarism [e.g., RDADS “new code” scheme].  They stated that RDADS had “absolutely nothing to do with” Pulver [and MDM software] and they blatantly misrepresented research funded by DHS US Customs & Border Protection RPMP; see exhibits at http://www.mobiledatamanager.com/Patent/7-BattelleMisledTheCourt.htm.   Using the scientists’ declarations, Battelle successfully misled the court.

Battelle then demanded sanctions against me and received them [$17,043] on 10/13/06.  In early November, they threatened to seek contempt sanctions for more money; all the while, they were deceiving the court as the RDADS patent application now so clearly proves.

As I wrote to Mr. Friedman, Battelle later cashed my check and thus consummated their intent to mislead the court and committed de-facto extortion as the following links indicate:

      http://www.mobiledatamanager.com/OIG/MisleadingCourt-DefactoExtortion.htm

      http://www.mobiledatamanager.com/OIG/113006-CCOLtoMiller--Letter&Check.pdf 

      http://www.mobiledatamanager.com/OIG/111006-ContemptThreat.pdf 

 

Details on outside counsel’s discovery abuse are at http://www.mobiledatamanager.com/OIG/DiscoveryAbuse.doc; as noted, his prior law firm [employer] was sanctioned a record $325,000 for wanton discovery abuse. 
Note, after ignoring my extensive evidence in 2004, the PNSO [site office] authorized Battelle to retain outside counsel in June 2005 to fight my lawsuit: http://www.mobiledatamanager.com/OIG/RM-00002.pdf 


2C. 
The OIG closed the case on March 22, 2007, the same day that the revealing RDADS patent was released.  In November, the OIG specifically requested and received discovery evidence [Battelle documents] that indicated the “intent to mislead on the part of Battelle”.

The OIG’s 11-24-06 email to me and documents I sent back to them [11-27-06] are follows: http://www.mobiledatamanager.com/OIG/DocsToOIG.htm 

After specifically requesting, receiving and acknowledging the extensive discovery[lawsuit] evidence that corroborated Battelle's intent to mislead and the other allegations, the OIG closed the case and apparently chose not to hold Battelle accountable for its fraud, abuse, and false statements to DOE.  My detailed response/concern to their decision is at http://www.mobiledatamanager.com/OIG/041007-Email-ReOIG-ClosingCase.htm. [Excerpt: “In sum, although the Battelle evidence and admissions have validated my allegations, the OIG is nonetheless allowing Battelle’s misconduct [e.g. discovery abuse & false declarations] to continue at DOE expense [allowable cost].  Unfortunately, my 3½-year case shows that reporting fraud allegations [per DOE Order 221.1] against a major DOE contractor to the OIG is effectively pointless and fraught with significant risk to those coming forward.]

  

3.  Closing Summary Points   

  

3A.  The 2007 evidence [RDADS patent application & PNNL timecard records] show that Battelle materially misled the court to conceal their misappropriation of the MDM software that was developed/funded under the technical assistance program [TAP] in 2002 and enhanced in 2003 under TAP.  The patent application’s visual evidence [http://www.mobiledatamanager.com/Patent/1A-Graphics.htm] alone reveals their plagiarism; it explains why Battelle “had” to mislead the court and conceal this smoking gun evidence.  The RDADS patent application further underscores their fraudulent tactics to deceive the court into imposing a $17K sanction for my pressing to obtain the application and other RDADS documents; it proves Battelle knowingly misled and used the court as a vehicle for extortion.  As I stated to the Committee, this abusive conduct of using/suborning national lab scientists and outside counsel to mislead courts [and extort plaintiffs] undermines the most critical protection of any whistleblower, i.e., having their day in court.  

  

3B.  Battelle and outside counsel, through false declarations and representations, successfully deceived the court.  Their actions have thus tainted the case; even the OIG acknowledges the case is tainted because they told me on 3-22-07 to come back to them after the appeal.  As stated in my 2-27-07 email to the OIG, “Until Undersecretary Orbach, the Secretary or the OIG intervenes, Battelle’s taxpayer-funded deception to DOE and the court will continue unabated…As mentioned previously, unless Battelle redresses its willful misrepresentations to the court, the case is tainted and could thus result in an appeal on grounds of discovery abuse by their DOE-funded attorney.  If Science doesn’t hold Battelle accountable for misconduct that’s now overwhelmingly proven by their own documents, Battelle will have a de-facto license to defraud/abuse DOE, the courts, the taxpayer, and those small businesses or universities working with any of the five national labs that Battelle manages.”  Note, Battelle's conduct in the Laul case forced an appeal to the Ninth Circuit which JC won [new trial].

  

3C.  The preponderance of evidence and admissions reveal that Battelle’s conduct has violated, pertains to, and/or undermines the following regulations, directives, laws or policies: 

 

Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2007 - http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=1172 & http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-985

 

Energy Policy Act of 2005 - http://www.energy.gov/about/EPAct.htm

    § 629 [Whistleblower Protection]  

    § 1001 [Improved Technology Transfer Of Energy Technologies.]

 

18 USC § 1001 - Fraud And False Statements - http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=browse_usc&docid=Cite:+18USC1001

 

DOE Order 221.11 [Reporting Fraud, Waste, and Abuse] - https://www.directives.doe.gov/pdfs/doe/doetext/neword/221/n22111.html

 

DOE Policy on Research Misconduct - http://www.epa.gov/EPA-IMPACT/2005/June/Day-28/i12645.htm

 

DOE 48 CFR Part 970.5227-2 [Commercialization & Copyright] - http://www.mobiledatamanager.com/OIG/CFR48-970----SW-Copyright-Commercialization.htm

 

GAO Report on DOE Reimbursement of Litigation Costs - http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d04148r.pdf

 

Battelle internal SBMS Policy on Plagiarism - http://www.mobiledatamanager.com/OIG/P20620.pdf

 

Battelle-PNNL 1831 Non-Interference Policy - http://www.mobiledatamanager.com/OIG/DOE-Battelle-NonInterference-1831.htm

 

Patent Rules on Misconduct §10.23 - http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/documents/appxr_10_23.htm

 

By way of this letter, I have provided substantial and sufficient evidence for the DOE Office of Science to diligently address Battelle’s fraud, abuse and false statements to the government in OIG cases that began nearly four years ago.  It will serve notice [of providing such] to other government organizations (Congress, GAO, DOJ...) that may choose to investigate the allegations, the preponderance of evidence, and/or Battelle’s statements/declarations/admissions to the court.
 
 

Sincerely,  

Philip Pulver
CCOL Inc.
1177 Jadwin Avenue
Richland, WA  99352
(509) 946-1110

(509) 946-2411 

 

 

 

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