Note: Comments by VP Cheney during the debate, Oct 5th, in Cleveland, Ohio

Mr. Cheney
"Well, the reason they keep mentioning Halliburton is because they’re trying to throw up a smoke screen. They know the charges are false. They know that if you go, for example, to factcheck.com, an independent Web site sponsored by the University of Pennsylvania, you can get the specific details with respect to Halliburton. It’s an effort that they’ve made repeatedly to try to confuse the voters and to raise questions, but there’s no substance to the charges
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Mr. Cheney needs to remember his URL's, as he wanted supporters of his side of the argument to visit factcheck.org, not factcheck.com...regardless...certainly Mr. Cheney was not referring to this accusation, rather it was most likely this one.

Several truths about Halliburton are crystal clear:
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The AP reported that a Pentagon audit found Halliburton "may have overcharged the Army" and that the auditors found "potential overcharges of up to $61 million for gasoline."

The difference between a potential overcharge and an actual overcharge is a big one, of course. It's the difference between a suspicion and a proven fact. The AP story and other news accounts were based on a preliminary audit by the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA), and Halliburton disputed the findings and insisted that the high prices it charged for gasoline were made necessary by wartime requirements imposed by the Pentagon
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Halliburton paid $2 million in 2002 to settle charges that it inflated costs on a maintenance contract at now-closed Fort Ord in California. Vice President Dick Cheney's former company did not admit wrongdoing.
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Halliburton took in $3.6 billion last year from contracts to serve U.S. troops and rebuild the oil industry in Iraq. Halliburton executives say the company is getting about $1 billion a month for Iraq work this year.
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Federal authorities also are investigating whether Halliburton broke the law by using a subsidiary to do business in Iran, whether the company overcharged for work done for the Pentagon in the Balkans and whether it was involved in an alleged $180 million bribery scheme in Nigeria. The company admitted in 2003 that it improperly paid $2.4 million to a Nigerian tax official.
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In 1995, Halliburton paid a $1.2 million fine to the US government and $2.61 million in civil penalties for violating a US trade embargo by shipping oilfield equipment to Libya. Federal officials said some of the well servicing equipment sent to Libya by Halliburton between late 1987 and early 1990 could have been used in the development of nuclear weapons. President Reagan imposed the embargo against Libya in 1986 because of alleged links to international terrorism.
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According to a February 2001 report in the Wall Street Journal:

US laws have banned most American commerce with Iran. Halliburton Products & Services Ltd. works behind an unmarked door on the ninth floor of a new north Tehran tower block. A brochure declares that the company was registered in 1975 in the Cayman Islands, is based in the Persian Gulf sheikdom of Dubai and is "non-American." But, like the sign over the receptionist's head, the brochure bears the Dallas company's name and red emblem, and offers services from Halliburton units around the world.

An executive order signed by former President Bill Clinton in March 1995 prohibits "new investments (in Iran) by US persons, including commitment of funds or other assets". It also bars US companies from performing services "that would benefit the Iranian oil industry". Violation of the order can result in fines of as much as $500,000 for companies and up to 10 years in jail for individuals.
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In fact, U.S. law does ban virtually all commerce with the rogue nations, but there's a loophole that G.E., Conoco-Phillips and Halliburton have exploited: The law does not apply to any foreign or offshore subsidiary so long as it is run by non-Americans.

“These three companies, as far as we were concerned, appear to have violated the spirit of the law,” says Thompson. “In the case of Halliburton, as an example, they have an offshore subsidiary in the Cayman Islands. That subsidiary is doing business with Iran.”

That subsidiary, Halliburton Products and Services, Ltd., is wholly owned by the U.S.-based Halliburton and is registered in a building in the capital of the Cayman Islands – a building owned by the local Calidonian Bank. Halliburton and other companies set up in this Caribbean Island, because of tax and secrecy laws that are corporate friendly.
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The Nigerian parliament issued an interim report on its investigation of allegations that Halliburton's KBR subsidiary, along with three other companies, bribed government officials during the period when U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney was CEO. The parliament's report was released Sept. 1st, 2004.
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-A GAO finding in 1997 that the company billed the Army for questionable expenses for work in the Balkans, including charges of $85.98 per sheet of plywood that cost $14.06.
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-A year 2000 follow-up report on the Balkans work that found inflated costs, including charges for cleaning some offices up to four times a day.
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The Securities and Exchange Commission began in December a formal investigation into Halliburton's accounting practices, focusing on an accounting change made in 1998 during Cheney's tenure as CEO.
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