Senior Democrat says Pentagon should consider scrapping $1B deal with Blackwater

Senator warns against $1B deal with Blackwater

WASHINGTON — A senior Senate Democrat says the Pentagon should consider scrapping a potential $1 billion deal with the company formerly known as Blackwater because of “serious questions” about the contractor’s conduct.

Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, also called Thursday for a Justice Department investigation into whether company officials duped the Army in a separate $25 million contract.

In letters to the departments of Defense and Justice, Levin said that “inadequacies in Blackwater’s performance” may have contributed to a shooting incident that killed two Afghan civilians and injured a third. Blackwater, headquartered in Myock, N.C., is now known as Xe (ZEE) Services.