President Obama has criticized Bush for awarding no-bid contracts and pledged that he would not allow “sweetheart deals” under his watch. Now we learn of Obama reneging on yet another promise with the first no-bid contract of his administration going to Checchi & Company Consulting, Inc., a Washington-based firm owned by Democratic donor Vincent V. Checch.

An article by James Rosen investigates this story:

…The legality of the arrangement as a “sole source,” or no-bid, contract was made possible by virtue of a waiver signed by the USAID administrator. “They cancelled the open bid on this when they came to power earlier this year,” a source familiar with the federal contracting process told Fox News.

“That’s kind of weird,” said another source, who has worked on “rule of law” issues in both Afghanistan and Iraq, about the no-bid contract to Checchi & Company. “There’s lots of companies and non-governmental organizations that do this sort of work.”

…Contacted by Fox News, Checchi confirmed that his company had indeed received the nearly $25 million contract but declined to say why it had been awarded on a no-bid basis, referring a reporter to USAID.

Asked if he or his firm had been aware that the contract was awarded without competitive bids, Checchi replied: “After it was awarded to us, sure. Before, we had no idea.”

He declined to answer further questions, however, and again referred Fox News to USAID, saying: “I don’t want to speak for the U.S. government.”

Joseph A. Fredericks, director of public information at USAID, told Fox News the Checchi deal was actually a renewal of an existing contract, awarded in 2004 by the Bush administration after a competitive bid process. “As the incumbent,” Fredericks wrote in an e-mail Monday, “Checchi was rewarded a renewed contract to allow for work on the ground to continue.”

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., the ranking Republican on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said Fox News’ reporting on the no-bid contract in this case “disturbed” him.

Issa has written to USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah requesting that the agency “produce all documents related to the Checchi contract” on or before Feb. 5. Citing the waiver that enabled USAID to award the contract on a no-bid basis, Issa noted that the exemption was intended to speed up the provision of services in a crisis environment.

Yet “on its face,” wrote Issa to Shah, “the consulting contract awarded to Checchi to support the Afghan justice system does not appear to be so urgent or attendant to an immediate need so as to justify such a waiver.”

Presented with Fredericks’s explanation — that the Checchi contract was extended, this time on a no-bid basis, in order to “allow for work on the ground to continue” — Issa was undeterred in his determination to investigate the matter.

“It’s hard to say that this organization (Checchi and Company) has done such a great job of bringing the justice system in Afghanistan up to snuff that they should somehow not have to go through a competitive bidding process,” Issa said.

Likewise, Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., who chairs the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on Contracting Oversight, told Fox News she, too, is seeking answers about the Checchi contract. “Sen. McCaskill is actively looking into this situation,” said Maria Speiser, a spokeswoman for the senator. “She has posed questions to USAID about the situation and is pursuing full answers. If she doesn’t get answers, she’ll be ready to take action.”

Corporate rivals of Checchi were reluctant to speak on the record about the no-bid contract awarded to his firm because they feared possible retribution by the Obama administration in the awarding of future contracts.

Although Halliburton was a favorite target of Democrats and the media, it was the only company that could credibly get the job done in the timeframe required, but this is not the case with Checchi & Company Consulting, Inc.

Will the mainstream media take notice?