One of my Super Powers is restraint and my ability to refrain from using profanity in the presence of Federal Judges. If you doubt me, I present you some of my testimony from CANVS V SOCOM. During this exchange I point out that bribery was going on in the SOCOM office I was dealing with (this is not opinion, folks were indited, if you didn't "pay for testing" they would not purchase your product). Not one word from the Judge, no one besides me seems to give a crap.
See if you can read this passage without your blood boiling, then imagine I have been dealing with this particular brand of insanity from this band of criminals since 2005!
Seriously, I would like to hear what you guys think of this, enjoy!
CROSS EXAMINATION BY MR. CHIANG (Air Force Lawyer representing SOCOM):
Q Mr. Walkenstein, are you testifying that subsequent to the delivery or the ending of the SBIR II contract, you embarked on an attempt to commercialize
your product, correct?
A I need a -- in order to answer that, I need your definition of what commercializing means, sir.
Q You were trying to sell more products, did you not?
A I need a further refinement of that because, to me, commercialization has the word commercial in it. We are talking about a commodity that is not a
commercial item. I needed SOCOM approval, I needed State Department approval. I couldn't just go start to sell this to the public.So, if by commercialization you mean trying to get the U.S. Government to buy them for the people that I built them for, I have absolute -- I'm in
absolute agreement. If you're talking about commercialization to
sell it in the commercial realm, no, sir.
Q So, is it your testimony that after the xelivery of the SBIR II goggles, they were not quite there yet?
A I did not say that, no, sir.
Q Okay. So, were they or were they not completed from your perspective?
A Nothing is ever completed. They were completed to the state of readiness that they were at at that time. So, you can always come out with another
generation or a slight increase. If you're asking me do I think that it was
something that was usable that you could sell, absolutely, yes. It was in evidence by the additional purchases by the U.S. Government, six goggles,
$180,000.00, so I think, yes, is the answer.
Q So, are you testifying that after you delivered the SBIR II goggles, they were not quite ready, is that what you were saying?
A I didn't say that at all, sir. What I said was, clearly, they were absolutely ready otherwise the Government probably wouldn't have bought the six more
pair from me during the Phase II, they didn't even wait until the Phase II was over.
Q So, you just testified that you went to the Congress, tried to get funding for 141 goggles for the Navy so they can use it and you can conduct additional
testing, correct?
A That is correct.
Q So, you were willing to provide to the Navy incomplete equipment, correct?
A No, sir. Don't mischaracterize what I've said or the record. That's absolutely contrary to what I just said.
Q After you finished delivery of the SBIR II equipment, you not only went to Coronado, California to interest Mr. **** **** to purchase 141 goggles, you
actually continue your diligent effort to see if there is other Government agencies willing to purchase, correct?
A Throughout the creation of CANVS, I continuously interacted with Government on all levels in the House, in the Senate and the individual agencies to try and sell my product. Yes, sir.
Q Do you have any documentation of either the Congress or the other prospective Government services that I am selling you a device that's not quite complete, but I need money to test it?
A The testing is a requirement of the Government. They were well aware of what was going on and they asked me to pay for testing. And, for the record, a client of SOCOM was arrested for bribery and the charges state quite clearly that if you don't pay them for testing, they won't buy your equipment. So, the testing requirement was not mine, it was SOCOM's and that behavior of having the vendor pay for the testing is quite odd and people were actually convicted for what we're describing here, sir. You're asking me if I thought that I had a product that I was going to sell to people that were
going to bet their life on it that I knew wasn't finished and that's not going to be tolerated by me here at this time, sir. No, is the answer to your question.
Q So, are you testifying that when you were marketing the SBIR II products to other Government agencies, you still needed more testing to do?
A I did not say that, no. The third time I am answering the question, I did not say there was additional testing necessary to purchase the product from CANVS. I never said that, no, sir. Do you know why I have not produced test data to give to the Government on the goggles? Do you understand why I didn't do that? Because I didn't want to in any way interact with the people doing the testing other than giving them what they needed to do the
testing. Night Vision Labs is a test facility. To get the testing measurement equipment that Night Vision Labs has would require and inordinate investment of time and money for a small business. They were given the devices to test. So were numerous other Government agencies. Crane is the Navy equivalent of Night Vision and Electronics Sensors Directorate for the Navy. And the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab. And all of these different
organizations that have comprehensive test and measurement capabilities.
I thought it would be pretty ridiculous for a three man company to do testing that certainly wasn't going to meet the requirement anyway. The Government
has certain requirements for testing. Provided with the final product, would you not then test them to qualify them for purchase? And my understanding from Ms. Heet's testimony is that we fall outside of that realm. You guys are talking about, you guys meaning the Government, is claiming that for Big Army purchases of one for every soldier, you need to go through all these machinations that are here in the procurement process, not for the
SBIR, as is evident that they bought six additional pairs prior to the end of Phase II. So, I don't understand what your question is. I don't understand it.
Q Let's change topics a little bit. Let's go
to A96.
