Alan Grayson

From dKosopedia

Category: Florida Democrats

Alan Grayson is a Democratic lawyer from Florida. He has filed numerous cases alleging fraud by American contractors during the Iraq War. Grayson received his undergraduate, master's and law degrees from Harvard University. He made millions during a two-year stint as the president of IDT Corp., a start-up that has since grown into one of the nation's largest providers of discount telecommunications services.

Grayson has testified four times before Congress about contractor fraud in Iraq. He has appeared on 60 Minutes, the CBS Evening News, and CNN. Taxpayers Against Fraud has named Grayson Lawyer of the Year. The Florida Civil Rights Association has named him Humanitarian of the Year.

In April 2006, in the only case regarding contractor fraud in Iraq to go to trial, he won a verdict worth over $10 million. It was the second largest verdict in the 145-year history of the False Claims Act, in a case that the Justice Department declined to participate in. In February 2007, the verdict against Custer Battles LLC was suspended by the judge in the Eastern District of Virginia, on the grounds that the defrauded entity, the "Coalition Provisional Authority," was not part of the U.S. Government.[1] The Justice Department has said that the judge's decision was wrong, and joined Grayson in his appeal.

Grayson also founded the Alliance for Aging Research, and for over 20 years he has served as an officer of that organization.

In 2006, he ran for U.S. Congress for three months in the 8th District, but lost the primary by 3000 votes, see Florida U.S. House election, 2006.

Sources

• [2] - Providence Journal, February 22, 2007, by John Mulligan.