If I may, Mr. Chairman, Mr. Baker has made two references to his assertion that he was not aware there was an accounting issue. I have to go on the record to indicate that I disagree with that.
As he indicated, Mr. Baker's CFO came to see me, after he discussed this issue with my staff, to discuss the accounting ramifications and what he thought at that time was the need to seek supplementary estimates.
I indicated to Mr. Brunet that for me the issue was quite straightforward. Here we had a situation where work had been performed before the end of the fiscal year. The contractor had been asked by government officials to carry out that work. The contractor was going to be paid. In all my experience—in my short experience as Comptroller General, but in all my experience in the AG's office—the accounting for this was quite straightforward. In other government organizations, this would be recorded as a liability and charged to the appropriation.
So it was very clear to me, and I communicated that to Mr. Brunet. I believe it was clear to everybody else involved in the discussions that the proper accounting was self-evident.