Adjunct Professor Lawrence Brennan was quoted in a San Diego Union-Tribune article about the guilty plea of a Navy official who swindled a Malaysian businessman.
Simpkins had enormous power over how Navy contracts were administered, said Lawrence Brennan, a retired Navy captain who served in the Judge Advocate General Corps and now an adjunct professor at Fordham Law School.
“The contracting officer has incredible power,” he said. “In that position he has the power of the pen, he’s the chancellor of the exchequer. He’s the guy who actually has the ability to make decisions on the finances.”
