Fallin secured a $3 million earmark for a private contractor, Wave Technologies, which operated the Urban Warfare Analysis Center. The contractor was previously expected to provide 100 high-paying defense jobs in Shawnee but actually only employed 21 people. Ernest Istook, Fallin‟s predecessor, got the first funding for the project. A former Istook staff member in Oklahoma, Mike Maxwell, was working for Wave as director of legislative affairs. Tom Leydorf, a former CIA employee married to a former Istook staff member, was the research director at the center. And Kurt Conrad, who was Istook‟s legislative director, registered as a lobbyist for Wave last year, when the center opened. [Oklahoman, 4/14/08]
The center was expected to close without additional earmark funding. The president of the company, William Axelrod, said in 2008 that it received no funding from the Defense Department that year and might not stay open if it did not receive money from the military or another congressional earmark. [Oklahoman, 4/14/08]
Fallin: The center “had potential benefits” for “our national defense effort.” Alex Weintz, Fallin‟s press secretary, said Fallin and her office “were contacted by local officials as well as Kurt Conrad concerning a UWAC appropriations request. In the course of learning about the program, Rep. Fallin determined the center had potential benefits for both the Shawnee community and our national defense effort.” [Oklahoman, 4/14/08]
Fallin received $3,100 from Wave Technology employees. [Federal Election Commission]
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