James Mattil

James Mattil (born February, 1947) is an American inventor, entrepreneur, environmentalist author, photographer, US State Department official and whistleblower.

Early Life and Education:

Mattil was raised in Irondequoit, NY and graduated from West Irondequoit H.S. in 1965, where he played on the varsity baseball and golf teams and pioneered recreational ice hockey. He attended American University in Washington DC and the University of California Los Angeles, (UCLA), majoring in international relations.

Career:

Mattil co-founded Norsaire Corporation (1980) and Climatran Corporation (1987) to develop and advance low energy, environmentally safe air conditioning systems for industrial buildings and transit buses. He testified to the US Congress regarding the Montreal Protocol and safe alternatives to CFCs to protect the stratospheric ozone layer. Mattil edited the book “Tactics for Energy Conservation in Commercial Buildings,” under contract to the President Carter’s Emergency Buildings Temperature Restrictions (EBTR) program. In 1997, he moved to Belfast, Northern Ireland to promote adiabatic air conditioning (AAC) technology in the EU.

In 2005, Mattil served as program manager with the Lincoln Group to establish Business Development Centers in post-invasion Iraq before being reassigned to US military Information Operations at Camp Victory, Iraq. In 2006, he was appointed to serve as Chief of Staff with the US State Department’s Office of Accountability & Transparency (OAT) at US Embassy Baghdad. This assignment provided training, monitoring, mentoring to the Iraqi Attorneys General at each Government of Iraq (GOI) ministry and to Iraq’s Commission on Public Integrity (CPI).

Whistleblowing

Frustrated by the continuing lack of support for joint anti-corruption activities, Mattil disclosed information to the US Congress and media. The disclosures included a scathing report on the status of anti-corruption investigations at each Iraqi ministry, including the pervasive influence of anti-coalition militias. He also revealed secret orders from the Prime Minister’s office (PMO), undermining the independence of Iraqi CPI and the creation of death squads to assassinate targeted officials, including CPI Commissioner, Judge Radhi Hamza Al-Radhi and others. Mattil alleged that this information was known to embassy senior officials and had been reported to Congress, or to the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR). He assisted defection of Al-Radhi to the US and arranged for him to testify to the US House of Representatives Committee on Oversight & Government Affairs.

Both Mattil and Judge Radhi testified to the committee, which led to a series of public hearings. The State Department refused to permit staff members to testify, issued “redlines” limiting staff testimony and reportedly, retroaactively classified Embassy reports, provoking the House of Representatives to overwhelmingly pass a resolution Oversight Committee condemning such efforts to suppress information from scrutiny.

Within hours of Mattil’s interview with the Oversight Committee, he was notified that he would be terminated for attending the congressional interview. Subsequently, Mattil appealed the agency’s retaliation under the Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA), resulting in a 13-year legal case. The case was settled in 2020, when the Department of Justice declined to defend the State Department’s actions.

Meanwhile, the infamous OAT report helped lead to further investigation and scrutiny that resulted in a 2017 class action lawsuit, alleging that US funds had been diverted from their intended purposes and used to support anti-American terrorist groups in Iraq in contravention of the US Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA). The plaintiffs, represented by Kellogg-Hansen, include members of the US military and their families. The defendants include major pharmaceutical companies, referred to as Big Pharma (Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, GE Healthcare, AstraZeneca, and Roche).

Books:

Betrayal - Published in 2023, the book is a detailed memoir of he events leading to Mattil blowing the whistle on Embassy Baghdad. The book relates Mattil’s experience in Iraq, working for a war profiteering contractor, before being hired by the US State Department at Embassy Baghdad. The author discovers a covert campaign by the PMO to remove the commissioner of Iraq’s anti-corruption agency. The embassy refuses to intervene and withhold vital intelligence from SIGIR and Congress, prompting Mattil to take action to protect the lives of Iraqi CPI officials and drag the story into the daylight.

Private Dispatches - Published in 2022, subtitled Letters from A Forgotten Soldier in World War-II, the book describes Jimmy Smith’s life from orphanage, to riding the train rails during the Great Depression and to his enlistment in the US Army, who finds himself living at Schofield Barracks in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Decmber 7,1941. The book is a unique collection of over 50 poignant letters from Pvt. Smith to his mother and sister.

References

Mother of all heists — Iraqi corruption

60-Minutes

Court, Andy, producer Sharman, Keith, producer

https://ir.stonybrook.edu/xmlui/handle/11401/8345

Video…

https://repo.library.stonybrook.edu//xmlui/handle/11401/8345

Iraq: State of Corruption

Corruption in Iraq is so entrenched that militia groups known to target US troops control some of Iraq's ministries and have used those government funds and resources to kill Americans. Steve Kroft reports. Andy Court and Keith Sharman are the producers.

60-Minutes (14 April 2008)

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/iraq-state-of-corruption-14-04-2008/

https://m.imdb.com/title/tt2268382/?language=es-mx

Judge Radhi Hamza al-Radhi Testifies (4 Oct. 2007)

C-SPAN.org

https://www.c-span.org/video/?201345-1/iraqi-corruption

Judge Radhi Hamza al-Radhi Testifies (11 March 2008)

C-SPAN.org

https://www.c-span.org/video/?204369-1/waste-fraud-abuse-funds-iraq

Draft 6-Month Report of Iraqi Enforcement of Anti-Corruption Laws

Federation of American Scientists

https://irp.fas.org/eprint/anticorruption.pdf

Secret Report: corruption is the norm within Iraqi government

The Nation Magazine

https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/secret-report-corruption-norm-within-iraqi-government/

Judge Radhi testifies on Iraqi corruption - GOPers attack

https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/judge-radhi-testifies-iraqi-corruption-gopers-attack-update/

The Nation Magazine

State Dep't Classifies Report on Iraqi Corruption (FAS)

https://fas.org/blogs/secrecy/2007/09/state_dept_classifies_report_o/

Federation of American Scientists

House Resolution 734 Condemns State Dep’t Retroactive Classification (Stonewalling)

https://www.c-span.org/video/?201216-3/government-corruption-iraq

C-SPAN

Oct. 4, 2007 Oversight Hearing

https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-110hhrg43601/html/CHRG-110hhrg43601.htm

The Boy Scout of Baghdad (2009)

Mother Jones Magazine

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2009/04/boy-scout-Baghdad/

Secretary of State Rice testifies…

Rice scheduled to answer questions about Iraqi corruption (Oct. 23)

Politico

https://www.politico.com/blogs/politico-now/2007/10/rice-scheduled-to-answer-questions-about-iraqi-corruption-003799

Rice Defends Actions on Iraq Corruption (Oct. 25)

Voice of America News

https://www.voanews.com/a/a-13-2007-10-25-voa66/403966.html

State Department Making No Effort to Battle Iraq Corruption (Rep. Elijah Cummings)

The Hill

https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/politics/23465-state-department-making-no-effort-to-battle-iraq-corruption-rep-elijah-cummings/

Secret Report: corruption is the norm within Iraqi government

The Nation Magazine

https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/secret-report-corruption-norm-within-iraqi-government/

Judge Radhi testifies on Iraqi corruption - GOPers attack

The Nation Magazine

https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/judge-radhi-testifies-iraqi-corruption-gopers-attack-update/

Congressional Testimony

US Senate

https://www.dpc.senate.gov/hearings/hearing43/mattil.pdf