According to this article in The Indianapolis Star:
Ethics waiver a question in $1.7M education contract
Cisco's Worldwide Partner Organization Senior Vice President, Bruce Klein, met with former Cisco Education Consultant and Strategic Business Development Manager, Todd Huston, on February 18, 2009:
"Huston schedules a meeting with Bennett and Cisco's top executive on government sales, Senior Vice President Bruce Klein."
The Indianapolis Star continued:
"Huston left Cisco in 2009 to work as Bennett's chief of staff and returned to the company in December 2010. In a Nov. 2010 email Huston sent the state ethics counsel, he said he wouldn't be working with the Department of Education in his job at Cisco and that he hadn't worked directly on Cisco matters while working for the state.
"But documents obtained by The Associated Press through public records requests show the two roles were often intertwined.
"A month after starting his state job in 2009, Huston set up a meeting between Bennett and Cisco's top government salesman, Bruce Klein. Other calendar entries show that from 2009 to 2010, he met regularly with Cisco salespeople for lunch and dinner."
The Star added:
"A former top Indiana education official's role in the sale of $1.7 million worth of videoconferencing equipment to the state by Cisco Systems Inc., where he worked before and after holding that state position... was a waste of taxpayer money."
Related documents:
View the actual State of Indiana - Cisco Purchase Order
Nov. 2010 Huston email
Related stories:
The Indianapolis Star: Ethics waiver a question in $1.7M education contract
Cisco letter admits culpability in ripping off State of West Virginia
Cisco will take back routers it sold to ripoff State of West Virginia
Auditor: Cisco sneakily used legally unauthorized purchasing process to outlandishly overprice 1,164 routers to take advantage of West Virginia
Cisco's salesforce is now compensated on profit contributions, not just bookings
Cisco internal email addresses $100 million overcharge on $22 million California State University RFP
Did Cisco's new sales culture ripoff the State of West Virginia?
Cisco discounts Nexus 7000 switch -76% to win Purdue University's Hansen Cluster bid
