Halliburton may pay $500 million bribe to keep Cheney out of court

Nigeria filed charges against Cheney this week in an investigation of alleged bribery estimated at $180 million.

The charges allege that engineering contractor KBR, until 2007 a subsidiary of Halliburton, was among companies that paid bribes to secure a $6 billion contract for a natural gas plant. KBR pleaded guilty to the same bribes in a US court in 2009, and agreed to pay a $382 million fine. The Nigerian charges appear to stem from the US case -- though, in that trial, Cheney was never directly charged.

The $500 million figure looks suspiciously like a shake-down by the Nigerian government. But, if the story is accurate, the fact that Halliburton is negotiating with the Nigerians to keep Cheney out of court is all the evidence needed to hang the guilty plea around his thick neck.