mr. schmitz was associated with his firm. and in which i had confidence because of mr.freeh's contribution already to this government and, also, mr. schmitz's contribution to the government in a role that i was playing at that time. that was my line of thinking. it had nothing to do, senator, with any other potential influence in reference to the attorney general. i wanted to correct the issues that my, that had been pointed out to me by the peer reval, and that was my only objective. >> it's my understanding that mr. moore's team, this contract was worth $100,000, correct? to mr. schmitz? he got 100 grand? >> no, senator. the contract was worth 95,000. >> excuse me. the contract was worth $95,000. and how many days did mr. scmitz work on this? >> approximately two months. >> so 60 days, and he got 95,000. >> that is correct. >> about $45,000 a month. >> senator, we followed the rules in engaging in this contract. we utilized the contract center of excellence in washington that many other entities use, and the $95,000 was the fair market value for the specific work that

mr. schmitz ever go to afghanistan? >> not under the contract involving sigar to my knowledge. >> so the pay for him, that you claim is market value, the $45,000 a month, did not involve any high risk on mr. schmitz's part, other than calling louis freeh's office? >> potentially, correct as far as i don't know, senator. >> all right. >> let me ask say, beg your senator's pardon, mr. schmitz is a registered government contractor as far as his registered to contract with the government of united states as far as i understand. >> i understand, general, but i think the point i'm trying to make here is your job is to oversee contracting. your job is to set the gold standard on contracting. so you do a soul forth contract, no bid, you immediately hire someone, clearly there wasn't even a vet done that brought to your attention that there are questions you need to ask him about his previous service as an inspector general. that's the point i'm making, general fields. that's the point i'm making. as -- had you ever done or work

mr. schmitz? did you talk to mr.nd his team committed group of independent peer review auditors will put that your process and quality controls and criminal investigation, did you discuss mr. schmitz with them? about hiring mr. schmidt? >> no, i did not. somebody made dents on my behalf, but i did not personally. >> what my staff spoke with your staff in september they had expected mr. schmidt would be entering into a subcontract with louis freeh, the former director of the fbi who also worked with mr. schmidt on the independent monitor team for donnelly -- donna chrysler. sigar officials say they believe he would be intimately involved in the outreach to attorney general holder. was that your understanding? >> that is not necessarily my understanding and i cannot account for what folks may have communicated to your staff or to anyone else. my intent, senator come was to bring aboard an independent entity to provide the oversight of the plan of action that we were putting in place to move this effort quickly allowed