A fraud investigation into a company linked to US Vice President Dick Cheney has given a new twist to the early stages of the race for White House.
A subsidiary of oil services company Halliburton is being investigated by the Pentagon on a number of allegations including overcharging for fuel supplied to the US military in Iraq.
Cheney ran Halliburton between 1995 and 2000 and Democrats have been highlighting the fact that the company and its offshoots have more than six million euros worth of contracts in Iraq.
The firm at the centre of the probe, Kellog, Brown and Root, is the military's single biggest contractor in the country. Halliburton says all its dealings are strictly in line with US law.
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Vice President Dick Cheney smiles during his speech during a fund raising stop in Wichita, Kan., Monday, Feb. 23, 2004. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)