Politics

CGI Federal executive spent ‘Christmas with the Obamas’

Patrick Howley Political Reporter
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Michelle Obama’s relationship with Princeton classmate Toni McCall Townes-Whitley, whose company earned the no-bid contract to design the disastrous Healthcare.Gov Obamacare website, continued after the Obamas moved into the White House.

Townes-Whitley and her husband even enjoyed “Christmas with the Obamas” at the White House in December 2010, according to a Facebook album created by Townes-Whitley.

Although neither Michelle Obama nor Townes-Whitley has discussed their relationship, the Christmas event took place just seven months after Townes-Whitley joined CGI Federal as a senior vice president.

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama greet and pose for pictures with guests at the Christmas Holiday Reception in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House, Dec. 10, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Samantha Appleton, facebook.com/tonitwhitley)

Townes-Whitley, Princeton class of ’85, leads CGI Federal’s Civilian Agency Programs (CAP) Business Unit, which earned the no-bid contract to build the Obamacare enrollment website Healthcare.gov. CGI Federal is the U.S. arm of a Canadian company. (Related: Michelle Obama’s Princeton classmate is executive at company that built Obamacare website)

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama greet and pose for pictures with guests at the Christmas Holiday Reception in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House, Dec. 10, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Samantha Appleton, facebook.com/tonitwhitley)

The Department of Health and Human Services reviewed only CGI’s bid for the Obamacare account. CGI was one of 16 companies qualified under the Bush administration to provide certain tech services to the federal government. A senior vice president for the company testified last week before The House Committee on Energy and Commerce that four companies submitted bids, but did not name those companies or explain why only CGI’s bid was considered.

Townes-Whitley, who went by her maiden name Toni McCall at the time, and her classmate Michelle Obama, née Michelle LaVaughn Robinson, are both members of the Association of Black Princeton Alumni, and worked together in two different radical student groups on campus. (Related: Michelle Obama and CGI Federal executive belonged to student group at Princeton that hosted pro-terrorist speaker)

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