Barbie Robinson, the former Harris County Public Health director, has been charged with a felony count of misuse of official information. This charge stems from accusations that she shared private information with International Business Machines (IBM) while crafting a contract proposal that IBM later won.
According to court records, from April 2021 and continuing through November 2021, Robinson, while a public servant, is accused of aiding International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) in gaining a pecuniary interest by sharing non-public information and facilitating sole-source contracts.
Documents and communications between IBM and Robinson were subpoenaed from IBM for the time she was the executive director of HCPH until her termination in August, according to records.
According to Channel 2 News
The affiant read in Harris County public documents from the county administrator’s database that Access Harris also used IBM as a key vendor after Robinson arrived in Harris County. According to records, Harris County initially awarded IBM approximately $16 million for an “enabling technology solution” for Access Harris.
Investigators collected IBM e-mails between IBM employee, Kenneth Wolsey, and non-IBM employees Ronish Lal, Carolyn Staats and Robinson. In the emails, they allegedly discussed sole-source contracts.
Records show Robinson had a previous relationship with IBM for Access Sonoma and wanted to replicate the Access program in Harris County.
Investigators believe that when Robinson began her work in Harris County, she continued communicating with IBM. The e-mails reportedly show that Robinson attempted to work with IBM to sole-source the public contract. Court documents show investigators also believe that non-public information was shared with people not authorized to receive or possess that information.
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