A case started in the US Court of Federal Claims with Deloitte Consulting suing the USA in an action that started a flurry of paperwork, all now unfortunately sealed.

The case started on the 15th of December and as soon as it was filed, IBM joined in as a co-defendant with the USA. Most of the documents that have been filed so far have been sealed, but the motion by IBM to be a defendant was granted by Judge Eric G. Bruggink.

In that motion, IBM says that it had a telephone call with the counsel for the United States, in which it was agreed that Big Blue could be a co-defendant.

It appears from that motion that it concerns a bid protest challenging a contracted award by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

IBM said: "Because IBM is the contract awardee, it has a direct interest in the outcome of this case. This Court routinely allows contract awardees to intervene as party defendants in bid protests."

Deloitte Consulting wants to overturn the award to IBM, but Big Blue has an interest in preserving right to perform the contract.
"IBM's interests are not adequately represented by the Government. The Government's interest in defending bid protests typically includes preserving the discretion of agency officials and enabling itself to proceed with procurements without undue delay," the motion continued.

So we have no idea why Deloitte wants to overturn IBM's award by the US government. We think we should be told, but the judge has sealed all the juicy stuff. X