On 2 July 2019 the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General wrote Sen. Chuck Grassley. The memo says Washington Headquarters Services contracting officers awarded four contracts, valued at $1.05 million, between 30 May 2012 and 26 September 2016, to Professor Halper. ONA directors approved them. The 26 September 2016 award was decided after a proposal review by ONA Director James Baker and others. The three earlier awards were decided under prior ONA Director Andrew Marshall.
Grassley’s 12 July 2019 release quotes the audit: the contracts did not require Halper to submit travel justification or prior approval; ONA did not require evidence that he interviewed the people listed in his proposals, including former Russian diplomats and intelligence officers; ONA “could not provide sufficient documentation that Professor Halper conducted all of his work in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.” That is an official finding about contract files. It is not a finding that the $1.05 million was a stipend for Crossfire Hurricane. The OIG was answering Grassley’s questions about partisan, improper, or wasteful use. Treat any leap from thin paperwork to “they paid him to spy on Trump” as opinion.
Washington Times (18 Aug 2019) and RealClearInvestigations / RealClearPolitics (July 2019) reported the same memo. Daily Wire (Mark Hemingway, 10 Mar 2022) later folded the contracts into a career profile. Washington Examiner later noted Halper was not listed as excluded from future federal awards. Those are reporting. The PDF is the primary.