United States Investigations Services Inc. (USIS), the private firm that vetted former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, has agreed to a settlement worth at least $30 million, resolving U.S. claims connected to its background investigations, Reuters reported yesterday. The U.S. Justice Department said on Wednesday that the settlement with USIS and its parent company, Altegrity Inc., will resolve claims that the firm failed to perform quality control reviews in connection with its background investigations. The Justice Department said the settlement is part of a broader deal struck as part of the bankruptcy proceeding for Altegrity, which filed for chapter 11 in February. The deal resolves claims first asserted in a whistleblower lawsuit filed in 2011 that the Justice Department later joined. The case was separate from USIS's review of Snowden, who lives as a fugitive in Russia after leaking documents about the NSA's surveillance programs, or Aaron Alexis, the technology contractor who killed 12 people at the Washington Navy Yard in 2013.
