But, despite the expenditure of $1,000,000,000, no US-built military aircraft reached the front in World War I, and President Wilson appointed Charles Evans Hughes to investigate. Hughes found evidence of "...gross self-interest and improper practice..." and recommended that Colonel Deeds be court-martialed under sections 95 and 96 of the articles of war, a recommendation endorsed by the Attorney General. A House committee chaired by Representative William J. Graham of Illinois similarly found "that Deeds began his activities by centering aircraft operations at Dayton, Ohio; that he gave large contracts to his business associates..." and that he had pushed for the use of his Delco ignition system in the Liberty engine even though magnetos had been used on all airplane engines. When Secretary of War Baker ordered the case reopened, a special military board exonerated Deeds.