The private military firm Blackwater is reportedly in talks to pay millions of dollars in fines for unlawful arms shipments to Iraq. The New York Times reports the State Department has concluded Blackwater committed “broad violations” of export laws. The settlement could help Blackwater avoid criminal charges. The news comes as the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has requested a probe into recent allegations Blackwater authorized around $1 million to bribe Iraqi officials following the September 2007 killings of seventeen Iraqi civilians in Baghdad. Former company executives have claimed the payments were approved after the Iraqi government called for Blackwater’s expulsion from Iraq, threatening the company’s lucrative annual contract.