House Intelligence Committee Entangled in Cunningham Bribery Scandal

July 16, 2007
House Intelligence Committee Entangled in Cunningham Bribery Scandal

When the committee's investigation was completed last year, the Republican-controlled panel would not release the results; now that the committee is controlled by Democrats, it still will not release the findings.

The report provides the most detailed account to date of how former CIA Executive Director Kyle Dustin "Dusty" Foggo, whose indictment on charges of defrauding the government was recently expanded, allegedly used committee connections to advance his career at the agency.

Overall, the document provides a penetrating look into how the committee itself became central to the scandal, describing an atmosphere in which senior aides were deeply troubled by Cunningham's actions but nevertheless complied with his requests out of fear.

But the report and committee members' ongoing disagreement over whether it should be released also reflect the political currents still swirling around the scandal.

For all its finger-pointing at staffers, the document fails to address whether other committee members were aware of Cunningham's abuses or were culpable. For instance, the report avoids any scrutiny of former Rep. Porter J. Goss (R-Fla.), who was chairman of the panel when Cunningham's most egregious abuses occurred. Goss went on to serve as CIA director, from September 2004 to May 2006.

Halliburton Employee Guilty in Iraq Kickback Case

July 14, 2007
Halliburton Employee Guilty in Iraq Kickback Case

The employee, Roger A. Heaton, 58, of Houston, worked for the subsidiary, KBR, as part of a logistics contract. KBR, formerly known as Kellogg, Brown & Root, was a subsidiary of Halliburton until it became a separate entity earlier this year. The contract has so far paid the companies $20 billion to supply the military with food, fuel, housing and other necessities.

Mr. Heaton pleaded guilty in Federal District Court in the Central District of Illinois to awarding two major contracts in exchange for what was to have been over $200,000 in kickbacks, although it is unclear how much of the money he actually received.

GOP Porn Star and Hero Investigated

April 1, 2007
GOP Porn Star and Hero Investigated

The Corps on Friday was slated to wrap up an investigation into allegations that a corporal in the Individual Ready Reserve who appeared in gay porn films before enlisting solicited more than $12,000 from private organizations by asking them to fund a deployment to Iraq he never made, according to e-mails from the investigating officer forwarded to Marine Corps Times.

Reserve Col. Charles Jones, a staff judge advocate called to Marine Corps Mobilization Command in Kansas City, Mo., on temporary orders that expire Saturday, informed Reserve Cpl. Matt Sanchez of the allegations against him in a March 22 e-mail that advised Sanchez of his rights.

Jones wrote that Sanchez's participation in porn films was part of the investigation, but that two of the three allegations against him involved lying "to various people, including but not limited to, representatives of the New York City United War Veterans Council and U-Haul Corporation" about deploying to Iraq at the commandant's request.

Why is Gen. Kiley back in charge at Walter Reed?

March 2, 2007
Why is Gen. Kiley back in charge at Walter Reed?

YESTERDAY THE Post reported that Lt. Gen. Kevin C. Kiley heard years ago from a veterans advocate and even a member of Congress that outpatient care at Walter Reed Army Medical Center was distressingly squalid and disorganized. That commander proceeded to do little, even though he lives across the street from the outpatient facilities in a spacious Georgian house. Also yesterday, the Army announced that Maj. Gen. George W. Weightman, the head of Walter Reed since August, had been relieved of his command. His temporary replacement? None other than Gen. Kiley.

Here's where the story stops making sense. Much of The Post's article detailed the abuse by omission that Gen. Kiley, not Gen. Weightman, committed, first as head of Walter Reed, then in hiscurrent post as Army surgeon general. Gen. Weightman, who very well might deserve his disgrace,has commanded Walter Reed for only half a year, while Gen. Kiley, now back in charge of Walter Reed, headed the hospital and its outpatient facilities for two years and has led the Army'smedical command since. Rep. C.W. Bill Young (R-Fla.) and his wife say they repeatedly told Gen.Kiley about unhealthful conditions in outpatient facilities.

Army Secretary Resigns in Walter Reed Scandal

March 3, 2007
Army Secretary Resigns inWalter Reed Scandal

WASHINGTON Mar 3, 2007 (AP)— It began with reports of mice and moldy plaster, but after two weeks of outrage, the scandal over poor conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center has claimed several careers including the secretary of the Army's.

Secretary Francis J. Harvey's abrupt dismissal Friday came under withering criticism from Pentagon chief Robert Gates, who said the Army's response to the substandard conditions for the war-wounded was defensive, and not aggressive enough.

And it left the door open for more personnel changes, as investigations continue and Congress prepares for hearings next week.

Harvey's departure was the most dramatic move during two weeks of furor over the treatment of soldiers at one of the military's highest-profile and busiest medical facilities.

Iran flap exposes public skepticism of US intelligence, intentions

February 18, 2007
Iran flap exposes public skepticism of US intelligence, intentions

And "for the umpteenth time," as US Defense Secretary Robert Gates put it, they denied that the United States was trying to prepare the ground for military action in Iraq.

But the flap exposed how deep public suspicion of US intelligence claims runs nearly four years after the United States went to war with Iraq on the strength of erroneous intelligence that it had weapons of mass destruction.

"I think this controversy is traceable to one big problem," said Loren Thompson, director of the Lexington Institute, a private Washington research group.

"The US intelligence community does not have an adequate network of agents in Iraq or Iran. Because of that, everything is guesswork," he said.

Jailed 2 Years, Iraqi Tells of Abuse by Americans

February 18, 2007
Jailed 2 Years, Iraqi Tells of Abuse by Americans

After his release from the American-run jail, Camp Bucca, Mr. Ani and other former detainees described the sprawling complex of barracks in the southern desert near Kuwait as a bleak place where guards casually used their stun guns and exposed prisoners to long periods of extreme heat and cold; where prisoners fought among themselves and extremist elements tried to radicalize others; and where detainees often responded to the harsh conditions with hunger strikes and, at times, violent protests.

Through it all, Mr. Ani was never actually charged with a crime; he said he was questioned only once during his more than two years at the camp.

Former Justice and Interior Officials Targeted

February 15, 2007
Former Justice and Interior Officials Targeted

The inquiry by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee was announced hours after The Associated Press reported that the prosecutor, Sue Ellen Wooldridge, bought a $1 million vacation home on Kiawah Island, S.C., with ConocoPhillips Vice President Donald R. Duncan, nine months before agreeing to let the company delay a half-billion-dollar pollution cleanup. It was one of two proposed consent decrees Wooldridge signed with ConocoPhillips just before resigning last month.

The third buyer of the beachshore getaway was former Deputy Interior Secretary J. Steven Griles, the highest-ranking Bush administration official targeted for criminal prosecution in the Jack Abramoff corruption probe.

$10 billion squandered in Iraq

February 15, 2007
$10 billion squandered in Iraq

More than one in six dollars charged by U.S. contractors were questionable or unsupported, nearly triple the amount of waste the Government Accountability Office estimated last fall.

According to their testimony, the investigators:

• Found overpricing and waste in Iraq contracts amounting to $4.9 billion since the Defense Contract Audit Agency began its work in 2003. Some of that money has been recovered. An additional $5.1 billion in expenses were charged without proper documentation.
• Pointed to growing Iraqi sectarian violence as a significant factor behind bloated U.S. contracting bills. Iraqi officials, they said, must begin to take primary responsibility for reconstruction efforts. That is an uncertain goal, given the widespread corruption in Iraq and the local government's inability to fund projects.
• Urged the Pentagon to reconsider its growing reliance on outside contractors in wars and reconstruction efforts. Layers of subcontractors, poor documentation and lack of strong contract management are rampant and promote waste even after the GAO first warned of problems 15 years ago.

Ex-aide says Rice misled U.S. Congress on Iran

February 13, 2007
Ex-aide says Rice misled U.S. Congress on Iran

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice misled the U.S. Congress when she said last week that she had not seen a 2003 Iranian proposal for talks with the United States, a former senior government official said on Wednesday.

"The Bush administration up to and including Secretary Rice is misleading Congress and the American public about the Iran proposal," he said.

Testifying before the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee last week, Rice told lawmakers who asked about Leverett's previous public comments and writings on the Iranian proposal: "I don't know what Flynt Leverett's talking about."

She faulted him for not telling her, "We have a proposal from Iran and we really ought to take it."

U.S. Army Translator Pleads Guilty to Possessing Iraq Documents

February 14, 2007
U.S. Army Translator Pleads Guilty to Possessing Iraq Documents

Feb. 14 (Bloomberg) -- An Arabic translator for the U.S. Army who had a top-secret security clearance pleaded guilty to unauthorized possession of documents concerning plans to combat insurgents in Iraq.

Abdulhakeem Nour used a fake identity to win a translator job with L-3 Titan Corp., which contracts with the U.S. military in Iraq, Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Roslynn Mauskopf said today. The documents, including one showing the coordinates of insurgent locations the Army was preparing to attack in January 2004, were found in his Brooklyn apartment in 2005.

Justice Official Bought Vacation Home With Oil Lobbyist

February 15, 2007
Justice Official Bought Vacation Home With Oil Lobbyist

A senior Justice Department official who recently resigned her post bought a nearly $1 million vacation home with a lobbyist for ConocoPhillips months before approving consent decrees that would give the oil company more time to pay millions of dollars in fines and meet pollution-cleanup rules at some of its refineries.

Sue Ellen Wooldridge, former assistant attorney general in charge of environment and natural resources, bought a $980,000 home on Kiawah Island, S.C., last March with ConocoPhillips lobbyist Don R. Duncan. A third owner of the house is J. Steven Griles, a former deputy interior secretary, who has been informed he is a target in the federal investigation of Jack Abramoff's lobbying activities.

Wilkes, Foggo Indicted

February 13, 2007
Wilkes, Foggo Indicted

SAN DIEGO – A federal grand jury on Tuesday issued indictments against Poway defense contractor Brent Wilkes and former high-ranking CIA official Kyle "Dusty" Foggo, childhood friends from San Diego who are entangled in the Randy "Duke" Cunningham congressional corruption scandal.

Former Press Secretary Didn't Know What Was Going On

February 11, 2007
Former Press Secretary Didn't Know What Was Going On

What has emerged, instead, is:

• a vice president fixated on finding ways to debunk a former diplomat's claims that Bush misled the U.S. people in going to war and his suggestion Cheney might have played a role in suppressing contrary intelligence.
• a presidential press secretary kept in the dark on Iraq policy.
• top White House officials meeting daily to discuss the diplomat, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, and sometimes even his CIA-officer wife Valerie Plame.

Ex-Agent Ties Firing to CIA Pressure on WMD

February 10, 2007
Ex-Agent Ties Firing to CIA Pressure on WMD

A federal judge has ruled that a CIA agent identified only as "Doe," allegedly fired after he gathered prewar intelligence showing that Iraq was not developing weapons of mass destruction, can proceed with his lawsuit against the CIA. The judge has ordered both parties to submit discovery requests–evidence they want for their case–to be completed by March 15, according to the CIA agent's lawyer and a spokesman for the Justice Department, which is defending the CIA in court.

U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler issued her ruling after what Doe's attorney, Roy Krieger, described as an extraordinary, secret status conference by telephone this afternoon that lasted nearly a half an hour. So concerned was the CIA about the agent's identity becoming public that the Justice Department prevailed upon the judge to issue a highly restrictive order regarding press contacts by the agent and Krieger. The order barred them from "requesting, allowing, encouraging, or directing" any members of the media from appearing at Krieger's office or even
within a two-block vicinity of the building where he works or of any other location of the status conference, until two hours after the conference was completed.

Intelligence agencies disagreed with many of its prewar findings

February 10, 2007
Intelligence agencies disagreed with many of its prewar findings

WASHINGTON — As the Bush administration began assembling its case for war, analysts across the U.S. intelligence community were disturbed by the report of a secretive Pentagon team that concluded Iraq had significant ties to Al Qaeda.

Analysts from the CIA and other agencies "disagreed with more than 50%" of 26 findings the Pentagon team laid out in a controversial paper, according to testimony Friday from Thomas F. Gimble, acting inspector general of the Pentagon.

Report Says Pentagon Manipulated Intel

February 9, 2007
Report Says Pentagon Manipulated Intel

He cited Gimble's findings that Feith's office was, despite doubts expressed by the intelligence
community, pushing conclusions that Sept. 11 hijacker Mohammed Atta had met an Iraqi intelligence officer in Prague five months before the attack, and that there were "multiple areas of
cooperation" between Iraq and al-Qaida, including shared pursuit of weapons of mass
destruction.

"That was the argument that was used to make the sale to the American people about the need to
go to war," Levin said in an interview Thursday. He said the Pentagon's work, "which was wrong,
which was distorted, which was inappropriate … is something which is highly disturbing."

Army Officer Says No Abuse: Didn't Interview Any Detainees

February 5, 2007
Army Officer Says No Abuse: Didn't Interview Any Detainees

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - An Army officer who investigated possible abuse at Guantanamo Bay after some guards purportedly bragged about beating detainees found no evidence they mistreated the prisoners — although he did not interview any of the alleged victims, the U.S. military said
Wednesday.

Col. Richard Bassett, the chief investigator, recommended no disciplinary action against the
Navy guards named by Marine Sgt. Heather Cerveny, who had said that during a conversation in
September they described beating detainees as common practice.

Officials indict 5 in Iraq contract scam

February 5, 2007
Officials indict 5 in Iraq contract scam

WASHINGTON - Three U.S. Army Reserve officers were indicted Wednesday, accused of taking part in a bid-rigging scam that steered millions of dollars for Iraq reconstruction projects to a contractor in exchange for cash, luxury cars and jewelry.

An American businessman in Romania was charged as the go-between for the military officers and
the contractor. The husband of one of the reservists was accused of helping smuggle tens of
thousands of dollars into the United States that the couple used to pay for a deck and a hot tub
at their New Jersey house.

News media cheer ruling on Libby tapes

February 5, 2007
News media cheer ruling on Libby tapes

WASHINGTON -- News organizations praised a judge's decision Monday to release tapes of former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's grand jury testimony, saying it would open a window into court proceedings.

U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton said he would make the eight-hour recordings public even
though he was worried that jurors could be influenced by outside media buzz.

Federal law supports the public release of evidence presented to a jury. But judges in
high-profile cases occasionally have released only written transcripts or have delayed public
disclosure until the trial's end.