Here is why Carol Lam was removed as U.S. Attorney, San Diego

Nov 26, 2007 - The most recent analysis of record from the Wilkes trial gives Emptywheel a lot to discuss. This came from the transcripts and subpoenas in the Wilkes case. Emptywheel at the Next Hurrah has been tracking the story. Below are earlier posts in time sequence.

The traditional media will not be discussing this because the CIA, the Department of Justice and the White House all don't want it publicized.

Apr 27, 2007 - About that FBI Special Agent In Charge. FBI Special Agent in Charge Dzwilewski commented on what happened to cause Carol Lam's dismissal and the manner it which it was done. Six weeks later he retired. Asked if there was any pressure to resign, Dzwilewski said: “I can't speak for what's behind all that, what's the driving force behind this or the rationale. I guarantee politics is involved.”

May 08, 2007 - The Foggo-Wilkes Leaks.

May 11, 2007 - Emptywheel looks at the Leaks. About that DOJ Leak.

Aug 09, 2007 - In The Leak Wars: Revisiting the Pre-Indictment Leaks. EmptyWheel looks more deeply into the alleged media leaks and the connection to the trial of Kontogiannis.

Aug o8, 2007 - Carol Lam did not know why she was dismissed, even after she left. But Elston at DoJ accused her of leaking the reasons she was removed to the press. The Leak Wars: Elston Accuses Lam IN actual practice, Lam was fired because she was threatening to indict Foggo, the third ranking man at CIA and Kontogianis, an individual who the CIA was protecting because he had been laundering money they were using for operations.

Briber of Congressman fires shot across the bow

Brent Wilkes, currently being tried for bribing former congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-CA), has subpoenaed thirteen senior Congressmen to testify at his bribery trial. The members will decline to comply with the subpoenas.

The list of Congressmen as provided by The Politico is:

• Rep. Dennis Hastert (R-Il) former Speaker of the House;
• Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO) current House Minority Whip;
• Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA), former chairman of the Appropriations Committee;
• Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA), former chairman of the Armed Services Committee;
• Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-MI), former Intelligence Committee chairman;
• Rep. Ike Skelton (D-MO) current Armed Services Committee Chairman;
• Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D-TX) current Intelligence Committee Chairman;
• Rep. Jack Murtha (D-PA), current chairman of the Defense subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee;
• Rep. Norm Dicks (D-WA);
• Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA);
• Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA);
• Rep. Joe Knollenberg (R-MI); and
• Rep. Jerry Weller (R-Il).

Wilkes is known to have provided a lot of money in bribes to Rep. Cunningham. This list amounts to an accusation that all of these Representatives have also taken bribes from Wilkes.

The list appears to have become available when the House of Representatives voted to decline to permit the court to enforce its subpoenas on these members. Representatives all reported that House Rules did not permit the members to respond to the subpoenas. (See TPM Muckraker.)

Have any ex-House members also been subpoenaed? For example Tom DeLay? If not, then it would be reasonable to assume that this was a form of political blackmail that Wilkes' attorneys were trying to gain protection for the court.

I guess those Representatives who were subpoenaed see a mass denial to appear at Wilkes' trial as politically preferable to any of them showing up and taking the Fifth Amendment. Still, this vote puts the entire House of Representatives on record as defending those of their members who have taken bribes and sold their vote. [Bad guess. Cynical as I am, there was apparently no vote for me to rail against.]

This is still a very significant accusation from the man currently incarcerated ex-Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham named as his briber that the entire House of Representatives was highly corrupt. From TPM Muckraker:

"Wilkes came out last year to offer the defense that he didn't bribe lawmakers -- it was the other way around: they shook him down. "Transactional lobbying" (i.e. no free favors) was his phrase for it. Perhaps the subpoenas were part of that defense strategy?"

Since Wilke's trial has been delayed and will probably not start until early next year I am sure that we will hear more about this.

CIA official, contractor, face new corruption indictments

The previous number three official at the CIA, "Dusty" Foggo, and the contractor, Brent Wilkes, who allegedly bribed him to arrange a $100,000,000 contract are facing new indictments on thirty charges of fraud, conspiracy and money laundering. From the Sacramento Bee:

According to the new indictment, Foggo provided Wilkes with "sensitive, internal information related to our national security," including classified information, to help him prepare proposals for providing undercover flights for the CIA under the guise of a civil aviation company and armored vehicles for agency operations. Foggo allegedly then pushed his CIA colleagues to hire Wilkes' companies without disclosing their longstanding friendship.

In a June 2005 e-mail to the head of CIA air operations quoted in the indictment, Foggo offered to "use some 'EXDIR grease'" on Wilkes' behalf - apparently a reference to his title as the agency's executive director.

Prosecutors say that in return, Wilkes offered to hire Foggo after he retired from government service. In the meantime, he allegedly treated his friend to a Scottish golf trip during which they racked up a $44,000 hotel bill at the luxurious Pitcastle Estate.

Details in the indictment show that the arrangement between the two men began deteriorating in the summer of 2005, as the federal investigation into Cunningham began to envelop Wilkes. Foggo, who hosted a lunch in the CIA dining room for Wilkes in February of that year, allegedly instructed a CIA employee not to hire his friend after federal agents raided Wilkes Corp. offices in August.

This grew out of the Abramoff corruption investigations, and may well have been the reason why the U.S. Attorney for San Diego, Carol Lam, was fired. These new indictments replace the indictments filed by Carol Lam two days before she was forced to leave her job by the Department of Justice.

Ethics-Schmethics. I took the damned class 8 times!

In connection with the Randy "Duke" Cunningham case, Kyle "Dusty" Foggo, until recently the third highest ranking official at the CIA, has been indicted for stearing contracts to a company he had investments in. Here is an interesting part:

Foggo, who retired last year as the third-ranking CIA official, served two years as a "deputy ethics official" and sat through ethics training eight times, according to the federal grand jury indictment handed down last week in San Diego. But Foggo covered up gifts and a job offer he received from his alleged co-conspirator, the indictment asserts. And it quotes an e-mail in which he seems to suggest ethics reporting requirements are burdensome.[Snip]

The 11-count indictment, to which Foggo and Wilkes pleaded not guilty, alleges that Foggo set up meetings for Wilkes with other CIA officials and contractors to grease the skids for Wilkes' companies to receive contracts, including at least one case in which Wilkes wasn't the low bidder. The grand jury charges Foggo expected and received expensive meals and gifts from Wilkes, as well as vacations to Scotland and Hawaii.

Also in 2002, Wilkes offered Foggo a "high-level, high-paying position" with one of Wilkes' companies, where he reserved an office for Foggo in the executive suite, according to the indictment.

Foggo didn't mentioned Wilkes' gifts or job offer on two mandatory annual financial disclosure forms asking about gifts, trips and "future employment," according to the indictment. It says Foggo in an e-mail, where he attached one such completed form, wrote to the ethics officer processing the forms: "Having been the 'Ethic's Guy' in both the (Directorate of Science and Technology) and the (Directorate of Administration), I wish you the best with this annual exercise."

I mean, he submitted the damned ethics paperwork, even though it was an interference with his work. What more could a poor oppressed Republican do?