When Even the Inspector General's Office Itself Is Corrupt

By: Dianne
Published On: 10/2/2007 6:48:18 AM

There's an interesting side story on the Blackwater issue, for which Congress will be holding hearings.  It was a story in Sunday's WaPo regarding the State Department's Inspector General, no less, threatening to fire career IG employees if they co-operated with a congressional probe of Howard Krongard (State's IG) and his office.  Seems there are at least 4 IG investigators who have sought protection under the Whistleblower Act on this issue. 

In recent weeks, the agents relayed their concerns about Krongard to Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.), chairman of the oversight panel. Waxman has said he is investigating allegations that Krongard has repeatedly thwarted investigations into alleged contracting fraud in Iraq and Afghanistan, including construction of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and weapons smuggling allegations against Blackwater USA, a private security firm working under government contract in Iraq. The committee has scheduled a hearing on Oct. 16.

It is chilling to read this story.  From the Post story it seems that Krongard's appointment might have been just one more of Bush's "political favors" appointments.  He had had no State Department experience when he took the job.  Remember when there was battle over closing down the the congressionally appointed Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR)?  Well it seems Krongard "...was closely involved in unsuccessful administration efforts to shut down SIGIR's operations when its funding and mandate ran out last year".

In a 13-page letter to Krongard on Sept. 18, Waxman charged that the inspector general had "interfered with ongoing investigations to protect the State Department and the White House from political embarrassment."

The letter, which Waxman said was based on allegations by seven current and former members of Krongard's staff, alleged that Krongard had refused to send investigators to Iraq and Afghanistan to investigate $3 billion worth of State Department contracts and had impeded a Justice Department probe into the construction of the embassy in Baghdad. It also included an internal e-mail that indicated Krongard had intervened to stop his office from cooperating with a Justice Department investigation into alleged arms smuggling by Blackwater. In a North Carolina case, two Blackwater employees have pleaded guilty to weapons charges and are cooperating with Justice officials.

So where do you go when you want to do the right thing if the Inspector General's Office is itself unethical and corrupt?

Comments



Bush trying to pass Nixon on the Most-Corrupt List? (TheGreenMiles - 10/2/2007 10:00:57 AM)
I wasn't even born yet when Nixon resigned, so I'll leave this to others to decide, but at this point I think you have to ask, Dubya vs. Nixon?  Who's more corrupt?


It's close, but I'd probably have to say Bush (Lowell - 10/2/2007 10:01:58 AM)
at this point.


In terms of economic corruption . . . (JPTERP - 10/2/2007 7:56:36 PM)
I would look past Nixon to Harding and Grant. 

Nixon's administration did have financial corruption, but nothing on the scale of this administration.  In dollar terms the Bush administration IS the most corrupt in history -- not only is there Abramoff, there is also the MZM-ADCS scandal, PLUS this.



The Post is trying it's damndest to keep (JPTERP - 10/2/2007 7:49:40 PM)
this story off the front page.

The Post ran a story about the first Waxman inquiry a couple weeks ago, which received a page 17 placement. 

How is a story that may involve billions of taxpayer dollars in waste, fraud, and abuse -- and a cover-up to go with it NOT a front page story?

I credit the Post with at least running this, but I am scratching my head about the story placement.  Bizarre.



A Corrupt I.G.--How to Make Democrats, Liberals and Progressives Pay for the Republican Party's Campaigns (soccerdem - 10/4/2007 12:16:27 PM)
Why would this Administration of fools, criminal actors, wrong minded "patriots" and religious zealots go along with the subversion of every thing and institution in place that protects us against wrongdoing?  To my mind, the major answer is that the Administration has created a huge money scheme that has been peripherally mentioned by the press but not detailed and trumpeted across the nation.

Oil is big and the Carlysle Group's relation to oil and the Saudis is known, if not appreciated as a cause of Bush's war. But the awarding of no-bid contracts to the companies favored by the Republican Party and the donations by these companies to the Republican party are rarely mentioned here, and are not at all on TV and in newspapers outside the Beltway.  This is Payola, to the nth degree.

But the largest grim joke of all, the actions that should cause extreme heartburn in every progressive breast, is that the payments awarded to Blackwater, KBR, Halliburton, and the myriad of such outfits comes out of TAX MONEY, YOURS AND MINE!  The profits those outfits make is what WE are paying, not some nebulous entity called the Government.  And from this, OUR MONEY, OUR TAXES, comes the vast donations by these companies to the beloved right wing Republican Party.

And this is the ultimate disgrace, that we are supporting with our own dollars the very party we detest, as surely as Debby did Dallas.  Would these outfits have donated the campaign dollars they did if they didn't get those no bid contracts, make those profits from the smashed bodies of our G.I.s?  If you believe otherwise, you're Sean Hannity.