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Post by RPankn on May 5, 2006 14:39:46 GMT -5
I wonder if this has anything to do with the recent noise about the FBI's investigation of the prostitution ring that was being run out of the Watergate by the defense contractors connected to Cunningham.Goss Resigns as CIA DirectorBy JENNIFER LOVEN, AP WASHINGTON (May 5) -- CIA Director Porter Goss resigned unexpectedly Friday, leaving behind a spy agency still battling to recover from the scars of intelligence failures before America's worst terrorist attack and faulty information that formed the U.S. rationale for invading Iraq. [ I can't believe the AP is still pushing this meme.] It was the latest move in a second-term shake-up of President Bush's team. Making the announcement from the Oval Office, Bush called Goss' tenure one of transition. "He has led ably," Bush said, Goss at his side. "He has a five-year plan to increase the analysts and operatives." Goss said the trust, confidence and latitude that Bush placed in him "is something I could have never imagined." " I believe the agency is on a very even keel, sailing well," Goss said. "I honestly believe that we have improved dramatically." The president did not name a successor, but said that person would continue Goss' reforms. "As a result, this country will be more secure," Bush said. "We've got to win the war on terror, and the Central Intelligence Agency is a vital part of the war. So I thank you for your service." When Bush nominated Goss in August 2004, in the midst of the president's re-election campaign, he said he would rely on the advice of the CIA officer-turned-politician on the sensitive issue of intelligence reform. "He knows the CIA inside and out," Bush said in a Rose Garden announcement at the time. "He's the right man to lead this important agency at this critical moment in our nation's history." Goss, a former congressman from Florida, head of the House Intelligence Committee and CIA agent, had been at the helm of the agency only since September 2004. He came under fire almost immediately, in part because he brought with him several top aides from Congress who were considered highly political for the CIA. He had particularly poor relations with segments of the agency's powerful clandestine service. In a bleak assessment, California Rep. Jane Harman, the Intelligence Committee's top Democrat, recently said, "The CIA is in a free fall," noting that employees with a combined 300 years of experience have left or been pushed out. Under Goss and the sweeping intelligence overhaul Congress approved in December 2004, the CIA lost considerable clout among U.S. spy agencies. With the installation of the country's first national intelligence director, John Negroponte, Goss no longer sat atop the 16 intelligence agencies. Negroponte took that role _ and many of the CIA director's responsibilities. That includes Bush's morning intelligence briefings. Goss also had some public blunders. In March 2005, just before Negroponte took over, Goss told an audience at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library that he was overwhelmed by the many duties of his job, including devoting five hours out of every day to prepare for and deliver the presential briefings. "The jobs I'm being asked to do, the five hats that I wear, are too much for this mortal," Goss said. "I'm a little amazed at the workload." Goss has pressed for aggressive probes about leaked information. "The damage has been very severe to our capabilities to carry out our mission," he told Congress in February, adding that a federal grand jury should be impaneled to determine "who is leaking this information." Just two weeks ago, Goss announced the firing of a top intelligence analyst in connection with a Pulitzer Prize-winning story about a network of CIA prisons in Eastern Europe. Such dismissals are highly unusual. The realignment of Bush's team amid the president's sagging poll standings started with the resignation of Andrew Card as chief of staff and his replacement by Joshua Bolten, who had been the budget director. There has been rampant speculation that Treasury Secretary John Snow would be leaving. 05-05-06 14:20 EDT articles.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20060505135509990016&ncid=NWS00010000000001
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Post by RPankn on May 5, 2006 15:13:59 GMT -5
Goss: Claims I Partied With Wilkes Are "Flatly Untrue," "Horribly Irresponsible"By Justin Rood - April 28, 2006, 4:22 PM I called the CIA this morning to get their reaction to Ken Silverstein's piece in Harper's that seems to put Goss in the poker-and-more parties thrown by Brent Wilkes. The parties were held in the Watergate and Westin Grand hotels -- and a third hotel, I'm hearing, which hasn't been reported yet -- as well as at the house of Kyle "Dusty" Foggo, a longtime friend of Wilkes' who is now #3 at the CIA. After a long series of off-the-record phone calls with CIA spokespeople, I was finally given an on-the-record comment -- about Goss. Speaking on behalf of the director, CIA spokeswoman Jennifer Millerwise Dyck said, "This is horribly irresponsible. He hasn't even been to the Watergate in decades." When I asked if Goss had attended Wilkes' parties at the Westin or other locations, Millerwise Dyck repeated the denial. "It's horribly irresponsible. Flatly untrue." She declined to answer questions about Foggo, but promised another spokesperson would call me and take my questions. www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/000505.php
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Post by RPankn on May 5, 2006 15:17:10 GMT -5
Red Lights on Capitol Hill?Posted on Thursday, April 27, 2006. By Ken Silverstein. The Wall Street Journal reported today that indicted former California Congressman Randall "Duke" Cunningham may not have limited his good times to partying on a rented yacht. It turns out the FBI is currently investigating two defense contractors who allegedly provided Cunningham with free limousine service, free stays at hotel suites at the Watergate and the Westin Grand, and free prostitutes. The two defense contractors who allegedly bribed Cunningham, said the Journal, were Brent Wilkes, the founder of ADCS Inc., and Mitchell Wade, the founder of MZM Inc.; both firms profited greatly from their connections with Cunningham. The Journal also suggested that other lawmakers might be implicated. I've learned from a well-connected source that those under intense scrutiny by the FBI are current and former lawmakers on Defense and Intelligence comittees—including one person who now holds a powerful intelligence post. I've also been able to learn the name of the limousine service that was used to ferry the guests and other attendees to the parties: Shirlington Limousine and Transportation of Arlington, Virginia. Wilkes, I've learned, even hired Shirlington as his personal limousine service. It gets even more interesting: the man who has been identified as the CEO of Shirlington has a 62-page rap sheet (I recently obtained a copy) that runs from at least 1979 through 1989 and lists charges of petit larceny, robbery, receiving stolen goods, assault, and more. Curiously—or perhaps not so curiously given the company's connections—Shirlington Limousine is also a Department of Homeland Security contractor; according to the Washington Post, last fall it won a $21.2 million contract for shuttle services and transportation support. (I tried to contact Shirlington but was unable to get past their answering service.) As to the festivities themselves, I hear that party nights began early with poker games (see Clarification, below) and degenerated into what the source described as a "frat party" scene—real bacchanals. Apparently photographs were taken, and investigators are anxiously procuring copies. My heart beats faster in fevered anticipation. Expect further details to emerge . . . Clarification, April 28, 11:55AM: the wording of the last paragraph in this item was not meant to suggest that all of the party attendees stayed throughough the night. Some of the partygoers were simply there to play cards and mingle with friends. * * * www.harpers.org/sb-red-lights-on-capitol-hill.html
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Post by RPankn on May 5, 2006 15:20:04 GMT -5
Paging Jeff Gannon/Jim Guckert...Thursday, April 27, 2006 Wilkes. Wade. Cunningham. Hookers. And more...First, a simple question: Why is Brent Wilkes, the spooked-up bribe-master who ran so many not-quite-real businesses, still living as a free man in Poway, California? Second, the Wall Street Journal and TPM Muckraker report that the juiciest aspect of the scandal will soon burst wide upon. Remember the hookers? Remember the "hospitality suites" at the Watergate (yes, the Watergate) and the Westin Grand? Wade says his mentor and fellow Cunningham briber Brent Wilkes had set up the ring -- rented the hotel rooms, found the limousine company and the hookers. We've heard for months that other congressfolk were involved, but so far, the only name we have is Cunningham's. Here's the really intriguing bit: So far, none of these stories have specified the sex of the prostitutes. Read the WSJ piece carefully, and you'll see that writer Scot Paltrow goes out of his way to avoid assigning gender-revelatory pronouns to the "escorts." As I noted in a previous piece (scroll down to "Finally, our story goes gay"), the Washington Blade identified Cunningham -- who has made some rabidly anti-homosexual pronouncements -- as having, shall we say, a secret life. One of Wilkes' few employees appears to be the same fellow who owns a San Diego dance club with a gay clientele. Gay porn has been shot there in "off hours." There's no point in humiliating Duke further. But don't you want to know who else might have made use of this service...? cannonfire.blogspot.com/2006/04/wilkes-wade-cunningham-hookers-and.html
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Post by RPankn on May 5, 2006 15:29:11 GMT -5
Prosecutors May Widen Congressional-Bribe Case
Cunningham Is Suspected Of Asking for Prostitutes; Were Others Involved?By SCOT J. PALTROW April 27, 2006; Page A6 (See Corrections & Amplifications item below.) Federal prosecutors are investigating whether two contractors implicated in the bribery of former Rep. Randall "Duke" Cunningham supplied him with prostitutes and free use of a limousine and hotel suites, pursuing evidence that could broaden their long-running inquiry. Besides scrutinizing the prostitution scheme for evidence that might implicate contractor Brent Wilkes, investigators are focusing on whether any other members of Congress, or their staffs, may also have used the same free services, though it isn't clear whether investigators have turned up anything to implicate others. In recent weeks, Federal Bureau of Investigation agents have fanned out across Washington, interviewing women from escort services, potential witnesses and others who may have been involved in the arrangement. In an interview, the assistant general manager of the Watergate Hotel confirmed that federal investigators had requested, and been given, records relating to the investigation and rooms in the hotel. But he declined to disclose what the records show. A spokeswoman for Starwood Inc., Westin's parent company, said she wasn't immediately able to get information on whether the Westin Grand had been contacted by investigators. Mr. Cunningham, a Republican from San Diego, was sentenced March 3 to more than eight years in federal prison after he admitted taking $2.4 million in bribes. The bribes were taken in exchange for helping executives obtain large contracts with the Defense Department and other federal agencies. Mr. Cunningham, who resigned from Congress in November, pleaded guilty to two criminal counts, one of tax evasion and one of conspiracy. In documents filed in federal court in San Diego, prosecutors listed four "co-conspirators" in the bribing of Mr. Cunningham. The two who allegedly played the biggest role, listed as co-conspirators No. 1 and No. 2, have been confirmed by Justice Department officials and defense lawyers to be Mr. Wilkes and Mitchell Wade, the founder and former head of MZM Inc., a software and computer-services firm that Mr. Cunningham helped to gain federal contracts. The charges against Mr. Cunningham had alleged that "Co-conspirator #1" -- Mr. Wilkes -- had given the congressman more than $600,000 in bribes, including paying off a mortgage on Mr. Cunningham's house. Mr. Wilkes hasn't been charged with any crime, and people with knowledge of the investigation say he recently decided he would fight any charges that might be filed rather than plead guilty and cooperate with the investigation. Michael Lipman, Mr. Wilkes's lawyer, denied his client had been involved in procuring prostitutes. "There was no such conduct. It did not happen," Mr. Lipman said. The lawyer added that "Mr. Wilkes and ADCS strongly believe that all of their actions have been proper and appropriate. They are confident that the government will come to the same conclusion." Mr. Wilkes, of Pohway, Calif., founded a series of companies that obtained federal contracts, including ADCS Inc., which won contracts to convert paper military records to computer images. Mr. Wade in February pleaded guilty to giving bribes of more than $1 million to Mr. Cunningham, including cash, antiques and payment for yachts. Mr. Wade, who hasn't been sentenced yet, is cooperating with prosecutors. According to people with knowledge of the investigation, Mr. Wade told investigators that Mr. Cunningham periodically phoned him to request a prostitute, and that Mr. Wade then helped to arrange for one. A limousine driver then picked up the prostitute as well as Mr. Cunningham, and drove them to one of the hotel suites, originally at the Watergate Hotel, and subsequently at the Westin Grand. Mr. Wade told investigators that all the arrangements for these services had been made by Mr. Wilkes and two employees of Mr. Wilkes's company, according to people with knowledge of his debriefing. He said Mr. Wilkes had rented the hotel suites and found the limousine driver, who had "relationships" with several escort services. Mr. Wade told prosecutors that sometimes Mr. Cunningham would contact him to request these services, and he would pass on the request to Mr. Wilkes or his employees, who then made the actual arrangement. Mr. Wade said that other times Mr. Cunningham called Mr. Wilkes directly to make the requests. If investigators find that any other members of Congress or their staffs received services at so-called hospitality suites, that could help make a case that they had illegally taken action to benefit Mr. Wilkes in return for favors from him. Mr. Wilkes, his family members and his employees were heavy campaign contributors to several members of Congress. But prosecutors so far apparently haven't found any evidence that other members of Congress had been bribed. Mr. Wade told investigators that he had knowledge only of the service being provided to Mr. Cunningham, not anyone else, and has said he doesn't know whether Mr. Wilkes may have provided prostitutes or other free entertainment to anyone besides Mr. Cunningham. K. Lee Blalack II, Mr. Cunningham's lawyer, said, "I have no comment on that" when asked about his client's alleged use of prostitutes. Mr. Cunningham, 64 years old, currently is undergoing a routine medical evaluation at the Butner Federal Correctional Complex in North Carolina. People close to the case said prosecutors had hoped that Mr. Wilkes, like Mr. Wade, would plead guilty and turn over information relevant to the investigation. Now that he has indicated he won't do so, prosecutors are hunting for evidence to bolster any potential case against him. Meanwhile, prosecutors are looking at whether they can make corruption cases against other lawmakers based on Mr. Wilkes's campaign contributions to them. But lawyers expert in campaign-finance and criminal law say such cases are far more difficult to prove than those involving outright bribery. The government must show a direct "quid pro quo" that a lawmaker has taken action on a particular bill solely because of a campaign contribution. Proof of the prostitution scheme, on the other hand, could provide potentially damaging evidence that Mr. Wilkes had taken illegal steps in exchange for legislative favors, people involved in the investigation said. [ Or that there was a honeytrap operation going on on the side.] Write to Scot J. Paltrow at scot.paltrow@wsj.com Corrections & Amplifications: An alleged co-conspiratorin the former congressman Randall "Duke" Cunningham bribery case lives in Poway, Calif. This article misspelled the name of the city as Pohway. online.wsj.com/public/article/SB114610728002837324-nRnF_ahxSnYdWg6foBQ3_mvCwZ4_20070427.html?mod=blogs
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Post by RPankn on May 5, 2006 15:33:31 GMT -5
More from the Cannonfire blog:Finally: Our story goes gay. Remember the squib about that possible "hot pillow" operation at the Watergate hotel? Remember the strong suggestion that pols and other interested parties might have been "entertained" at this venue? Well, on a completely unrelated note, stalwart Young Republican hard-rightist Michael Mack, 31, who works for Group W Advisors, may also be the same Michael Mack who co-owns a dance club called Club Montage. The club describes its offerings thus: "Full of hot young gay boys, great dance music, food and a fun environment in downtown San Diego, California." Apparently, gay porn has been shot there during off-hours. Do I have a problem with any of this? Of course not. But -- if the two Macks are indeed one and the same -- the Jesus voters who get the Young Republican newsletter may have their own views on the matter. Are there any other individuals involved with the Wilkes operation who have taken noteworthy stances on gay issues? Perhaps. The Washington Blade says that none other than Duke Cunningham himself is...well, why don't I let the Blade tell the story? What you won't read about in these mainstream press accounts is the other double life led by the closet case, Duke, the anti-gay conservative. Cunningham, who is married with grown children, has admitted to romantic, loving relationships with men, both during his Vietnam military service and as a civilian. That was the remarkable story that this publication reported two years ago, when Elizabeth Birch, the former Human Rights Campaign leader, inadvertently outed Cunningham at a gay rights forum. Birch never mentioned Cunningham’s name, but she talked about a rabidly anti-gay congressman who asked to meet privately with her in the midst of a controversy over his use in a speech on the floor of the House the term "homos" to describe gays who have served in the military. Alone with Birch and an HRC staffer, the unnamed congressman shared that he had loved men during his life. In telling the story, Birch offered up a few too many details about the closeted congressman. A few Google searches later, the Blade reported that it had to be Cunningham, whose career was pockmarked with bizarre gay pronouncements, including a reference to the rectal treatment he received for prostate cancer, something he told an audience "was just not natural, unless maybe you’re Barney Frank." cannonfire.blogspot.com/2005/12/wilkescunningham-updates-correction.html
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Post by RPankn on May 5, 2006 15:51:50 GMT -5
Hmmm...now if I wanted to ensure that key members of Congress always voted in a certain way, regardless of the interests of their constituents and the country, I'd set up a clandestine bribery and honeytrap operation and use the dirt I obtained to keep them in line.Sex, Lies, and Government ContractsThe Progress Report. Posted May 5, 2006. A corruption scandal involving Republicans in Congress, CIA officials, prostitutes on Capitol Hill, and defense contracts has begun to spread. The most extensive federal corruption scandal in a century is growing. In March, former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-CA) was sentenced to more than eight years in federal prison (the longest sentence ever given to a member of Congress) for accepting $2.4 million in bribes in exchange for lucrative defense contracts. Yet Cunningham's crimes, the "magnitude and duration" of which are compared to the Teapot Dome scandal of the 1920s, may end up a mere prelude. According to recent reports, federal investigators have traced the outlines of a far more extensive network of suspected corruption, involving multiple members of Congress, some of the nation's highest-ranking intelligence officials, bribery attempts including "free limousine service, free stays at hotel suites at the Watergate and the Westin Grand, and free prostitutes," tens of millions of dollars in federal contracts awarded under dubious circumstances, and even efforts to influence U.S. national security policy by subverting democratic oversight. The ringleader At the center of the storm is California defense contractor Brent Wilkes -- aka "Co-Conspirator #1" in government documents -- "who gave more than $630,000 in cash and favors" to Cunningham "for help in landing millions of dollars in federal contracts." Wilkes devoted much of his 20-year career to "developing political contacts in Washington," a task at which he excelled, serving recently both as a county finance co-chairman of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's (R-CA) campaign and as the state finance co-chairman for President Bush. "Wilkes, his family members and his employees were heavy campaign contributors to several members of Congress," and he frequently invited members -- including Cunningham, Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX), and House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) -- on chartered corporate jets. The efforts paid off handsomely: "Wilkes won tens of millions of dollars worth of defense contracts for his companies through the process of closed-door congressional earmarking of the federal budget." Indeed, "many of the contracts Wilkes secured" were for projects the Pentagon never even requested. Wilkes has thus far avoided any criminal charges, but federal officials are investigating instances of quid pro quo, since the "timing of Wilkes' many political donations closely parallels the approval of earmarks for Wilkes' companies." 'Red lights on Capitol Hill' For more than a decade, Wilkes curried favor with lawmakers and CIA officials by hosting weekly parties at lavish hospitality suites at the Watergate and Westin hotels in Washington. Guests would gamble, socialize, and sometimes receive prostitutes; according to Harper's magazine, the festivities "began early with poker games and degenerated" into what one source described "as a 'frat party' scene -- real bacchanals." Mitchell Wade, another defense contractor who pleaded guilty in February to bribing Cunningham, has "told federal prosecutors that he periodically helped arrange for a prostitute for the then-congressman." But investigators are digging for more: FBI agents "have fanned out across Washington, interviewing women from escort services, potential witnesses and others who may have been involved in the arrangement," attempting to determine "whether any other members of Congress, or their staffs, may also have used the same free services." Last week, a reporter for the San Diego Union-Tribune said that "as many as a half dozen other Congressmen" may ultimately be implicated in the scandal. (Several have already denied ever attending Wilkes' parties.) Also, investigators are reportedly "trying to determine whether Cunningham and other legislators brought prostitutes to the hotels or prostitutes were provided for them there"; there is speculation that Wilkes may be subject to felony federal sex-trafficking charges if the Virginia-based limousine service he used transported the prostitutes into Washington. CIA's third in command admits he attended parties The highest-ranking CIA official to admit he attended the poker parties thrown by Wilkes is Executive Director Kyle "Dusty" Foggo, the agency's third-ranking official. (Foggo even "occasionally hosted the poker parties at his house in northern Virginia," though he denies ever seeing prostitutes at the gatherings.) Foggo's relationship with Wilkes goes back 30-plus years; the two were roommates in college, best men at each others' weddings, and even "named their sons after each other." By the 1980s, Foggo had joined the CIA and "was sent to Honduras to assist the Nicaraguan Contra rebels," where his "position was essentially a contracting officer -- he could get anyone anything they needed." Meanwhile, Wilkes had established himself in Washington and made his living "ferrying congressmen to Central America, where he would introduce them to Foggo and the Contras." Foggo's connections to Wilkes and fellow contractor Mitchell Wade are now the focus of an investigation into CIA contracts by the agency's inspector general, first made public in March. One of Wilkes' companies, Archer Logistics, won a contract to provide supplies to CIA agents in Afghanistan and Iraq despite having "no previous experience with such work, having been founded a few months before the contract was granted." CIA director Goss tied to scandal? Last week, Harper's magazine reported that party-goers "under intense scrutiny by the FBI are current and former lawmakers on Defense and Intelligence committees -- including one person who now holds a powerful intelligence post." CIA Director Porter Goss is perhaps the only individual who fits such a description. ("This is horribly irresponsible. He hasn't even been to the Watergate in decades," a CIA spokeswoman said. When asked if Goss had attended Wilkes' parties at the Westin or other locations, she repeated the denial. "It's horribly irresponsible. Flatly untrue.") But the alleged links between Goss, Foggo, and Wilkes have led some to return to questions raised when Goss initially selected Foggo to be executive director in November 2004. At the time, the decision was viewed with skepticism since Foggo's previous position was as a "midlevel procurement supervisor," and because following his unexpected selection, "Porter Goss lieutenant Patrick Murray went to then-Associate Deputy Director of Operations for Counterintelligence Mary Margaret Graham and informed her that if anything leaked about other Goss appointments -- in particular, Foggo's -- she would be held responsible." Project on Government Oversight fellow Jason Vest reported last week that much of Foggo's counterintelligence file "has to do with various social encounters over the years, none of which he's been deceptive about when polygraphed, and all of which have been deemed to be of no threat to operational security -- but are still the types of things that could be embarrassing for Goss and the Agency." Vest suggests the latest reports raise important questions about the "relationship between Foggo and Wilkes, and the relationship of each with Goss." Even the limo service is corrupt Another piece of the puzzle is Shirlington Limousine and Transportation Inc., the firm that Wilkes used to "transport congressmen, CIA officials, and perhaps prostitutes to his Washington parties." Shirlington's president, Christopher Baker, has a "lengthy history of illegal activity," detailed in his 62-page rap-sheet which "runs from at least 1979 through 1989 and lists charges of petty larceny, robbery, receiving stolen goods, assault, and more." Shirlington Limo also "operates in what looks to be a deliberately murky way. The limo company does business under at least four different names; in addition, the office addresses listed on its business filings regularly change. A number of those office addresses are actually at residential buildings or business suites, and calls to the listed phone numbers are taken by an answering service." The company was sued in 2004 for failing to make payments on buses it had purchased, has received eviction notices from its offices, and even had its federal license revoked by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration in both 2001 and 2004. Despite all of this, the Department of Homeland Security last fall awarded Shirlington a $21 million contract "to provide transportation, including limo service for senior officials." Shirlington also won contracts "with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (for $519,823) and...the Federal Highway Administration (for $142,000)." What role did Wilkes play in Shirlington receiving these federal contracts? The Defense Appropriations Committee 'Cabal' A common thread links the members of Congress that Wilkes courted most aggressively, such as Cunningham and Reps. Jerry Lewis (R-CA), Duncan Hunter (R-CA), and John Doolittle (R-CA). All were (or still are) on subcommittees overseeing defense and intelligence spending. On Monday, prominent conservative strategist Ed Rollins described the main players in the scandal as a "real little cabal on the defense appropriations committee." In particular, the House Appropriations subcommittee on defense is "aggressively courted not just by defense contractors, but by lobbyists for foreign governments interested in swinging US defense spending in certain directions," investigative journalist Laura Rozen notes. "It is really where the checks are signed, and decisions about funding sometimes wholly un-debated aspects of U.S. national security policy are made." Indeed, many of the figures tied to the scandal have histories of involvement in reactionary conservative elements of U.S. foreign policy: Kyle Foggo worked extensively with the Nicaraguan contras, Mitchell Wade headed a White House-contracted group called the "Iranian Democratization Foundation", and Wilkes was reportedly set to receive a contract to "create and run a secret plane network" for the CIA before his links to Cunningham were made public. The roots of this scandal may be as much in profiteering as they are in "this club's conviction that the law is an impediment to the national security cause, that the way to run things is through these informal networks." www.alternet.org/story/35841
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Post by RPankn on May 5, 2006 16:39:27 GMT -5
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Post by RPankn on May 5, 2006 16:48:25 GMT -5
Friday :: May 5, 2006 Party On, Porter - Why Are You Leaving So Suddenly?by Steve Soto Sure, Porter Goss isn’t implicated at all in the Duke Cunningham/Brent Wilkes/Dusty Foggo stories. Nope, not at all. Folks, this was a sudden move, as if the man just found out he was political and legal roadkill. I saw no clips from the usual sources that anything was coming on this, especially after Goss denied late last week that he was implicated in the stories about Brent Wilkes's hooker parties for members of Congress, one of whom was now a high-ranking intelliegence official. There are two immediate thoughts here. First, there is no way Harry Reid will allow Bush to get a nomination through for a replacement between now and November, without making the Administration walk through fire on intelligence reform, the Roberts' Phase Two inquiry, the Plame case, and John Negroponte's pathetic performance as the Director of National Intelligence. In fact, Reid may simply take the position that "we'll wait to see who controls these committees" after November. Secondly, without Goss there to stop the book for security reasons, does George Tenet have an easier time now getting his tell-all book to the market in mid-October as he is currently planning? Lastly, if Bush wants to seriously nominate Francis Townsend for the job, after she has done so well with the Iraq WMD cover-up, Katrina, and bird flu, then I say "bring it on." Those will be great confirmation hearings heading into a midterm election. [ Right, because the Democrats on the Intelligence Committee have been so effective in their job of advice and consent.] Both William Kristol on Fox and CNN are saying that Goss’s move was unexpected, and CNN reported that the move caught both the Agency and Defense by surprise. Update: Per emal’s tip, check Laura Rozen’s excellent War and Piece blog, where she reports that Goss left suddenly today after a meeting with John Negroponte, wherein Goss may have been told that he’s out by Bush’s decision in response to how Goss handled a Dusty Foggo matter. Also, Rozen reports that the Post’s Dana Priest may have the story tomorrow as to why Goss left so suddenly. And as Rozen notes, the Huffington Post is now reporting that there may be another head to roll, that being Defense Department Undersecretary. And who are the Under Secretaries of Defense? Stephen Cambone for Intelligence, and Eric Edelman for Policy, are two of them. The default position for center-left types like me is to assume that this is about the Brent Wilkes hooker stuff and Dusty Foggo, but I wonder if it also is about Iran. Brent Wilkes and Mitchell Wade are buddies, and Wade has a “let’s blast Iran” boondoggle; are these two stories connected? Update #2: Another alternate scenario, from Time magazine this afternoon, is that Negroponte has been taking Goss's turf and power from him since Day One, and recently moved more power from him, setting off what happened today. But if this is true, then why did Goss leave today without a successor lined up, or stay until one was named and put in place? For this scenario to make sense, Goss would in effect have either been canned today in an "either he goes or I go" showdown with Negroponte, or Goss just up and quit today, catching the White House off guard. Would a loyal soldier like Goss leave Bush in a lurch like that, especially with Cheney out of the country? Was Goss no longer "on the team"? www.theleftcoaster.com/archives/007576.php
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Post by Moses on May 6, 2006 13:29:56 GMT -5
On Monday, prominent conservative strategist Ed Rollins described the main players in the scandal as a "real little cabal on the defense appropriations committee." ! Wow--
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Post by Moses on May 6, 2006 14:15:30 GMT -5
Duncan Hunter too? He is chair of House Armed Services.
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Post by RPankn on May 6, 2006 17:29:26 GMT -5
It's about GAY hookers, STUPID!by courtjester Fri May 05, 2006 at 04:45:58 PM PDT Update [2006-5-6 1:19:31 by courtjester]:In the comments, kant usefully points to this post which has this choice graph... In a secretive culture, like the gay underworld - that I wish could finally disappear altogether - blackmail isn't as crass as open exhortion, the threats are often unspoken. In fact, pressure can be applied in even apparently friendly ways as lovers, ex-lovers, or friends yield simply to accommodate and protect everyone. Three days ago I spoke with a contemporary of mine, who'd been a regular at CBGB's and places like the 9th Circle who had become a staunch Republican. Although he lives in DC we met in one of the old 70s landmarks we'd each known 30 years ago as he was visiting New York for a few days. (He was keen to tell me about the Constitution Ball he attended this year.) When I asked him just what all this was about, all these secret gays - the whole pack of them - he gave me one of those looks that says "Girl, this says it all" and said, in a whispered tone, "Karl Rove." Original post is below the fold... I'm sorry, but why is everyone so shy about asking the gender of the hookers involved in the Duke Cunningham scandal? And for those of you who might say it does not matter, I have just one thing to say... You are fools! Edwin Edwards used to say that the only thing that will cost me the Governorship is if I am caught with in bed with a dead girl or a live boy. And there is nothing that gay repugs fear more than being outed. It is a political death sentence in the Christo-Repug Star Chamber. And with that in mind, I return to the question of the gender of these hookers who were provided to the Dukester by Shirlington Limo and Mitchell Wade... Per Josh Marshall, Shirlington head honcho Chris Baker, allegedly, made the hookers available to Cunningham as follows... www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/008350.phpIn case you've forgotten your scorecard at home, Brent Wilkes is the arch-briber in the Randy "Duke" Cunningham scandal. As the Wall Street Journal first reported back on April 27th, federal investigators are looking into evidence that, in addition to cash prizes, Wilkes may have also set Duke up with hookers at the parties he threw in DC. The Feds also looking into what other members of Congress and intelligence officials spent quality time at Wilkes' hoedowns. (Wilkes' was apparently throwing these parties for something like 15 years.) This Justin Rood post from TPMmuckraker has quotes from Reps. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) and Jerry Lewis (R-CA) denying that they partied with Wilkes. And here's the follow-up piece from the Journal in which the CIA concedes that Agency #3 man Dusty Foggo did party with Wilkes but didn't stick around for the hookers to show up. [ That's interesting, because on NBC, Lewis admitted to playing poker at these parties -- obviously Lewis is lying.] Anyway, Chris Baker was clearly Wilkes' go-to guy for the 'hospitality suites' notwithstanding the fact that Baker's lawyer told the San Diego Union-Tribune that Baker was "never in attendance in any party where any women were being used for prostitution purposes." And, as we discussed late Tuesday, there's something pretty fishy about the mega-contracts Baker's company managed to land from the Department of Homeland Security. Did anyone think to ask whether Baker had been in attendance in any party where any men were being used for prostitution puroses. They used to call this kind of parsing Clintonian. Also, a googling of the words "Duke", "gay" and "prostitutes" brings up this interesting cache from Wonkette... 72.14.207.104/search?q=cache:KRIcKPmpUc0J:www.wonkette.com/politics/duke-cunningham/+duke+gay+prostitutes&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1Check out the references to Duke's trip to Saudi Arabia, his "lady doth protest too much" lashing of Barney Frank and his delicate taste. Finally, and most significantly, there is this piece from the Washington Blade where Chris Crain makes the compelling case that Duke is gay... www.washblade.com/2005/12-2/view/editorial/cunningham.cfmCrain begins with this powerful intro... THE THING ABOUT LYING, your mother probably told you, is that the more lying you do, the deeper the hole you dig. That familiar lesson was apparently lost on good ol' Duke Cunningham. The grizzled Vietnam War veteran turned right-wing Republican resigned his seat in Congress this week after he pled guilty to accepting $2.4 million in bribes from defense contractors. Over the years, Cunningham accepted a staggering list of gifts and sweetheart deals in exchange for his vote and influence. What you won't read about in these mainstream press accounts is the other double life led by the closet case, Duke, the anti-gay conservative... Like a skilled prosecutor, Crain then lays out the evidence, and then concludes with this powerful closing... This is, after all, a man without principles, who could "love men" in private, all the while condemning gays in speeches and in congressional votes. Little surprise that he could live a second double life, in which he sold those unprincipled votes to the highest bidder. So help me out here... Why the media silence on the gender of the prostitutes at the Duke Love Shack? Can we do anything to turn that around, because it is very friggin' relevant if a gay-bashing administration turns out to be a haven for and a bastion of gay sleeper-mongers. www.dailykos.com/story/2006/5/5/194558/7271
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Post by RPankn on May 6, 2006 18:25:22 GMT -5
Friday, May 05, 2006 Go, Goss, go! (Updated) Bush-friendly CIA Director Porter Goss has abruptly resigned. No stated reason. No designated successor. CNN said: "Taking a look at what's out on the Internet -- not much controversy involving the director himself." Are they kidding? Or does CNN log on to some other internet? Perhaps they should take a look at Justin Rood's extraordinary work at TPM Muckraker. You know -- just to get a whiff of what real reporting smells like. To the best of my memory, no previous Director of Central Intelligence has resigned so abruptly. Obviously, something major has occurred. I feel certain that this development is related to the Wilkes/Wade/Cunningham bribery scandal -- to Hookergate -- and possibly to the disengenuous debate over Mary McCarthy of the CIA Inspector General's office. Goss elevated Brent Wilkes' partner "Dusty" Foggo -- a former cop and Assistant D.A. from an undistinguished college, who became a CIA desk jockey after doing a stint in Honduras as the money guy for the contras. I'm reminded of a recurrent theme in Victor Ostrovsky's books: In Mossad (and presumably in most other spy agencies), you don't advance unless you have a "horse" -- someone powerful pulling you forward. Goss was Foggo's horse -- although, as we shall see, there is some question as to who rode whom. The CIA's Inspector General (the Agency's "internal affairs" office) has been looking into Foggo's connections with the notorious briber Brent Wilkes, who "owned" a number of semi-fake companies which received ultra-fat government contracts; part of the cash went to fund Republican candidates. (Any actual work could always be subcontracted. We've seen this same scam at work in the Katrina clean-up effort.) Foggo, it is alleged, helped to steer CIA contracts toward Wilkes and his fellow bribe-meister Mitchell Wade. The only person convicted in the scandal so far, Congressman "Duke" Cunningham, is -- at last report -- doing time in Butner, North Carolina. I do not know to what degree he or Wilkes have cooperated with authorites, but Wade reportedly has spilled beans. He revealed that Wilkes -- with the help of a shady limo service -- has, over the course of more than a decade, run prostitutes in and out of the Watergate and Westin Grand hotels. The girls (and guys?) serviced congressmen and other powerful figures. Ken Silverstein, in a Harpers piece titeld "Red Lights on Capitol Hill," wrote: I've learned from a well-connected source that those under intense scrutiny by the FBI are current and former lawmakers on Defense and Intelligence comittees—including one person who now holds a powerful intelligence post. That sounds an awful lot like former congressman Porter Goss -- indeed, nobody else seems to fit the bill. A CIA spokesperson characterized any suggestion of Goss' involvement as "irresponsible" and "untrue." That was roughly a week before the DCI suddenly resigned. Which brings us to another key sentence in the Silverstein piece: Apparently photographs were taken, and investigators are anxiously procuring copies. My heart beats faster in fevered anticipation. As I said previously, we can presume that the congressmen were not dumb enough to take photos of themselves partying with working girls. Which means that the photos were taken without their permission. Which means that -- in all likelihood -- we are dealing with a sting operation. A blackmail ring. We've seen this sort of thing before. In a previous article, I noted the parallels to a Nixon-era operation run out of Xaviera Hollander's brothel. One could also mention Tongsun Park, the Georgetown Club, and the Koreagate scandal. One might also note the White House-linked gay prostitution ring operating during the Reagan and Bush I eras -- a ring briefly exposed by the Washington Times. Reverend Moon, owner of that journal, was also a prime mover in the Koreagate affair. The Moon empire also has strange but undeniable ties to GOPUSA and Jeff Gannon, the male prostitute who may have stayed overnight in the White House on a number of occasions -- or so Secret Service records would indicate. Quite a few rumors have linked Gannon to the Wilkes/Wade hooker haven -- but so far, these seem to be only rumors. Blackmail. Savor that thought for a moment. Now ask yourself: If incriminating photographs of Porter Goss exist, did they play a role in his being tapped for that august position at CIA? One is reminded of a quote attributed to LBJ: "I don't trust a man unless I have his pecker in my pocket." Before Goss, Bush was bedeviled by DCI George Tenet, who played the role of Janus: Tenet pled loyalty, yet the press kept printing leaks indicating that CIA analysts disagreed with the rationales for war. Bush, who values loyalty above all, presumed that he could rely on greater fealty from Porter Goss. Blackmail photographs of Porter Goss partying with hookers would explain his ascent as well as his fall. But how would Bush's neocon handlers have known of such photos (presuming that they exist) unless the Wilkes/Wade operation had ties that went as high as the White House itself? Update: Have you noticed how the sad Patrick Kennedy business is everywhere on the news -- yet the media still refuses to devote much time to hookergate? Update 2: Goss indicated that he will leave before the designation of a successor. So who will mind the store? Certainly not the embattled Foggo. The Deputy Director of the CIA right now is Vice Admiral Albert M. Calland, III -- a former Navy SEAL who served as the commander of the Naval Special Warfare Development Group. You can read a 2003 interview with Calland here. (He got the CIA job in July of 2005.) The comments about UAVs and UUVs are of some interest. (I've long theorized that UAV testing was one possible cause for reports of... Nope. Not gonna mention that acronym. Not in this blog.) Calland, who supports Donald Rumsfeld's call for greater reliance on Special Forces, looks like a leading candidate for the top spot. This is troubling. As we noted previously, Rumsfeld's Special Operations Command -- SOCOM -- stands poised to unleash Green Berets and Navy SEALS, both in foreign nations and domestically, after Big Wedding II. Special Forces will have authority to spy and to make arrests of U.S. citizens without warrant. If Calland becomes DCI, the civilian agency won't be in any position to hold the Special Forces in check -- indeed, CIA and SOCOM will work in tandem. I'm already starting to miss Goss! Update 3: Justin Rood has some interesting scuttlebutt... Goss was told to fire Kyle "Dusty" Foggo, his troublesome Executive Director, and Goss refused. That's what we're hearing now from knowledgeable sources. But there's a lot of contradictory information. cannonfire.blogspot.com/2006/05/go-goss-go-updated.html
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Post by RPankn on May 7, 2006 15:34:42 GMT -5
The Porter Goss story becomes even weirderI have to thank Xymphora for directing our attention to the strangest Porter Goss tale of all: The unusual June 4, 2000 "suicide" -- if suicide it was -- of John Millis, the staff director of the House Intelligence Committee, which was chaired by then-congressman Goss. Millis shot himself in a seedy Virginia motel, in a bathtub. A note was found elsewhere in the room, but the police refused to describe it and the press seemed remarkably unwilling to inquire. The circumstances of this death inevitably call to mind the faked suicide of Danny Casolaro and the questionable suicide of Raymond Lemme, who investigated the Clint Curtis allegations. Although the Millis tale received little coverage at the time, a long article appeared in Insight on the News, a periodical owned by the Reverend Moon. On close reading, this piece seems almost as bewildering as the suicide itself; author Jamie Dettmer continually hints at wider ramifications which he never spells out. For example, Dettmer takes care to point out that the room was hastily cleaned and rented out the very next day -- but the writer then pretends that this is standard practice when motels "host" a homicide. (I doubt it.) Passages of the article strongly hint that Porter Goss had some involvement in the man's death, yet the author never makes that claim directly. Millis, like Goss, had a CIA background. At first, the two men got on well; eventually, they clashed over Millis' close relations with the press. According to Insight, Millis' widow claimed that her husband had an affair with another man -- an assertion which gains new resonance in light of the current "Fornigate" scandal. But some congressional and CIA sources say Goss has personal reasons to want the circumstances surrounding the suicide to be kept under wraps. While acknowledging there was no harm done to national security, they argue that Millis' death is deserving of public analysis if for no other reason than it might have been avoided. They contend that the congressman mishandled Millis before the suicide and that Goss, who has ambitions to succeed Tenet at the CIA in a George W. Bush administration, has no wish for his poor management to be advertised. More: In the week leading up to his suicide, Millis remained in his Capitol Hill office and stayed in daily contact with committee members, aides and the press. Several administration officials, CIA officers and reporters, including one from Insight, who talked with him on the phone days before the suicide, have noted that he seemed tired but talked about upcoming committee work. "He didn't seem depressed or anything but he did appear to want to talk," says a former CIA agent. "In fact, in hindsight he struck me as a bit lonely. I couldn't get him off the phone and I had to be rude almost." Millis appears to have angered Goss when the former gave a public speech in which he offered a scathing critique of the American intelligence community. I know that many readers sigh and arch their eyebrows whenever the name Wayne Madsen comes up, but in this case, we really must mention his work, since he worked on a book about the Millis case. Madsen's take certainly deserves a reading -- but do keep that proverbial grain of salt handy: On May 11, a few weeks prior to his death, Millis authored a report on the CIA alleged links to cocaine smuggling by Nicaraguan drug rings to gangs in Los Angeles. Although the HPSCI report, like previous reports by the CIA and Justice Department, cleared the CIA of any wrongdoing, some informed observers believe that Millis may have actually written a different version of the report that was more critical of the CIA involvement in drug trafficking and that he may have been silenced because he knew too much. Millis was considered by some CIA officials to be constantly wishing to re-invent the wheel on CIA intelligence activities. Former White House counsel and Clinton confidant Charles Ruff was reportedly briefed on HPSCI findings by Millis. Ruff died on November 20, 2000. His body was found outside a shower in his home by his wife. Police ruled the death as resulting from natural causes and not foul play. It was later determined that Ruff suffered an apparent heart attack. HPSCI ranking member Representative Julian Dixon, who was also briefed on the HPSCI cocaine report, died suddenly from a heart attack on December 8, 2000, a few weeks after Ruff death. There is also some reason to believe that Millis was unhappy with Goss reluctance to investigate the CIA handling or mishandling of alleged Mossad penetration of the White House communications system and its failure to investigate the identity of Israel alleged high-level U.S. government mole, the so-called Mega. [ I've heard speculation that it was Rahm Emmanuel.] Goss reportedly said he was concerned that Israel had penetrated White House communications but he did not want to pursue any investigation of the matter. Goss once remarked to a congressional colleague that if anyone took a look at his Florida district, his reluctance to criticize Israel would be totally understandable. [ And that the flight schools the "hijackers" trained at all were in his congressional district, along with the Israeli "art students."] (Emphasis added; "HPSCI" refers to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.) In the past, I've drawn attention to the fact that Mitchell Wade's MZM supplied "furniture" to the White House, and I've theorized that said furnishings came equipped with bugging equipment. Nobody has offered a better suggestion as to why a defense and intelligence contractor would get a gig like that.Elsewhere we learn that Millis' CIA career included a stint in Pakistan to support the anti-Soviet mujahedeen. In that capacity, he must have worked with Osama Bin Laden. (He also must have turned a blind eye to a major heroin operation.) So...what might have motivated the "suicide" of John Millis? Take your pick: 1. Perhaps he wanted to spill the beans about CIA drug smuggling. 2. Perhaps he caught wind of then-current American dealings with Osama Bin Laden. 3. Perhaps he wanted to blow the whistle on the White House bugs. 4. Perhaps he fell into a honeytrap. The Wilkes operation was in full swing in 2000. Final questions: Did the Insight story -- which hints at a deeper scandal -- function as a "shot across the bow"? Was the Reverend Moon attempting to signal certain parties in Washington: "I know all about this..."? Is that how Moon is able to garner high-powered political endorsement for such dubious enterprises as "Take down the cross day"? Does blackmail explain how the Korean Messiah achieved his "crowning" in the Senate office building? And does this older scandal impact the current controversy over the Goss resignation? (Note: I wrote the first draft of this piece in the wee small hours of the morning. I meant to save it as a draft, but -- being quite fatigued at the time -- I accidentally hit "publish" instead. Thus, the piece appeared with a greater-than-usual number of typos and errors; please forgive.) cannonfire.blogspot.com/2006/05/porter-goss-story-becomes-even-weirder.html
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Post by RPankn on May 7, 2006 15:47:25 GMT -5
Sunday, May 07, 2006 Porter GossipIn the post below, we relate the strange tale of John Millis, the former CIA hand who, in the year 2000, functioned as the staff director of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. That committee was headed by then-congressman Porter Goss (who recently resigned as DCI) . In June, 2000, Millis was found dead in a bathtub in a seedy Virginia motel; the circumstances recalled those surrounding the dubious "suicide" of Danny Casolaro. Police found a note but -- oddly -- never released or described it. Reverend Moon's Insight on the News published a long article which hinted, but did not state, that Porter Goss bore some responsibility for the death of Millis. The article also implied that a sexual relationship between Millis (who was married) and another man contributed to the suicide -- if suicide it was. Many now believe that Porter Goss had a deep connection to the prostitute ring run by spooked-up "businessman" Brent Wilkes. Although most comentators suspect that Goss had sampled the wares at these "hooker" parties, I have suggested that this old CIA hand may have masterminded the operation, in order to gain blackmail material. More than one person has suggested that both male and female prostitutes played a role. (See this Kos post: "It's the GAY hookers, stupid!") We now learn, via Newsweek and Josh Marshall, that one person identified with the Wilkes operation -- a former CIA official previously known only by the colorful sobriquet "Nine Fingers" -- is actually Brant Bassett. I'm struck by the similarity between Bassett's career and that of John Millis. Both had backgrounds in covert ops. Both joined Porter Goss' staff on Capitol Hill. Both helped direct the Intelligence Committee. If Bassett gravitated toward the Wilkes "parties," then Millis probably did likewise. After his death, Millis' wife spoke obliquely of a homosexual entanglement. Did Wilkes faciliate that encounter? When Millis and Goss fell out, was the former threatened with exposure? By the way, you may have noticed another scandal at work here. Congress is supposed to provide oversight of the intelligence community. How can they do so when the HPSCI is itself spookier than the Winchester Mystery House? In other news... Daniel Hopsicker uncovered a 1963 nightclub photograph (taken in Mexico City) which depicts Porter Goss alongside Barry Seal, William Seymour, Frank Sturgis, Felix Rodriguez and other Agency luminaries. That period of Goss' life remains shadowy; Hopsicker does his best to shine a little light on the scene. Hayden is unpopular. Even Republicans have voiced opposition to the choice of Michael Hayden as DCI. But Democrats still have not publicized Hayden's pointed refusal to acknowledge a questioner who asked him if the NSA targeted Bush opponents. cannonfire.blogspot.com/2006/05/porter-gossip.html
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