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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
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November 26th,
2007 - Blackwater Probe Stifled by Conflicts |
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Blackwater Probe Stifled by
Conflicts By Richard Lardner Associated Press November 26, 2007 Washington - The State
Department's acerbic top auditor wasn't happy when Justice Department
officials told one of his aides to leave the room so they could discuss a
criminal investigation of Blackwater Worldwide, the contractor protecting
U.S. diplomats in Iraq. The episode reveals the
badly strained relationship between Bush administration officials over the
probe into whether Blackwater smuggled weapons into Iraq that could have
gotten into insurgents' hands. As a result of the
bureaucratic crosscurrents between State's top auditor and Justice, the
investigation has been bogged down for months. A key date was July 11, when
Howard Krongard, State's inspector general, sent an e-mail to one of his
assistant inspector generals, telling him to "IMMEDIATELY" stop
work on the Blackwater investigation. That lead to criticisms by Democrats
that Krongard has tried to protect Blackwater and block investigations into
contractor-related wrongdoing in Iraq. "Instead of
cooperating, Mr. Krongard apparently created a series of obstacles to the
inquiry," said Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight
and Government Reform Committee examining Krongard's performance as the State
Department official responsible for stamping out waste, fraud and abuse. Krongard, whose credibility
was damaged by the recent disclosure that his brother had a business affiliation
with Blackwater, has disputed the charge, though he recused himself from
Blackwater matters after the potential conflict of interest emerged. His aide, Terry Heide, who
was kicked out of the July 31 meeting, also says she's been unfairly blamed
for slowing the Blackwater probe. Her role was to collect State Department
documents for the investigators - a job she did well, according to her
lawyer. But even Krongard's own staff saw her as a hindrance. Brian Rubendall, a senior
State Department investigator, has questioned the halt in the inquiry,
telling the oversight committee in an October interview that there was no
justifiable "reason for us to stop that investigation. None." Krongard said he put the
brakes on because he was concerned a separate audit of Blackwater contracts
might "contaminate" the Justice Department's work. Blackwater has called the
smuggling allegations baseless. However, earlier this year two former
Blackwater employees pleaded guilty to possession of stolen firearms that were
shipped in interstate or foreign commerce. They are cooperating with federal
agents. Blackwater said the two were fired after it was learned they were
stealing from the company. Altogether, the trail of
internal e-mails, testimony from a Nov. 14 oversight hearing and interviews
with participants form a picture of bureaucratic infighting with consequences
far beyond Washington. The State Department's role
in the Blackwater weapons probe began months before the Sept. 16 Baghdad
shootings by Blackwater guards that killed 17 Iraqis and escalated public
scrutiny of the company. In March, Ron Militana, a
special agent in the investigations unit, received Rubendall's approval to
interview State Department personnel and meet with Blackwater attorneys about
allegations the company was illegally transporting arms into Iraq. Militana
also discussed potential criminal proceedings in the case with a federal
prosecutor. In late June, John DeDona,
then chief of the IG's investigative unit, e-mailed Krongard and his deputy,
William Todd, to alert them to the probe. Krongard responded cryptically:
"Please do not treat anything in the e-mail below as having been seen by
me, advised to me, or understood or approved by me. If there is something
significant in the message below, please come and tell me about it." Two weeks later, as Militana
was trying to obtain copies of Blackwater contracts from the department's
Bureau of Diplomatic Security, DeDona sent another message to Krongard
telling him of Militana's work. In a July 11 e-mail to
DeDona, Krongard told him Militana was to "IMMEDIATELY" stop the
work. Krongard said he wanted a briefing from the U.S. Attorney's office in
North Carolina on its Blackwater investigation before his agents went
farther. Waxman and other critics say
Howard Krongard's order to halt came at the same time Blackwater CEO Erik
Prince was considering whether to offer his brother, Alvin "Buzzy"
Krongard, a spot on the company's newly forming advisory board. On July 26, Prince invited
Alvin Krongard to join Blackwater's advisory board. A week later, Robert
Higdon, chief of the criminal division in the U.S. Attorney's office for the
eastern district of North Carolina, and James Candelmo, Higdon's deputy, were
in Washington for the July 31 meeting with Krongard and his investigators. Blackwater is based in
Moyock, N.C. Howard Krongard initially
said his brother had no ties to Blackwater. But during the Nov. 14 oversight
hearing, he recused himself from inquiries related to the company, explaining
that Alvin Krongard had just told him he had attended an advisory board
meeting. Alvin Krongard resigned from the board two days later because of the
uproar the arrangement created. While Democrats claimed a
glaring conflict of interest, Krongard said he pulled his staff off the
Blackwater probe so they wouldn't step on work being done by Stuart Bowen,
the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction. Bowen had sought help from
Krongard's office to audit two Blackwater contracts — the same ones Militana
was helping the U.S. Attorney's office examine, according to Krongard, who
said alarms went off when he realized the potential overlap. "To be assisting a
criminal investigation into the exact same two contracts that we were already
assisting a civil audit into, raised a question of parallel proceedings,
which needed to be deconflicted before one infected or contaminated the
other," he said. Krongard did not say what
the contracts are for or give their value. The State Department pays
Blackwater and two other firms $570 million a year for security services. In a deposition to the
oversight committee, Todd, the deputy inspector general, supported Krongard.
"We had basically several of the same organizations looking at the exact
same stuff," Todd said. But Waxman rejected the
rationale. "You halted an investigation, demanded a personal briefing
from the Justice Department, (and) assigned your congressional affairs
director to keep tabs on the investigation," Waxman said to Krongard at
the hearing. Waxman called the moves "highly unorthodox." Heide, the congressional
affairs director Krongard called his "alter ego," was collecting
the documents needed by Bowen and the U.S Attorney's office, e-mails show. But members of Krongard's
own staff, along with Higdon and Candelmo of the U.S. attorney's office in
North Carolina, saw her as a roadblock. Rubendall told the committee Candelmo
and Higdon planned in advance to raise grand jury information during the July
31 meeting in order to force Heide out of the room. "We weren't going to
discuss grand jury material, but that was the ruse that they were going to
use to get her out of the meeting," Rubendall said. Heide referred questions to
her attorney, David Laufman, who said an e-mail exchange between Krongard and
Heide indicated she was doing as directed. "I am trying to stay
only situationally aware," she wrote Aug. 8, "so I can keep any
conflicts at bay." Justice Department spokesman
Dean Boyd would not comment on the investigation, but said, "The
suggestion that the Justice Department engaged in a ruse in this matter is
flatly incorrect." According to Waxman, the
problems hampering the Blackwater probe persist. Justice investigators have
been unable to get needed documents. Militana has not been allowed to give
his full attention to the criminal investigation even though Krongard said he
would. "I think that the State
Department is responsible for investigating crimes perpetrated against the
State Department," Militana said in an October interview with the
committee. "The (Justice Department) can do it, of course, but there has
to be some involvement by the State Department." Who's Who in Blackwater Probe Officials involved in
Blackwater weapons smuggling probe: Howard Krongard - State
Department inspector general accused of impeding Justice Department
investigation of allegations that Blackwater Worldwide smuggled weapons into
Iraq. On Nov. 14, Krongard recused himself from any inquiries into Blackwater
after it was disclosed his brother had joined the company's advisory board. Alvin "Buzzy"
Krongard - Howard Krongard's brother and former CIA official who resigned
from Blackwater's advisory board on Nov. 16 due to allegations that his
relationship with the company created a conflict of interest. Brian Rubendall - Assistant
special agent in charge of the State Department inspector general's office.
Rubendall told congressional investigators about friction between the Justice
and State departments on the Blackwater probe. Terry Heide - Howard
Krongard's director of congressional and public affairs who says she's been
unfairly blamed for slowing the Blackwater weapons smuggling probe. Heide's
role was to collect State Department documents for the investigators, but
Krongard's own investigators saw her as a hindrance. Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif. -
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman who initiated an
investigation of Howard Krongard's performance as State Department inspector
general. Waxman has strongly criticized Krongard's handling of the Blackwater
weapons smuggling probe. Robert Higdon - Chief of the
criminal division in the U.S. Attorney's office in eastern North Carolina.
Higdon met with Howard Krongard in July and has been one of the Justice
Department's lead investigators on the Blackwater investigation. Ron Militana - Special agent
for investigations in the State Department inspector general's office, who
said his role in the Blackwater probe was diminished by Howard Krongard. John DeDona - Former State
Department assistant inspector general for investigations who received July
11 e-mail from Howard Krongard telling him to "IMMEDIATELY" stop
work on the Blackwater probe. William Todd - State
Department deputy inspector general. Todd supported Howard Krongard's
contention that he put the brakes on the Blackwater probe so it would not
conflict with an audit of contracts the company has with the State Department. Copyright © 2007 The
Associated Press External link: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jQYnK8X3zfY11v6ca-suVlnNpb2AD8T5KULG0 |