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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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December 7th,
2007 - Report: Blackwater Inquiry Falls on Three Guards News article by the Associated
Press |
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Report: Blackwater Inquiry Falls
on Three Guards By Matt Apuzzo & Lara Jakes Jordan Associated Press December 7, 2007 Washington - Federal
prosecutors investigating the shooting deaths of 17 Iraqi civilians have
narrowed their focus on as few as three Blackwater Worldwide bodyguards and
have given others immunity for cooperating in the case, the Associated Press
has learned. New information about the
deadly Sept. 16 incident, which has strained relations between the United
States and Iraq, reflects progress by the government to prosecute Blackwater
guards for the shooting in Baghdad's Nisoor Square. A final decision on whether
to prosecute the guards - and how many - still might be months away. But two
weeks into a federal grand jury investigation, people close to the case told
AP that authorities have focused the number who could face charges to about
three of the dozen or more guards on the security detail. Despite the progress, the
people who discussed the case noted concerns about testimony given by the
four Blackwater guards who have so far appeared in front of the secret panel.
Details were discussed on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive
nature of the information. The concerns stem, in part
at least, from the fact that one defense attorney and law firm represent as
many as 10 guards, raising worries that their stories could be coordinated. Conflicts arise when lawyers
represent clients whose interests might differ, said Mark H. Tuohey, a former
prosecutor who now represents companies in white-collar investigations. When
one client implicates another or when one client gets immunity and another
doesn't, Tuohey said, the issue gets murky. And then, Tuohey said,
there's the collaboration issue: "Are you getting people's stories
together?" "That's an integrity
issue and certainly lawyers, former prosecutors, people who do this kind of
work are sensitive to that," he said. "This issue doesn't rise and
fall on perception. It rises and falls on whether there's real conflict or
potential for a problem." So far, defense attorney
James Sweeney, a patent lawyer from the Indianapolis law firm Barnes and
Thornburg, has accompanied two guards to the closed-door grand jury hearings
- even though he has never handled criminal cases in federal court. Sweeney, a Marine pilot who
helped lead the first Gulf War combat missions, has experience in military
courts. Sweeney assisted in the 1999 court martial of a Marine whose jet
clipped a gondola cable in Italy, killing 20 people. He said there is nothing
improper about his firm's representation of multiple Blackwater guards. "Clearly we wouldn't be
doing it if there was a problem, both from our standpoint and the standpoint
of the court," Sweeney said in an interview today. "The flip side
is, if you had separate lawyers, would they do anything we aren't?" Blackwater spokeswoman Anne
Tyrrell said the company was paying Sweeney and white-collar crime defense
attorney Larry Mackey to represent at least some of the guards. Mackey,
another partner at the Indianapolis firm, is a former federal prosecutor who
helped lead the government's case against Timothy McVeigh in the Oklahoma
City bombing. In an e-mailed response to
questions today, Tyrrell said companies often cover legal expenses for
employees whose jobs put them in situations that result in needing a lawyer. "We agreed to make
B&T lawyers available to those who desired to exercise their right to
have access to counsel in connection with this investigation," Tyrrell
said. "Blackwater asked James Sweeney and Larry Mackey to go to Baghdad
to meet with the individuals in question so they could determine whether they
were comfortable retaining them as their lawyers. A number of them
were." Tyrrell would not say how
many of the guards the two lawyers are representing, nor how the Indianapolis
firm was selected other than to note its "combined experience." External link: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/world/5361392.html Inspector General Howard J. Krongard, whose brother was revealed to
have Blackwater ties, writes that he is worried about the ‘rancor and
distrust’ in the country. By Paul Richter Los Angeles Times December 7, 2007 Washington - State
Department Inspector General Howard J. Krongard, who has been accused of
improperly interfering with investigations into private security contractor
Blackwater USA and with other probes, resigned today. In a brief public statement,
the longtime corporate lawyer pointed to his recent battles with
congressional Democrats and said they explained the reason for his departure. "I have nothing further
to say at this time," wrote Krongard, whose job made him the
department's chief internal watchdog. In a separate resignation
letter to President Bush, he said that he was troubled by "inherent
structural and conceptual defects" in the inspector general's job. He
also expressed concern about the "grave threat to public service posed
by current rancor and distrust" between political parties, the
government, the media and interest groups. Krongard, 66, has been
accused by current and former members of his staff and by congressional
Democrats of thwarting investigations of waste and fraud in Iraq. Among those
are allegations of arms smuggling by Blackwater, the North Carolina-based
security contractor that protects U.S. diplomats in Iraq and has been
criticized for using excessive force against Iraqi civilians. Rep. Henry A. Waxman,
(D-Beverly Hills), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform
Committee, has charged that Krongard interfered to shield the administration
from embarrassment on politically sensitive issues. Last month, Krongard recused
himself from investigations regarding Blackwater after it was revealed in a
dramatic appearance at a House committee hearing that Krongard's brother was
on a Blackwater advisory board. Krongard had denied that his
brother, Alvin B. Krongard, a former No. 3 official at the CIA, was connected
to Blackwater until he was confronted at the hearing with paperwork
indicating that his brother served on the board. Krongard had also withdrawn
from an inquiry into the construction of the huge new U.S. embassy complex in
Baghdad. And he battled accusations from subordinates of abusive treatment. Gonzalo Gallegos, a
spokesman for the State Department, said: "We thank him for his
dedication to public service and wish him well in the future." Krongard grew up in a family
of modest means in Baltimore and moved from one success to another in life.
He was an All-American lacrosse goalie at Princeton, also studied at Harvard
and Cambridge, and distinguished himself as a lawyer. But his two years as a
federal agency watchdog have proved different. His confrontations with
Congress brought out unflattering information about his family relations,
including that he once sued his daughter and son-in-law over a home loan. As Krongard's chief
congressional critic, Waxman welcomed the resignation. "Mr. Krongard's
decision removes an enormous distraction from the inspector general's office
and will allow the office to focus on its important oversight responsibilities,"
Waxman said in a statement. "The committee will certainly take this new
development into account." Krongard's departure is the
second at the State Department linked to Blackwater. Last month, Richard J.
Griffin, the assistant secretary of State for diplomatic security who made
key decisions regarding the department's oversight of Blackwater, submitted
his resignation. External link: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-krongard8dec08,0,2205571.story |