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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings & Torture |
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January 29th,
2009 - Details of CIA Fraud to Stay Secret, Judge Rules |
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Details of CIA
Fraud to Stay Secret, Judge Rules Public Won't See Secret Grand Jury Transcripts from Kyle “Dusty” Foggo
Case By Justin Rood ABC News January 29, 2009 The American public may
never learn the full extent of fraud and abuse committed by a former top CIA
official, and uncovered through a years-long federal investigation. In a ruling filed Wednesday,
a federal judge denied a request by federal prosecutors to release portions
of secret grand jury transcripts which, the lawyers alleged, would allow the
public to see a fuller measure of the crimes of Kyle "Dusty" Foggo,
who resigned from the CIA in 2006. "It is the public that
is the victim of this fraud, and the public should have an opportunity to
consider all of Foggo's conduct," the prosecutors argued. Foggo's lawyer
said prosecutors were just "looking to make a big public splash" by
releasing the material, which could include gossip and speculation. Foggo pled guilty last
September to a single count of wire fraud. In exchange, prosecutors dropped
over two dozen other charges against him, including money laundering and
conspiracy. Federal prosecutors and
agents from the FBI, IRS, and Department of Defense spent over two years
building their case against Foggo, who rose to the third most powerful post
in the Central Intelligence Agency under former director Porter Goss. Foggo
resigned in 2006 after investigators raided his home and office. Foggo Faces Sentencing Foggo is slated to be
sentenced February 19. According to the terms of his plea agreement,
prosecutors have promised not to seek a prison term longer than 37 months. Prosecutors said they sought
to use the grand jury material to argue for a stiff sentence. Judge James C.
Cacheris of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
ruled that prosecutors could use the transcripts, but they could not be
released to the public. In their 2007 indictment of
Foggo, prosecutors said he steered several business deals, including one
worth $132 million, to companies run by a childhood friend, who had promised
Foggo a job after he retired from the agency and lavished him with gifts,
expensive meals, visits with prostitutes and vacations. In one email from Foggo
quoted in the indictment, the former top official promised his friend, Brent
Wilkes, he would apply "grease" to move a contract deal along. Wilkes was convicted in
November 2007 on 13 felony counts of bribery, conspiracy, fraud and money
laundering relating to his bribery of former Rep. Randy "Duke"
Cunningham. Wilkes was released earlier this year, after posting a $2 million
bond, while he appeals his 12-year sentence. Cunningham is serving an
eight-year, four-month sentence after pleading guilty to taking $2.4 million
in bribes in exchange for fraudulent earmarks. Copyright © 2009 ABC News
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