Congressman: State Dept. official threatened investigators (Blackwater)

[unhappycamper]

Congressman: State Dept. official threatened investigators
By Warren P. Strobel | McClatchy Newspaper
Posted on Friday, September 28, 2007


WASHINGTON — Aides to State Department Inspector General Howard Krongard threatened two investigators with retaliation this week if they cooperate with a congressional probe into Krongard's office, the chairman of a House of Representatives panel and other U.S. officials said Friday.

The allegations are the latest in a growing uproar surrounding Krongard. Current and former officials in his office charge that he impeded investigations into alleged arms smuggling by employees of the private security firm Blackwater and into faulty construction of the new U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.

Krongard has denied the charges and is due to appear before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee next month.

~snip~

Militana and the other investigator, Assistant Special Agent in Charge Brian Rubendall, were among those pressing for an investigation into whether employees of Blackwater were illegally shipping automatic weapons and other military goods to Iraq without a license. Rubendall couldn't be reached for comment.

McClatchy Newspapers reported last week that two Blackwater employees have pleaded guilty in Greenville, N.C., to weapons charges and are cooperating with federal officials.

Blackwater, which has received roughly $835 million in State Department contracts, mostly to guard U.S. civilians in Iraq, is under intense scrutiny after a series of violent incidents involving its contractors. In the most recent, Blackwater teams were involved in a shooting at a busy Baghdad traffic circle Sept.16 that killed 11 Iraqis.


Rest of article at: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/iraq/story/20100.html

[POAS]

1. McClatchy has been doing some real

reporting. Glad to see somebody is!

The more the Bushites do the more they have to hide and the house of cards they have built cannot stand forever. At least I hope it can't!

[tanyev]

2. Krongard Family Values--

Brother Buzzy:

September 6-10, 2001: Suspicious Trading of Put Option Contracts on American and United Airlines Occur

Suspicious trading occurs on the stock of American and United, the two airlines hijacked in the 9/11 attacks. “Between 6 and 7 September, the Chicago Board Options Exchange purchases of 4,744 put option contracts in UAL versus 396 call options—where a speculator bets on a price rising. Holders of the put options would a profit of $5 million once the carrier’s share price after September 11. On September 10, 4,516 put options in American Airlines, the other airline involved in the hijackings, purchased in Chicago. This compares with a mere 748 call options in American purchased that day. Investigators cannot help but notice that no other airlines such trading in their put options.” One analyst later says, “I saw put-call numbers higher than I’ve ever seen in ten years of following the markets, particularly the options markets.”

“To the embarrassment of investigators, it has also that the firm used to buy many of the ‘put’ options… on United Airlines stock was headed until 1998 by ‘Buzzy’ Krongard, now executive director of the CIA.” Krongard was chairman of Alex Brown Inc., which was bought by Deutsche Bank. “His last post before resigning to take his senior role in the CIA was to head Bankers Trust—Alex Brown’s private client business, dealing with the accounts and investments of wealthy customers around the world.”
http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a090601putsshorts#a090601putsshorts



His son is seeking a restraining order on him:

WASHINGTON (AP) — The son and daughter-in-law of a State Department official are seeking a restraining order to stop what they claim are unprofessional and offensive e-mails in a dispute over a personal loan, The Washington Post reported Thursday.

The State Department's inspector general, Howard J. Krongard, is already under scrutiny from a House committee over whether he hindered inquiries into contractor fraud in Iraq and Afghanistan and mistreated subordinates.

Last year, Krongard sued his son, Kenneth W. Krongard, and his daughter-in-law, Kristin, over a home loan that he said they had defaulted on, the Post reported. Although they repaid the loan, which was $320,000, after the suit was filed, Krongard has demanded hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional interest and penalties as well as legal fees, the newspaper reported.

In Krongard's e-mails included in a recent court filing, the Post reported, he berated his son and at one point said in urging a settlement, "If you are willing to put your wife and children's future in jeopardy, that's your business."
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5irl6MXULn8mfHaOQ6OAwaboETf5g

[tanyev]

3. And let's not forget that Cofer Black (now a Blackwater executive) used to work with brother Buzzy.

And has recently joined the Romney campaign.

Also in a senior position with Buzzy Krongard for several months was 28-year CIA veteran Cofer Black, who served as CIA counter-terror head when the 9/11 attack occurred. Following that position, he served as in the State Department as a counter-terrorism 'Ambassador-at-Large', where he would have interfaced with the Inspector General, Howard Krongard.

Black retired in 2004, and was almost immediately named by Blackwater USA to the post of Vice Chairman of Blackwater -- the same Blackwater USA whose possible criminal acts were blocked from being investigated by his former State Dept colleague Howard Krongard, brother of Black's CIA colleague Buzzy Krongard.

http://primarysources.newsvine.com/_news/2007/09/18/970711-blackwater-scandal-widening