Roll Call: Former Bush DHS secretary Tom Ridge busted ... lobbying for Albania

[laststeamtrain]

Roll Call: Former Bush DHS secretary Tom Ridge busted by the Justice Department for failing to register for two years for lobbying for Albania, at $40k a month:

"For almost two years former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge failed to register a nearly half-million-dollar lobbying contract that he had with the government of Albania."

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http://www.warandpiece.com/blogdirs/007602.html

[Botany]

1. rotflmao

[spanone]

2. another bu$hco criminal outted

[arendt]

3. Another sanctimonious crook. We are beyond hope as a country...

This guy was appointed to DHS to protect us? And it only comes to light because of ANOTHER uber-slimy deal:

> So, curious if Ridge knows something about the strange DOD-US embassy-Albanian government-AEY-mothballed
> $300 million Chinese ammo weapons deal, now under investigation by the Feds and Congress?

That would be the "deal" with the 22 year old crook from Miami and his partner, the former masseuse?

Jeez, I feel like I'm living inside a Mel Brooks satire, only it ain't funny.

K&R, with sadness for my formerly great country.


arendt

[Lasher]

6. Yes, that would be the one

The US ambassador got caught trying to cover it up.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3365158&mesg_id=3365158

[BridgeTheGap]

10. He had worked for Bush, which means nothing he does is illegal.

Isn't that how it works for these guys?

[Serial Mom]

4. He was mentioned for McLame's VP! Hahaha! n/t

[tanyev]

5. ORLY?

Did Tom know anything about the illegal arms deals????? Interesting.

Waxman Says U.S. Embassy in Albania Concealed Info About Arms Shipment
By Andrew Tilghman - June 23, 2008, 1:03PM

Was the State Department involved in a shoddy and potentially illegal ammo shipment that led to the arrest of a 22-year-old Miami arms dealer last week?

That's what Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) now says. The House oversight committee says it has evidence that the U.S. embassy in Albania helped Albanian officials keep the allegedly illegal shipment of Chinese-made ammunition to Afghanistan under wraps and then failed to disclose that information when Waxman's committee asked about it.

Last week we updated you about the arrest of Efraim Diveroli and three of his business partners with AEY Inc. Federal prosecutors say he violated the U.S. Arms Export Control Act, which prohibits buying and selling weapons from certain countries, including China. The ammunition in question was obtained by AEY from an Albanian arms dealer.

Waxman's new-- and potentially explosive -- evidence stems from an interview by the oversight committee of Army Maj. Larry Harrison, the Chief of the Office of Defense Cooperation at the U.S. Embassy in Albania. Harrison told the committee about a previously undisclosed November meeting that included Albanian officials and U.S. Ambassador John Withers and others from the U.S. embassy in Tirana.

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/06/waxman_says_us_embassy_in_alba.php

[spanone]

7. is there a connection to this ????

American Envoy Is Linked to Arms Deal Cover-Up

WASHINGTON — An American ambassador helped cover up the illegal Chinese origins of ammunition that a Pentagon contractor bought to supply Afghan security forces, according to testimony gathered by Congressional investigators.

A military attaché has told the investigators that the United States ambassador to Albania endorsed a plan by the Albanian defense minister to hide several boxes of Chinese ammunition from a visiting reporter. The ammunition was being repackaged to disguise its origins and shipped from Albania to Afghanistan by a Miami Beach arms-dealing company.

The ambassador, John L. Withers II, met with the defense minister, Fatmir Mediu, hours before a reporter for The New York Times was to visit the American contractor’s operations in Tirana, the Albanian capital, according to the testimony. The company, under an Army contract, bought the ammunition to supply Afghan security forces although American law prohibits trading in Chinese arms.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/24/washington/24arms.html?hp=&pagewanted=print

[Ian David]

8. Laws are for little people. n/t

[MidwestTransplant]

9. Good, no VP for Ridge.