State Dept official asks to cancel Blackwater hearing

[Robbien]

Source: Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The lawyer for State Department Inspector General Howard Krongard asked on Saturday that he not be called to testify before Congress on discrepancies between his statements and those of his brother over the brother's ties to the Blackwater security firm.

"There is no legitimate purpose to be gained by publicly pitting two brothers against each other," Barbara Van Gelder wrote in a letter to Rep. Henry Waxman, chairman of the government oversight panel.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN17436852200...

---

Don't have an investigation because the people being investigated are brothers? In what world does that qualify as a reason for dismissal of investigations.

[babylonsister]

1. WhaaWhaaWhaa! Don't make me go in front of those mean men again!

I have a feeling Waxman won't be buying this!

[tanyev]

46. Goodness. Mommy Krongard must have let those two get away with murder for years.

Time for Waxman to put a stop to it.

[Supersedeas]

62. now Momma Condi will protect her precious cronies -- just stand behind the boots, boys

[MadMaddie]

2. To bad State Department Inspector General Howard Krongard

didn't think of cronyism when overlooking Blackwaters illegal activities. And since when does it excuse a crime just because two people are related? These people are really, really pathetically stupid.

[rocktivity]

34. DING DING DING! MadMaddie, you're our grand prize winner!

...since when does it excuse a crime just because two people are related?

A crime is a crime is a crime. God didn't cut Cain any slack.


rocknation

[grasswire]

3. all the more reason to press forward

As the citizen in Seattle told the hearing over media consolidation: the way you are acting makes me quite sure there is something improper going on. (words to that effect)

[Reno.Muse]

4. I thought elitist crooks are courageous? No?

Chicken sh*t!

[Spazito]

5. Of all the reasons they might have tried to come up with, THIS

was seen as the best, holy crap!

[lumpy]

6. Laughable....almost.

These people are such weasels.

[balantz]

7. Meek and weasly language from the cabal

basically saying DON'T TOUCH THIS!

[old guy]

8. The scary thing is,

these people believe the things they say and they think we will too!

[DCKit]

21. True believers....

Their Kool Aid is way better than ours.

[rwenos]

9. So When Will The House Reassert its Subpoena Power?

I was extremely disturbed when Harriet Meiers and Alberto Gonzalez simply refused to show up after being subpoenaed by Waxman's committee to testify. Now, it's pretty obvious the Administration thinks the House subpoena power is pretty much a joke.

How Meiers and Gonzalez -- both attorneys and officers of the DC Circuit Courts, if nothing else -- think they can dishonor their oath to the Constitution and laws of the United States (and I mean the one they swore when they were admitted to the Texas and D.C. bars, not their oaths of office) is completely beyond me. If I, a lowly trial lawyer in Los Angeles, ignored a subpoena I'd have my ass in a sling with the State Bar pretty damned quick.

Beware the Administration that thinks it is above Congress. The stench of martial law emanates.

[balantz]

10. I sure hope that stench

reaches many more nostrils real soon!

[Ian David]

11. Boo fucking hoo. Cry me a fucking river. n/t

[OzarkDem]

23. My thoughts exactly

ain't it hell when GOP crooks have to actually be held accountable? They really think the rules don't apply to them.

[pinto]

12. Stonewalling seems to be the last refuge of the Bush administration. n/t

[hisownpetard]

13. Don'tcha just love sibling whinery?

[Lint Head]

14. The fascist Blackwater f%*ks can go to hell!

We don't like damn fascists in this country. Blackwater is run by cowards. Cowards that break the law and think that the fascist
traitor in the White House is going to give them a pass. Brothers in a death cult. Gee, I feel so sorry for his itty bitty brother.
Trained killers that think Christ is on their side. How mentally ill can these pricks be?!

[xiamiam]

35. "trained killers that think Christ is on their side. How mentally ill can these pricks be?"...

pretty much sums it up...

[humbled_opinion]

15. Thats convenient... Oh just forget about us... NOT...n/t

[PassingFair]

16. Widdle Buzzy and Cookie will CRY!

Democrats are MEAN.

[Oilwellian]

31. And Scooter too!

[gratuitous]

17. See, it's not perjury if it's your brother

That's just fambly.

Holy smokes, they'll just say anything, won't they?

[Mojambo]

18. "There is no legitimate purpose to be gained by publicly pitting two brothers against each other,"

What a meaningless fucking sentence!

How can someone even say that with a straight face?

[rodeodance]

27. oh, air out the dirty laudry

[Kool Kitty]

38. What the fuck is this-kindergarten?

These men are supposed to be professionals. Okay, incompetent professionals, I admit, but...this is not an excuse not to hold a hearing. If the two of them have family and personal problems, talk it over when the family gets together for Thanksgiving or something. In the mean time, we are paying their salaries and the investigation should go on. The investigation should be stopped because we might start a family squabble? Such soppy sentimentality from an administration that sheds not a tear for anyone or anything. Hypocrites.

[wordpix]

52. waaaaahhhh! Teacher doesn't like us Krongard boys!

[Nostradammit]

19. She was Safavian's lawer

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/06/13/politics/main...


"Safavian lawyer Barbara Van Gelder said Safavian "was trying to do the right thing" when he paid $3,100 for the trip and got ethics approval for the weeklong golfing excursion to Scotland and London organized by Abramoff."




That woman needs to start running with a better crowd.

Wow.

[aquart]

30. Did him a world of good, didn't she?

[Botany]

20. So Inspector General Howard Krongard's brother was working for ....

.... the company he was supposed to investigate? And when asked
about his brother he denied knowing that he (his brother) was working
for Blackwater but after a break then said he "just found out" that his
brother was working for Blackwater but the fact that his brother was
@ a hotel when he talked to him somehow mitagated his previous
false statement.

The son of a bitch got caught in a lieand now his lawyer is claiming that
any further investigations into Inspector General Howard Krongard
should be stopped because of family ties?

[acmavm]

22. I just cracked up when I saw that picture. That sort of says it all about how

I feel about this whole incestuous rotten crowd that's running our country, being led by the grandson of a guy who helped grease the wheels for the Nazi war machine. You know, the cuckoo clown bastard that keeps lecturing everyone else on patriotism and sacrifice and pain.

[Botany]

24. 2 things

1) My blood boils when I hear bush speak about elections, democracy,
and a free press. I live in Columbus, OH and watched and heard the
theft of '04 first hand and then saw the media kill the story.

b) Howard Krongard's statement about how he had just talked to
his brother who was in a hotel and because his brother was in a hotel
when they talked somehow that was germain to his forgetting that his
brother was working for the company he was investigating .... Was
way big time on the bus to crazy town.

The level of corruption from this crowd is staggering ..... Dick Cheney
with f***ing maps of Iraqi oil fields on his desk in March of '01 ...

[rodeodance]

25. "The information from Buzzy Krongard raises serious questions about the veracity of Howard Krongard'

Waxman said in a memo to his committee members on Friday that Buzzy Krongard had called committee staff to assert that his brother was previously aware of his Blackwater ties.

"The information from Buzzy Krongard raises serious questions about the veracity of Howard Krongard's testimony before the committee," Waxman said in announcing the hearing.

Waxman, a California Democrat, has accused Krongard of interfering in investigations to protect the State Department and White House from political embarrassment -- a charge Krongard denies.

Buzzy Krongard is a former executive director of the CIA. Howard Krongard is a former general counsel at the auditing firm Deloitte & Touche.

The New York Times reported on Saturday that Buzzy Krongard resigned on Friday from the Blackwater board.

[wordpix]

51. perjury before Congress & obstruction of justice, obviously. drip, drip, drip

[rodeodance]

26. oh CONDI--your little boy is in DEEP POOP. Waxman does NOT liked to be lied to!!

[orleans]

28. oh no no no no you don't. (sic 'em henry!) n/t

[peacetalksforall]

29. This is Rice's Army - Blackwater - they work under the State Dept..

C Rice - Sec of State (recipient of letter re Contempt of Congress?)
Erik Prince - Her Blackwater general.
Krongard #1 - Blackwater Advisor and linkety link to other stuff
Krongard #2 - State Employee

They like to run among and amok.
Appear before a mere mortal group of Congresspeople?
You gotta be kidding.

[saigon68]

58. A bunch of thugs and hoodlums work for Kinda Sleezy Rice ?

Who else would the War Criminal herself hire?

[bobthedrummer]

32. For those of us that are focusing on this latest criminal conspiracy

involving domestic enemies of The United States of America here are two related threads that are quite informative for DU researchers and all American citizens.

"Buzzy told Cookie about his Blackwater ties WEEKS ago" (started by George Oilwellian 11-14-07)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

"State IG's Brother Quits Blackwater" (started by ProSense 11-16-07)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

Maybe we should use this thread as a centralized one about these BFEE bastards.

[la la]

59. 'Buzzy and Cookie' ????

[bobthedrummer]

60. Don't forget "Bucky", William Henry Trotter Bush-the little bro of "Poppy"

nor "Rummy", nor "Condi" or any of these criminals, traitors and domestic enemies of The United States of America--did you visit that informative link, la la?

[rocktivity]

33. Well, he DID say that he was not his brother's keeper!

Like what they say when you're charged with manslaughter, if he didn't know what was going on, he should have.

"Cookie" Krongard was "ethical" enough to immediately recuse himself from the Blackwater investigation. But if that's his level of competence, he ought to be recused from his job, too!


rocknation

[Hulk]

36. Shit's gonna start hitting the fan before too long. The lies only cut it until the truth pops up...

[Canuckistanian]

37. I'd say justice and accountability are pretty damned legitimate purposes

Wouldn't you?

[bleever]

39. He wouldn't have to testify if they could get gay-married.

Short-sighted politics of greed comes back to bite them.

[Gonnuts]

40. I can tell ...

... we have another fine graduate from Jesus U. working for the bad guys again.

and come to thank of it whatever happened to Goodling? Rove, Taylor and Miers? It seems those investigations evaporated into thin air. Of course a whole lot of everything under this government has vanished.

[dave123williams]

41. I love the fumbling, desparate language, too.

"There is no legitimate purpose to be gained"

Gain a purpose? What does that even mean?

That guy a) perjured himself and b) is the fucking IG of the State Department; he's the guy who should be investigating Blackwater's contracts with State, and his BROTHER is on the board of the company?

Crony, corrupt, and shameless.

That smirk means they think their corruption is justified, because Jesus would understand that the corruption is ultimately in the service of a great crusade. A great crusade to spread democracy and Christianity to the four corners of the soon to be raptured globe.

That was the word they used initially, remember? What was it, 'infinite crusade' or something similar before it became 'infinite justice'...Orwell would be having a field day with these fuckers.

[Robbien]

45. Just think that people such as these are in control of our justice system

The decisions the cabal of these Jesus U grads must be handing down are probably based on similar asinine reasonings as used in this case.

[deacon]

42. This guy takes a lot of crap for speaking the truth. n/t

[flordehinojos]

43. o, sure ... that is just like saying, "let us go on with our crimes ..." which the criminal bush adm

has been doing and saying all along! this poppy bush/his ilk/his sons/their arrogance... and you know what ... they just have gotten away with owning the world that the democratic congress (much as it hurts to say it) has now allowed them to do!

[ClintonTyree]

44. Flashback to the year 1875......

Headlines that COULD have been.....


Missouri Gazette (United Pony Express International) July 17

Jesse and Frank James are finally standing trial for almost a full decade of heinous bank robberies, train robberies, murders and general mayhem. Their lawyer, Perceville Francis Honeycutt III, objected to the trial and tried to convince "the hanging judge" Roy Bean that "its not fair to pit one brother against the other your honor", and that "separately, they're both really nice fellows". He asked that all charges be dismissed.

<snip>

Judge Roy Bean reportedly beat Councilor Percy about the neck and face with his gavel, shouting, "shut 'yer stinkin' lyin' pie-hole Percy, that's the DUMBEST defense I've ever heard"!

<snip>

The trial lasted several more minutes with a near instantaneous, unanimous verdict of "guilty of all charges" and the "James Gang" was
immediately put to death by lethal injection of 120 ounces of lead to their heads and hearts.


This makes about as much sense as the Krongards' claim that they shouldn't have to talk about each other before Congress. It just doesn't wash. In fact it should be MORE of a reason to uncover the truth about these brothers' actions, not less.

[uberblonde]

47. Hey, she's a criminal defense attorney.

If this is the best she can come up with, I wouldn't worry.

[NashVegas]

48. Shall We Go Down the Memory Hole?

FTW, October 9, 2001 - Although uniformly ignored by the mainstream U.S. media, there is abundant and clear evidence that a number of transactions in financial markets indicated specific (criminal) foreknowledge of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. In the case of at least one of these trades -- which has left a $2.5 million prize unclaimed -- the firm used to place the "put options" on United Airlines stock was, until 1998, managed by the man who is now in the number three Executive Director position at the Central Intelligence Agency. Until 1997 A.B. "Buzzy" Krongard had been Chairman of the investment bank A.B. Brown. A.B. Brown was acquired by Banker's Trust in 1997. Krongard then became, as part of the merger, Vice Chairman of Banker's Trust-AB Brown, one of 20 major U.S. banks named by Senator Carl Levin this year as being connected to money laundering. Krongard's last position at Banker's Trust (BT) was to oversee "private client relations." In this capacity he had direct hands-on relations with some of the wealthiest people in the world in a kind of specialized banking operation that has been identified by the U.S. Senate and other investigators as being closely connected to the laundering of drug money.

Krongard (re?) joined the CIA in 1998 as counsel to CIA Director George Tenet. He was promoted to CIA Executive Director by President Bush in March of this year. BT was acquired by Deutsche Bank in 1999. The combined firm is the single largest bank in Europe. And, as we shall see, Deutsche Bank played several key roles in events connected to the September 11 attacks.

http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/10_09_01_kron...

[Truth2Tell]

54. This deserves it's own thread

Of course it couldn't stay in GD....

[bobthedrummer]

49. Other useful threads to combine in this one

"Confirmed: A.B.'Buzzy' Krongard, Brother Of State Dept IG, Sits On Blackwater's Advisory Board" (started by Hissyspit 11-14-07)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

"State Department official and brother queried on Blackwater" (started by Eugene 11-16-07)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

[sattahipdeep]

50. Inside Man

[Trillo]

53. Curious how this newsitem comes after the plan in Boston to seach kids bedrooms.

If it looks like there's been a crime committed, and there's some kind of smoking gun of evidence that needs individual investigation, then investigate.

But to go around without warrants and mass search kids bedrooms by leveraging parents' ignorance of the law to gain consent to search, something that in addition to presuming guilt likely leads to long-term emotional wedging of parents and their children, seems anti-constitutional given the concept of presumption of innocence and the phrase "life, liberty, and pursuit of Happiness."

[Xipe Totec]

55. It's like killing your parents and asking for mercy as an orphan

These people are nuts.

[BornagainDUer]

56. Can this be any more blatant. Since when does the State Dept

decide for the deciders (read: Congress). The House will decide if there is any "legitimate purpose to be gained". If not what's ya worrying about Gelder?

[nashville_brook]

57. wow -- that's desperate. surely he won't bend.

[bobthedrummer]

61. kick

[bobthedrummer]

63. This needs daily kicking, so

[sattahipdeep]

64. Cookie" Krongard still appears to be in office

A Guide to Firing Cookie Krongard
By Spencer Ackerman - November 16, 2007, 5:57PM

It's late Friday afternoon, and yet, Howard "Cookie" Krongard still
appears to be in office as the State Department inspector general.
(His voice is still on his office voicemail, at least.) His spokeswoman
says he has no intention of resigning, even as the likelihood of a
congressional perjury investigation increases. So if he won't resign, who
can fire Krongard?

In the final analysis, it would be up to President George W. Bush.
Only a handful of federal inspectors-general can be fired by their
agency chiefs, and State's is not among them. That's a good-government
measure: after all, it's probably not conducive to integrity in governance
if top officials can dismiss their internal watchdogs. (Only top U.S.
allies can do that.) Savor the irony: by not firing a supposedly-independent
public servant, President Bush is helping the cause of
transforming the U.S. into a banana republic.

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004735.php

[classysassy]

65. JUSTICE

where are you?,once up on a time,justice lived in America,it too along with our jobs have been outsourced.

[sattahipdeep]

66. Did Buzzy Comply?

Chairman Waxman wrote to Buzzy Krongard, the brother of State
Department Inspector General Howard Krongard, requesting an
interview and documents relating to Blackwater.

http://oversight.house.gov/documents/20071116104518.pdf

http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=1633

[sattahipdeep]

67. "You're kidding!" "Buzzy" exclaimed

"You're kidding!" "Buzzy" exclaimed on being told the news of the resignation.

"I swear I don't have a clue" as to why it came now, said the elder Krongard. "Obviously, we haven't been on the best of terms.

"I feel sorry for him and sorry for the country ... if he was doing a good job," he added.

Cummings said that "Cookie" Krongard "is finally demonstrating sound judgment" by leaving his State Department position.

He said Krongard had "severely weakened the credibility and appearance of impartiality" of the inspector general's office.


http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/bal-te.krongard...


Did Buzzy Comply?
Chairman Waxman wrote to Buzzy Krongard, the brother of State
Department Inspector General Howard Krongard, requesting an
interview and documents relating to Blackwater.

http://oversight.house.gov/documents/20071116104518.pdf