Time: FBI email says Abramoff case 'far from over'

[kpete]

Time: FBI email says Abramoff case 'far from over'
RAW STORY


Abramoff Viewed as ‘The Middle Guy,’ Official Involved in Probe Tells TIME, Suggesting There Are Bigger Targets in Their Sights

New York - In an internal e-mail obtained by TIME, the director of the FBI’s Washington field office, Michael Mason, congratulated some 15 agents and 15 support staff under him on the case for “a huge accomplishment” in squeezing Jack Abramoff to make a deal after 18 months of investigation and negotiation, one that made “a huge contribution to ensuring the very integrity of our government.” But he added that “the case is far from over,” TIME’s National Political Correspondent Karen Tumulty reports in Monday editions of the magazine, RAW STORY has learned.

Another official involved with the probe told TIME that investigators are viewing Abramoff as “the middle guy”—suggesting there are bigger targets in their sights. The FBI has 13 field offices across the country working on the case, with two dozen agents assigned to it full time and roughly the same number working it part time. “We are going to chase down every lead,” Chris Swecker, head of the FBI’s Criminal Division, told TIME.


Sources at the Interior Department tell TIME that its inspector general, Earl E. Devaney, has been conducting a wide-ranging investigation into Abramoff’s dealings with the Cabinet agency — which oversees many of the Indian-related issues Abramoff built most of his career around. In particular, the agency is looking into the ties between Abramoff and former Deputy Interior Secretary J. Steven Griles, who has been accused of intervening in agency deliberations on behalf of the Coushattas. Griles has denied it, and his attorney says Abramoff was wildly exaggerating their relationship when he referred to Griles in an e-mail to lobbying colleagues as his man at Interior, TIME reports.

http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Time_FBI_email_says_Abramoff_case_0108.html

[oioioi]

1. Nice picture...

[KoKo]

2. The "Aspens Turning," I presume?

:shrug:

[KoKo]

3. Chris Swecker, head of the FBI’s Criminal Division....Bio, here:

About Us - FBI Executives


FBI Executives Home Page

Chris Swecker - Assistant Director

Mr. Swecker was born July 14, 1956, in El Ferrol, Spain, and received his early education in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science and Economics from Appalachian State University, Boone, North Carolina, in 1978; and his Juris Doctor degree from Wake Forest School of Law, Winston Salem, North Carolina, in 1981. Upon graduation from law school he became an Assistant District Attorney for the First District of North Carolina in September 1981.

Mr. Swecker entered on duty with the FBI as a Special Agent on June 13, 1982, and following training was assigned to the Charlotte, North Carolina, Field Office. In May 1983, he was transferred to the Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Field Office. In March 1985, he was transferred to the Civil Litigation Unit, Legal Counsel Division, at FBI Headquarters where he served in a supervisory capacity. In June 1987, he was transferred to the Miami, Florida, Field Office where he served as a supervisor and acting Assistant Special Agent in Charge. In November 1994, Mr. Swecker was designated Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the Houston, Texas, Field Office where he was responsible for all Organized Crime/Narcotics investigations, the Liaison Office to Mexico, all special operations resources and several resident agencies. In February 1998, he was promoted to Inspector, Inspection Division.

Mr. Swecker was designated Special Agent in Charge of the Charlotte, North Carolina, Field Office on March 23, 1999. The Charlotte Field Office covers the state of North Carolina which encompasses headquarters city and nine resident agencies.

On July 7, 2004, FBI Director Robert Mueller named Mr. Swecker to be Assistant Director for the Criminal Investigative Division (CID) at FBI Headquarters. In support of the FBI's overarching priorities, the CID is responsible for coordinating, managing, and directing all criminal investigative programs nationwide. These investigations focus on financial, violent and organized crime; public corruption; violation of individual civil rights; corporate fraud; and drug- related crimes.

Mr. Swecker's varied experiences include acting as the on-scene commander of the FBI operations in Iraq, the dismantlement of a Hizballah terror cell in Charlotte, North Carolina, and the investigation and capture of Eric Robert Rudolph. From his extensive work on criminal cases, including both national and international cases, to his experience as a Special Agent in Charge, Mr. Swecker has developed a unique understanding for the CID as well as the evolving mission of the FBI.

Mr. Swecker is married and has three daughters. He is a member of the North Carolina and Virginia State Bars, and admitted to practice before the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court.
http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:K6HvJUnlGnQJ:www.fbi.gov/libref/executives/swecker.htm+Chris+Swecker&hl=en