[PAA-Discuss] Feds search ex-CIA official's home

[Sarah Gonzales]

Yet another individual taken down (or likely to be) by the Republican  
scandals that have been rocking Washington.

<snip>
Feds search ex-CIA official's home
Fri May 12, 2006 4:20 PM ET
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx? 
type=topNews&storyID=2006-05-12T202025Z_01_N12434636_RTRUKOC_0_US- 
CRIME-CIA.xml
By David Morgan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal agents on Friday searched the home and  
office of the CIA's former third-highest ranking official who is  
under investigation because of ties to a figure in a congressional  
bribery scandal.

Kyle "Dusty" Foggo, who announced his retirement from the CIA on  
Monday, is being investigated by five agencies due to his long- 
standing friendship with defense contractor Brent Wilkes, an  
unindicted co-conspirator in the bribery case that landed former U.S.  
Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham of California in prison, officials said.

Foggo's lawyer was not immediately available for comment but Foggo,  
formerly executive director of the agency, has denied any wrongdoing.

Foggo had been appointed by CIA Director Porter Goss, who himself  
resigned a week ago. Administration officials were unhappy with Goss  
over publicity surrounding the Foggo case after his ties with Wilkes  
became public in March.

On Friday, the CIA declined to say whether Foggo was still employed  
by the spy agency.

Federal agents with sealed search warrants showed up at Foggo's  
office at CIA headquarters in McLean, Virginia, and at his nearby home.

Live news footage showed plainclothes agents and a white Chevrolet  
van outside a modest split-level brick house in a quiet Virginia suburb.

The CIA said the searches were part of a joint investigation by the  
FBI and the CIA inspector general's office. Also investigating are  
the Internal Revenue Service, the Defense Criminal Investigative  
Service and the U.S. attorney's office in San Diego, officials said.

"The agency is cooperating fully with the Department of Justice and  
the FBI as this is an ongoing investigation," the CIA said in a  
statement.

The CIA has acknowledged its inspector general is investigating  
whether Foggo helped steer any agency contracts to Wilkes, a San  
Diego businessman who has not been charged with any crime.

Foggo said through a CIA statement issued last week that government  
contracts he handled were properly awarded and administered.

Before becoming executive director, Foggo worked for the CIA as a  
logistics expert in Frankfurt, Germany, where he helped arrange  
overseas trips for congressmen.

Newsweek reported this week that Wilkes hosted poker games at the  
Watergate and other upscale Washington hotels, including one 1999  
party attended by Foggo, Cunningham and a former CIA official  
nicknamed "Nine Fingers."

Foggo, who spent 25 years with the CIA, has denied allegations that  
prostitutes entertained at poker parties he attended.

Cunningham was sentenced to eight years and four months in prison in  
March after pleading guilty in 2005 to accepting $2.4 million in bribes.

(Additional reporting by James Vicini and Caroline Drees)