US federal agents have searched the home and office of the CIA's departing No. 3 official in a corruption investigation that has sent a former congressman to prison and now involves CIA contracts.
Investigators from five federal agencies used search warrants to go through the home of Kyle "Dusty" Foggo and his office at the CIA's campus, both in Washington's Virginia suburbs FBI spokeswoman Debra Weierman said.
The warrants were sealed, and officials would not discuss what agents were seeking.
Foggo agreed to step down as the CIA's executive officer under pressure because federal authorities are investigating whether he improperly awarded contracts to California businessman and friend Brent Wilkes, according to federal law enforcement and intelligence officials. They spoke on condition of anonymity because investigations were under way.
Prosecutors have implicated Wilkes in a scheme to bribe former Representative Randy "Duke" Cunningham of California, but he has not been charged. Wilkes' lawyer has said Wilkes did nothing wrong.
Among the contracts under scrutiny is one that dates from Foggo's previous job of running the logistics at a secret facility in Europe that supplies CIA personnel in war zones, the law enforcement official said. Foggo gave a Wilkes-related firm a multimillion-dollar contract to supply bottled water, the official said.
Foggo, who was in the process of clearing out his office at the end of a 25-year CIA career, has denied wrongdoing.
"Mr Foggo maintains that government contracts for which he was responsible were properly awarded and administered," the CIA said in a statement last week.
CIA spokeswoman Jennifer Millerwise Dyck said on Friday that top CIA officials were informed of the warrants shortly before the searches began.
"The agency is cooperating fully with the Department of Justice and the FBI," she said.
The inspector general has been investigating Foggo's relationship with Wilkes for more than two months.
The inquiry stems from the investigation of Cunningham, who is serving a prison term of more than eight years after admitting last year that he took US$2.4 million in bribes from government contractors.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft