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US agents search ex-CIA official's home and office

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.
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