1. readerOfTeaLeaves says:

    EW, quick question – the text you cite states that Foggo wanted Wilkes’ help obtaining: â€â€¦an immigration visa for someone he just met,†and also â€â€¦get someone a visa…â€. Unless there is something I missed that specifies the individual is male, then that person could easily have been female. Either way, it does seem an odd request.

  2. freepatriot says:

    tells me that mr wilkes and mr foggo fucked up really bad

    they don’t â€ReFile†this stuff unless they think they got you

    and in this case, the charges didn’t lapse. There was no failure to file charges at the first arraignment, a judge never dismissed the original indictment

    the government just said â€forget that first indictment, we got a better oneâ€

    IANAL, but I recommend that mr foggo and mr wilkes come to some kind of agreement with the government real soon, before the government decides to â€ReFile†again

    side question, what’s the name of the dead guy in the abramoff imbroglio, anybody ???

  3. Anonymous says:

    Good point–I thought about that just as I was posting this.

    But the references seem to be a reference to the son of Wilkes’ water contact.

    On or about March 30, 2003, FOGGO sent WILKES an email inquiring whether he could get â€Duke†[Cunningham] to assist in obtaining an immigration visa on behalf of an individual who FOGGO had just met (later to become FOGGO’s business contact who assisted WILKES in delivering water to the CIA).

    [snip]

    On or about January 25, 2004, FOGGO asked Wilkes Subordinate X if he could write a letter (falsely indicating that the son of Foggo’s Water Contact was going to work for a WILKES controlled company) so that he would beable to get a visa to stay in the United States.

    I guess that makes it more clear, too, why these details appear in the indictment. But I still don’t understand it. Why couldn’t the shell corporations have said this guy was working for them. What am I missing?

  4. obsessed says:

    Well, that was worth the wait! Another mouth-watering analysis.

    But my question remains: Wasn’t the extraordinary liability of firing Lam undertaken to prevent precisely this type of further development work on the West Cunningham Wing of the House of Scandal? What gives?

  5. obsessed says:

    Konstantinos â€Gus†Boulis was the guy Casino Jack had wacked in the Southeast Wing of the House of Scandal.

    Kontogiannis versus Konstantinos – close, but no felafel

  6. Anonymous says:

    obsessed

    As far as I can tell, Karen Hewitt, Lam’s interim replacement, has stayed fairly uninvolved in this. THey’ve added on AUSA to the case (Valerie Chu). But otherwise, it seems to be the same AUSAs on the original indictment, with Hewitt largely uninvolved.

    Then figure that some of the people who might have tried to spike this at Main Justice are rather occupied–or at least trying to look clean in case their actions on this ever become known.

    I actually DO wonder whether the aviation charges were the ones DOJ was fighting in late January/early February–after all, they basically admit that the CIA has shell companies set up to hide their aviation needs, including extraordinary rendition. One of filings from last week made reference to these charges (I think the snarky one on changing venue), so it’s clear they’ve been floating out there as the big fruit of this case.

  7. Anonymous says:

    obsessed

    I think you’d have to get Wilkes and Wade to flip, not Foggo. The MZM contracts relating to the WH (and domestic spying) are on the other of the indictments, the Cunningham, Wade, Wilkes side.

    But even then, I doubt there’s enough there to bring down Cheney.

  8. randiego says:

    hah EW – funny commentary about Poway. Longtime San Diegan (Clairemont), I used to work in Rancho Bernardo, with a lot of Poway people. The ironic thing about Poway is that they always set themselves as above the other communities around them – better people and better schools, etc.

  9. Anonymous says:

    randiego

    And this reader says that neighborhood is the snobbiest of the area (which I guess means I was a snob-squared when I was 16). When I went to PHS they called us Cowpie High, to make fun of our snobbiness.

  10. William Ockham says:

    Did anybody else notice the references to somebody (Joel Combs or the person who was in contact with him, I’m not clear from the context) using a TPG Advisors email address. Are they talking about TPG Advsiors, as in the Texas Pacific Group? TPG is a company run by former employees of the Bass family in Ft. Worth, Texas. TPG is widely thought to have CIA connections, in addition to having access to billions in capitol.

  11. Anonymous says:

    Yeah, I was wondering about that, William–and that’s all new stuff with this superseding indictment.

  12. hauksdottir says:

    In a conspiracy, do you need some quid pro quo? Some way of proving a benefit to all the primary parties?

    If the visas for the water carrier and his son are the only benefit Foggo asked for and got from the relationship, one does have to wonder at their importance. Who are these people? Nationality? Why could they not get visas any other way? Unsavory history? Perhaps the person delivering water was also an arms dealer? Was that Arrowhead spring water? (Yes, it’s a pun, but the water is bottled in southern California)

    Rendition so that people can get tortured out-of-sight and possibility of legal assistance is so un-American that I hope that EVERY person involved in the scheme, including the President who signed off on it as well as all the enablers, suffers full penalties, and even that is too good for them.

  13. Anonymous says:

    great work as always EW.

    Is it standard practice for congressmen to be able to put their thumbs on the scales regarding visa applications?

  14. mesquite says:

    I smell the evil hand of Dick Cheney. Whose hand is in EVERYTHING, but has not been associated with the Justice travesty yet? I think Marcy’s later comment points to not wanting disclosure on extraordianry rendition contracts. I wouldn’t be surprised if CHENEY was Lam’s problem, of which was never spoken aloud. Just like Voldemort, the name is rarely said out loud. And Cheney could easily be the impetus to carry this through, even with the elections going the way they did and the prospect of oversight.

  15. TheOtherWA says:

    Hasn’t Mitchell Wade already flipped? One very big reason Cheney better not lie to Waxman about the MZM deal, since Waxman likely knows a lot about it.

  16. Anonymous says:

    TheOtherWA

    Yes, he has. But the MZM deal with Cheney is one thing that STILL remains unmentioned in the indictment. The Dukestir purchase is, but not MZM’s deal with OVP.