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Today's Must Read
State Department Inspector General Howard "Cookie" Krongard's new strategy to get out of a possible perjury investigation? Begging.
It turns out Krongard has retained a criminal defense lawyer named Barbara van Gelder. (Maybe for the perjury fight, maybe because of the FBI's recent parley with Cookie's subordinates.) Van Gelder wrote to Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) on Saturday to ask the House oversight committee chairman to cancel an upcoming hearing on whether Krongard lied to the committee about what he knew of his brother's (since-renounced) position on Blackwater's advisory board. According to van Gelder, the committee would be doing little more than interfering in an unseemly family feud: "There is no legitimate purpose to be gained by publicly pitting two brothers against each other."
And yet she makes it so tempting. Van Gelder provided what she describes as Krongard's notes of his crucial phone conversation with his brother Buzzy on Halloween. Buzzy says he told Cookie he was joining the Blackwater board during that conversation. Van Gelder says that's not so, and Cookie has evidence to prove it. Take it away, Justin:
A page van Gelder purports to be Howard's contemporaneous notes on the conversation appear to indicate Buzzy Krongard said he had no financial ties to Blackwater and would not take the board position he had been offered."No financial interest whatsoever," the alleged notes read. The word "no" is underlined. "Was on short list for Advisory Board but is not taking it," the document states.
But, she argues, Waxman shouldn't seek to resolve the contradiction between the two accounts -- one of which was administered under oath, and the other of which was formally reported to Congressional investigators. Van Gelder is surely worth every penny.
Oh, and if that name sounds familiar: Barbara van Gelder, an ex-federal prosecutor, was last seen representing former OMB procurement official David Safavian.
Comments (33)
TwoMildreds wrote on November 19, 2007 9:59 AM:Uh, who keeps notes on phone conversations with their brother?
TCM wrote on November 19, 2007 10:21 AM:You forgot the best part: Her nickname is "Biz." I'm dead serious. We have Biz and Cookie versus Buzzy.
svh wrote on November 19, 2007 10:27 AM:Beat me too it, Mildred.
In fact if this note is legimate, then there must be an investigation; because clearly this call was inteded to be used as political cover for Krongard's conflict of interest/cover up of Blackwater.
What a wierd family.
theWalrus wrote on November 19, 2007 10:27 AM:C'mon, give him the Medal Of Freedom Award and let's move on. He's been a Loyal Bushie and faithfully followed the three adminstration precepts: corruption, greed and cronyism.
TwoMildreds' brother wrote on November 19, 2007 10:38 AM:i do. is that weird?
ARG in Chicago wrote on November 19, 2007 10:41 AM:Why not just go to the audio tapes?
Surely the NSA has this one archived somewhere...
-- ARG
via wrote on November 19, 2007 10:43 AM:This was probably orchestrated by the White House. Just because Rove isn't physically working out of Our House (or is he? does Rummy still have an office?)
MN USA wrote on November 19, 2007 10:51 AM:doesn't mean he isn't still involved.
Too bad he and his fellow repubs were so arrogant during the hearings. Now he wants mercy?
AC wrote on November 19, 2007 10:53 AM:I'd like to see the rest of his notes:
10/31
7:43pm
...kids fine...
...wife still SNORING...
... redid kitchen ??puce??? wives!...
... NOT working for corrupt merc. contractor SD to investigate...
...thanksgiving w/inlaws --- DRY turkey again...
...wives/shopping etc.
...hugs to be given to skippy, fez, and jojo...
8:01pm end call
someparisian wrote on November 19, 2007 10:54 AM:ARG beat me to it as well.
mr.ed wrote on November 19, 2007 10:56 AM:Biz did a world of good for Safavian. Maybe she can get the same results for Booby, or whatever his handle is.
Mom wrote on November 19, 2007 11:13 AM:As we all go off to our own unique (!!) families for Thanksgiving, let's give thanks that 1)our parents didn't name us Cookie and Buzzy and 2)our family laundry is unlikely to become the subject of Congressional investigations.
For one, I sit down at the table with a bunch of rabid Repugs and manange to love them in spite of it. Mom doesn't understand where she and Dad went wrong, and worse, we've infected our now-adult children. Families.
TheraP wrote on November 19, 2007 11:19 AM:Notes.... BEFORE? or AFTER?
This means nothing.... unless he has credible witnesses to whom he TOLD these things.
Come on, the bs is getting more and more like a kid's forged note for school!
Powkat wrote on November 19, 2007 11:22 AM:I find it revealing that these arrogant masters of the universe all lawyer up and start whining as soon as they're caught. Nothing reveals character like adversity.
anon wrote on November 19, 2007 11:25 AM:Whoa, I wouldn't mess with Buzzy. Did you know he once punched a great white shark just because he could?
"He smokes pre-Castro Cuban cigars and once, while scuba diving with some macho buddies, he says he punched a great white shark in the jaw, just to show that he could. A. B. (Buzzy) Krongard, the former executive director of the Central Intelligence Agency, is by all appearances..."
www.dlapiper.com/us/events/Detail.aspx?event=129
And, I guess, because he wanted to put it in his official bio. (I wonder if he ever went scuba diving with Duke?)
mendez wrote on November 19, 2007 11:31 AM:The further up the food chain they get with these administration flunkies, the more likely it becomes that one of them may have something of value to trade. This is why the Dems are ignoring the word "impeach." They seem to fear the distractions.
Anonymous wrote on November 19, 2007 11:33 AM:thankfully for the world, he took notes while shark-punching. sharing is caring!
BrewhouseBob wrote on November 19, 2007 11:33 AM:This Congress has yet to hold anyone accountable for telling lies to its members and committees.. Why shouldn't Cookie expect to get away with it, too?
hellslittlestangel wrote on November 19, 2007 12:13 PM:funniest comments thread ever. thanks, all.
cjop wrote on November 19, 2007 12:17 PM:With this being so blatant are we finally going to see the Dems get a spine? Doubtful.
skeptik wrote on November 19, 2007 1:30 PM:"no legitimate purpose"? how about determining the truth and accuracy of the witness' testimony given under oath before congress?
maybe "Cookie" should have given some forethought to whether there was a legitimate purpose to lying about his brother's relationship with the target of a criminal investigation.
hrclapp wrote on November 19, 2007 1:35 PM:Cookie, Princeton '61, has been a fanatic lacrosse PLAYER into his 60's, as well as a successful lawyer, etc.
Buzzy, the older half of the first brother act to be installed in the Lacrosse Hall of Fame,is honest to a fault. Tact is not his strong suit.
I know the brothers don't get along, but I cannot believe either of them would knowingly lie, whether under oath or not.
DH in DC wrote on November 19, 2007 1:55 PM:Interesting that Cookie first denied that his brother was affiliated with Blackwater. It was only later that he corrected himself about this matter. Doesn't it seem odd that this was a matter he deemed important enough to take notes about (and underline, etc.), yet his initial testimony was contrary to the notes. It is true, as noted above, that it is odd to take notes of a conversation with your brother. But this just doesn't seem like the kind of thing an inspector general would forget, does it? It would be nice to know when those notes were actually penned. I wonder if we can carbon date them.
Anonymous wrote on November 19, 2007 2:24 PM:Did you say, "carbon date them?" I'd rather see the pair of them corn-holed. They may not even be carbon based.
Stephen wrote on November 19, 2007 2:36 PM:Surely this means there needs to be an investigation. Either Cookie lied to under oath, or Buzzy lied to Congress. Either way a Krongard perjured himself. If this were a family feud, in front of Congress may not have been the best venue for them.
OleHippieChick wrote on November 19, 2007 2:39 PM:Cookie-schmookie ought to come back before the Cmtee anyway. What about the email he was holding in his hand and citing to Wax at the end of the hearing? Wax subpoenaed all the emails, yet hadn't seen this one. Where's the fucking law?
v. popvli wrote on November 19, 2007 2:45 PM:DH,
negatory on the carbon dating. can't date contemporary items (say the last 400 years) with any accuracy. can't pinpoint dates; instead you get a range that's usually a century wide or longer.
JNagarya wrote on November 19, 2007 3:34 PM:So "Cookie" is running scared, having been caught with his hand in the cookie ja--er, piggy-swill bank.
Deadeye Dick Cheney wrote on November 19, 2007 3:43 PM:"Nobody could have predicted..."
JNagarya wrote on November 19, 2007 3:55 PM:Another Republican't family affair. What could be better than scrutinizing that affair before Congress, in public, under oath, with a transcript?
Film at 11:00 . . .
hodnipps wrote on November 19, 2007 4:25 PM:
EH wrote on November 19, 2007 4:29 PM:i think most of these comments make me happy about the writer's strike.
Awfully convenient and awfully forgotten during his testimony, these notes are. "No...I mean yes...I mean, here's the story. It's a little complicated and I'm going to have to explain a few things."
anon wrote on November 19, 2007 9:35 PM:Ya know, I think that shark business in his work bio is just a cute lawyer joke. Buzzy was the number one lawyer at the CIA, as well as the ED, so, yeah, he got to punch great white sharks in the mouth on a daily basis just because. And his firm looks like one big CIA cover job so, presumably, everybody is in on the joke.