Washington – A congressional committee has opened an investigation of the State Department’s inspector general, alleging he blocked fraud investigations in Afghanistan and Iraq, including potential security lapses at the newly built U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.
Also under scrutiny is whether Blackwater USA, the private security firm banned this week from working in Iraq for the alleged killing of eight civilians, was “illegally smuggling weapons into Iraq,” according to a letter to the inspector general, Howard Krongard, from Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
Waxman accused Krongard of trying to protect the White House and State Department, telling him in the letter, “your partisan political ties have led you to halt investigations, censor reports, and refuse to cooperate with law enforcement agencies.”
Based on accusations from a number of current and former investigators who worked for Krongard, the letter also questioned whether he adequately investigated allegations of illegal labor trafficking involving the Kuwaiti company that was building the Baghdad embassy.
Ralph McNamara, the former deputy assistant inspector general for investigations, said Tuesday that he came forward with the allegations against his former boss because he was concerned that State Department employees would be at risk in the new embassy. He said investigators wanted to look into charges that the walls were not built as required to withstand attacks, but they were blocked from pursuing it.
Krongard, who has been in Afghanistan and is en route to Iraq, issued a statement Tuesday saying, “The allegations, as described to me and in certain media reports, are replete with inaccuracies including those made by persons with their own agendas.”
He said he has tried to assist other government agencies, while taking care to avoid overlap.
In addition to outlining a host of allegations against Krongard, who took over the State Department post in May 2005, the letter raises new questions about Blackwater. Although the security company is not named in the letter, several senior administration officials confirmed that Blackwater is the firm mentioned as being suspected of smuggling weapons into Iraq illegally.
According to a letter, a federal prosecutor asked Krongard’s investigators to assist in the probe of the security contractor, but Krongard sent an e-mail to a senior staff member directing the assistance to “stop IMMEDIATELY” and to wait until he spoke to the prosecutor.
After weeks of delay, Waxman said, Krongard asked someone on his media relations staff – not an investigator – to assist the federal prosecutors. Krongard, however, said he made one of his “best investigators” available for the probe. Blackwater spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell declined to comment Tuesday.
Krongard, in testimony before the committee in July, dismissed allegations that foreign workers were mistreated in building the new embassy complex in Baghdad. But he acknowledged that some recruiters may have misled foreign workers about pay expectations and living conditions.
A central theme running through the letter is that Krongard prevented his investigators from cooperating with Justice Department probes and refused to send his staff to Iraq and Afghanistan to look into allegations of fraud and wasteful spending involving the more than $3.6 billion the State Department has spent on contracts there.
Waxman also said he’s been told Krongard censored inspection reports and audits to remove information critical of the State Department.
The letter cited e-mails between staffers talking about their frustrations at not being allowed to assist the Justice Department in investigations.
The letter alleges that Krongard:
