Abuse Likely to Continue Under McCain Intelligence Reforms

Obama's Blueprint for Change calls for reform of the Bush Administration culture of secrecy and an end to sole-source government contracting. McCain, meanwhile, does not recognize these issues as problems in need of urgent resolution, and has proposed an even more adventuristic approach to intelligence. Here's a news story from two weeks ago that takes place at the crossroads of these two issues, and underscores how badly reform is needed -- both in the intelligence community and in government outsourcing.

Dusty Foggo, former third in command at the CIA during the tenure of DCIA Porter Goss, entered a guilty plea last Monday on a Federal wire fraud charge. In a sordid tale involving hookers and trendy Washington restaurants, Foggo was caught misusing his authority as CIA's chief procurement officer to award lucrative sole source contracts to his political friends.

By all accounts, he got off easy. According to news reports, he "graymailed" a light sentence out of Federal prosecutors -- that is, he threatened to use his court proceedings to reveal secrets about CIA operations and his former colleagues' cover identities.

One of the secrets, or collection of secrets, that Foggo likely had in his trickbag was his knowledge of how the CIA buys things. The CIA, like any large organization, buys conventional stuff, like pencils, and conventional services, like advertising, as evidenced by the fancy recruiting posters that are ubiquitous in any major U.S. airport. And of course, the CIA buys exotic, specialized stuff, like killer robot airplanes and ultra secure computer gear, and exotic services, with anodyne names like "field security support" (gun-toting ex-commandos) and "collections operations support" (multi-lingual, globe-trotting secret agents).

The "how" of CIA procurement of goods and services is supposed to be a secret, ostensibly for the protection of CIA sources, methods, and personnel. The Foggo case shows, though, that procurement secrecy is destined to be abused for personal gain and to conceal incompetence. Foggo's case also shows that internal CIA checks on contracting abuses are inadequate. Indeed, it took outside pressure from the press and investigators from the FBI to expose the slime trail to Foggo. (That trail started in the bribery scandal that landed California congressman Duke Cunningham in jail.) If conscientious, diligent officials at CIA had any role in stopping Foggo's industrial-scale corruption, it was because they were acting as sources for journalists who broke the Foggo story.

And what would the taxpayer and CIA have gotten if Foggo hadn't been caught? Foggo was preparing to give his friend, Brent Wilkes, a sole source CIA contract for aviation services worth $300 million. It is doubtful that Wilkes -- with no experience in aviation business -- would have been able to deliver the demanding kind of low-visibility aviation services needed to support CIA activity worldwide. CIA's aviation operations are already troubled enough, as described in Stephen Grey's Ghost Plane, which exposed CIA flights and aircraft via open source research. Would a crooked aviation know-nothing like Wilkes, cashing in on a childhood friendship and political connections, actually been able to help solve the CIA's air transportation problems?

The structural problems that gave rise to Foggo's crookery are still in place. Because of national security restrictions on information on even the most mundane intelligence community contracting, journalists and watchdog groups -- let alone congressional investigators -- find it extremely difficult to scrutinize how intelligence agencies award contracts. Conflicts of interest, such as close and continuing relationships between government officials and contractor executives, should derail a multimillion dollar Federal contract -- but not a multimillion dollar intelligence contract. In my own experience with contracting at intelligence agencies and in Special Access Programs in other parts of Federal government, I have seen these kinds of details -- likely indicators of corruption -- swept under the rug. It's all but an actuarial certainty that a major misappropriation of intelligence-related contracting authority is actually happening right now -- can 100% of intelligence contracting officials really be expected to do the right thing when they know that nobody is looking?

It's hard to imagine McCain's proposed new and improved intelligence bureaucracy doing super-secret contracting any better, or at least with more safeguards against Foggo-style abuses. Even more difficult to imagine is that a McCain administration would throw open the blinds on secret contracting in the intelligence community or in any other part of government. Obama's team promises greater transparency, but an entrenched culture of absolutist thinking about security classification and the likelihood of more skeletons in all those secret vaults -- will pose mighty barriers to real reform.

Comments

[Thunderhorse19]

The intelligence community has been out of control for over 20 years, beginning in the Reagan administration. No internal controls, no coordination between agencies, cash paid to agents under the table, intelligence agents involved in government financial agreements and budget decision-making, black programs, conflicts of interest, disinformation and illegal propaganda programs, etc etc. DISA, NSA, CIA, JIOWC and US Strategic Command should be disbanded, and their budgets diverted to health care and education programs. Those intel agencies believe that the American people are the enemy. They have outlived their usefulness and should be eliminated. The FBI needs to take over their programs and projects. A vote for McCain is a vote for Bush's 3rd term and 4 more years of corruption, graft and greed.

[ScoobyDoo269]

McCain Believes in 2 things - Upper Class and Lower Class - there is no Middle with McCain!

[lucyring]

It is my hope either that this Foggo affair is all really a tight clandestine op, and that he will be sent to a dark, dank hole to recruit Al Qaeda members, or that this isn"t a clandestine op and he will be sent to a dark, dank hole.

[Spesabsquemetu]

If lack of integrity is modeled from the top down in government, is it any wonder that a pattern of corruption has emerged in HOW government is conducting what is supposed to be - the BUSINESS OF THE PEOPLE, not - what has become the use and abuse of authority, and power, for personal advancements and profits through opportunities that advance corrupt greed and gluttony exercised by the unconscionable who dare to take an oath of public office and proceed to violate the people's trust.

WE NEED MORE HONORABLE PUBLIC SERVANTS - in journalism, and in service through our government.
But most importantly, we need a president who actually embraces ETHICS, INTEGRITY and a respect at the highest level for HONORING the TRUST of the AMERICAN PEOPLE.

[Spesabsquemetu]

Mr. Naif, you have to be one of the most informative writers about government issues that I've ever read. I appreciate the efforts you make to explain in detail the problems facing how we are governed, while offering sound critique in how to look at these issues.

Where would we be without those individuals in journalism and serving in our government ( FBI, CIA) who still believe in a system of democracy that is critically dependent upon individuals who actually aspire to uphold the public's trust, to protect the bill of rights and our constitution, who actually model ethics, integrity, and honorable conduct through their public service? Where would we be without these individuals? This corruption in our own government is heart breaking to witness as you consider what all those 4,000 dead American soldiers were fighting for, what they believed was worth sacrificing their lives - to preserve.

It seems that those who would engage in such dishonorable, despicable corruption, are literally inflicting HARM upon democracy, through their greed and depraved indifference to the TRUST that the American people place in our elected officials to ACT in the best interests of the people and to model governance that embraces the highest standards of ethics and integrity in its service to the people.

There is no excuse for this dishonorable conduct and I fail to understand HOW those involved in the Dept. Of Interior scandal, along with this new scandal are NOT being held accountable for their corrupt conduct.