Purge of the Gosslings

by emptywheel

I'm still trying to make sense of the factional interests behind the Goss firing. But it looks like I may be too late. Ken Silverstein reports they're destroying the evidence--or at least purging the ranks.

A similar (if much less bloody) purge is now underway at the CIA, where new director Michael Hayden is systematically seeking to eliminate any evidence that his predecessor—Porter Goss, whose stewardship is widely considered to have been a disaster—ever ran the agency.

By now, most of the people Goss brought in to senior positions—a group known derisively as the Gosslings—are long gone. That includes Goss's hatchet man, chief of staff Patrick Murray, as well as several aides whose names have surfaced in connection with the Duke Cunningham scandal—most notably Kyle “Dusty” Foggo, the agency's former executive director. (Foggo's end came soon after FBI agents raided his office and home two months ago.)

It appears Cheney lost his mouthpiece, in the form of his own former spokesperson Jennifer Millerwise Dyck serving as CIA spokesperson. And the one competent Gossling, Michael Kostiw, is out now too.

More significantly, I'm told that Michael Kostiw, senior adviser to Goss, is also being pushed out. Kostiw was the only Gossling that was thought to have performed well, and a number of senior agency officials urged Hayden to keep him on. However, the source told me, Kostiw ran afoul of Hayden’s boss, Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte. It appears that Kostiw's grim assessment of the situation in Iraq, where he traveled regularly over the past several years, displeased Negroponte, who “wasn't happy with his criticism,” said the source. “He said [Kostiw] wasn't being supportive enough of the policy.”

In the end, though, it was Kostiw's association with Goss that proved fatal.

So let's see. Taking what we can infer from Hoekstra's recent bitching, in which he wants to try those who reveal our illegal rendition programs as Al Qaeda sympathizers. And this, which suggests that Negroponte will fire anyone who admits what anyone who can read already understands--that Iraq is FUBAR. It seems the one thing consistent here is an absolute prohibition on the truth.

I hereby nominate the word "Intelligence" to be today's George Orwell word of the day.

Update: Fixed Kostiw's name, per anon.

Comments

[vachon]

I wasn't aware that there were Gossling purges still going on at CIA. Thanks very much for the update. Interesting article, especially the part about Negroponte.

You know, stupidity I can handle. Arrogance just pisses me off.

[catastrophile]

Are the factions involved necessarily confined to the CIA/US intel community, or does this represent a larger rift within the government? If Goss had ties to Cheney as well as to the legislative "gravy train" -- who could the other faction be? The bureaucratic intel establishment? Is Death Squad Johnny a part of that set as well? I'd expect him to fall in with the Cheney-stas.

What's strange to me is how these federal criminal investigations, except for piddling one-offs like Jeff Davis, seem to keep coming back to the Reep organization. I suppose there are really only two lines of investigation, the Cunningham trail (which has led to the CIA) and the Abramoff trail (leading to the White House and Congress). But there's no doubt in my mind that there's plenty of noise the DoJ could make over various Dem slip-ups if they wanted to create an appearance of parity. So what's driving this?

Do these parallel investigations represent a Reep majority at war with itself? Antibodies within the government trying to stave off the neocon infection? Simple turf warfare?

[emptywheel]

Good questions all, catastrophile. That's one of the reason I keep harping on this story, I'd love to be able to answer some of those questions.

[Anon]

And the one competent Gossling, Greg Kostiw, is out now too.

You mean Michael Kostiw. Pronounced Kos-tee.

Q: What is Michael Kostiw's favorite food?

A: A hot BLT.

[emptywheel]

Thank you, anon. Tired this morning when I posted this.