Cunningham, CIFA, and Cheney, a New Chronology

by emptywheel

In light of the news that Alberto Gonzales granted Cheney presidential powers to snoop into ongoing investigations in May 2006, I thought it was time to update my chronology of the CIFA side of the Cunningham scandal.

• September 2002, then Deputy Secretary of Defense for Counter-Intelligence Burtt establishes CIFA to oversee counterintelligence units of the armed services; consulting on the new agency was James King, recently retired director of National Imagery and Mapping Agency and MZM vice president
• Late 2002, Cunningham gets Mitchell Wade a data storage contract worth $6 million, of which $5.4 was profit
• January 2004, Cunningham adds $16.5 million to defense authorization for a "collaboration      center" that appears to include business for Wade's company
• June 27, 2005, James King takes over MZM
• August 2005 Veritas announces takeover of MZM--will become Athena
• November 28, 2005, Cunningham pleads guilty to bribery
• November 30, 2005, USNORTHCOM JPEN deletes all TALON reports
• December 2005, Pincus reveals a CIFA database contains raw intelligence data on peace activists (and, presumably, Jesus' General)
• March 2006, prosecutors in the Cunningham case are reviewing CIFA contracts to MZM
• March 2006, Stephen Cambone announces an investigation of CIFA's contracting
• Goss implicated in Cunningham scandal
• May 4, 2006, Gonzales gives himself authority to "communicate directly ... regarding any matter within the jurisdiction of the Department of Justice" to the Vice President, his Counsel, and Chief of Staff
• May 5, 2006, Porter Goss resigns under allegations of ties to the Wilkes/Wade bribery ring
• May 11, 2006, Kyle Sampson emails
• May 2006, House Intelligence Committee (Peter Hoekstra's Committee) first moves to exercise oversight on CIFA (Hoekstra would eventually refuse to release the report on Cunningham)
• June 15, 2006, Commander USNORTHCOM signs order to terminate JPEN program
• August 2006, CIFA director David Burtt and deputy director Hefferon (who were instrumental in overriding staff complaints about Cunningham earmarks) resign

The point is this: the JPEN database disappeared just two days after Cunningham signed his plea agreement. Gonzales gave Cheney peeking rights into ongoing criminal investigations just as Goss and Foggo and MZM became targets. And all the earmarks that had supported the JPEN database dried up, just in time to close the program and hide the evidence of spying on Bush's enemies.

Think about it. This was a domestic spying program instituted under Rummy (and therefore Cheney) favorite Steven Cambone. If there are guardian angels for domestic spying programs in this administration, they are Cheney and Addington. And they got the ability to guard domestic spying a lot more closely just about the time it had to be dismantled  for legal reasons.

And par for the course, Alberto Gonzales doesn't remember  giving Cheney and Addington that power at all!

Comments

[Katie Jensen]

Why do I feel like I just went swimming in the sewer??

Ugh, ugh, ugh. Now what. I've e-mailed, called and begged for impeachment to my senators, pelosi, conyers, and reid. What do we do next?? I don't do victim very well. I also called and emailed to feingold. I also begged each of the above to watch Moyer's special.

[phred]

Might we finally be seeing what the WH has been so desperate hide all this time -- spying on political opponents to enable Rove to achieve his Permanent Majority? Of course Cheney is all about crushing dissent and smearing opponents as well, so I should think there was plenty of joy to go around...

[orionATL]

now this is interesting, very interesting.

thanks for the good reporting.

most importantly, thanks for the good reporting with sensible personal interpretations of events.

imagine if your story had been written by a wapoop or ny(twi)times reporter:

"officials close to the non-spying,

requesting anonymity due to fear of -------, said today that any thought of domestic spying was absurd, even histrionic."

"show us one piece of evidence that there was any domestic spying, one official said, while noting that publicly revealing the details of any surveillance program was a federal offense."

"balanced" reporting

vs

reporting with personal insight and observation.

thank god samuel clemens didn't work for wapo or the nytimes.

[nolo]

test.

zed?

too good to be true!

back from vacation, and to shed
the jet-lag, i am staying up to
make a few on topic videos. . .

in this new "nightly nolo", i examine,
in 2:43 edited time, the suggestion
by arlen specter that a special prosecutor
be appointed to deal with white house
obstruction of subpoena enforcement. . .

i will also [only-semi-
shamelessly] point everyone
to my first installment, on the
whole sheldon whitehouse line of
questioning of alberto gonzales, from
april 19, 2007, an early "nightly nolo,"
in which, in about 2:30 of edited
footage whitehouse destroys atty. general
alberto gonzales on the swiss-cheese
access to confidential DoJ prosecution
cases and files and investigations information
in the hands of white house staffers. . .

it is actually refreshing to be
back from seclusion. . . indeed.

tomorrow is another big day, with
contempt on tap in the HJC at 10:15 a.m. --
and i'll have a live-feed. . .

[orionATL]

phred,

i'm thinking along the dame lines.

i'm dying to know who they spied on.

you can bet it wasn't just a bunch of quakers.

congressmen who had been given briefing, diplomats, us.s and otherwise, american soldiers reporting back home, particularly troublesome newspaper personalities,

i doubt i've even scratched the surface.

i can't wait to see who was on the list.

just as an aside, i wonder if the no-fly list was compiled form phone "taps", which are not taps anymore, i guess.

the computer age is going to be lots of fun and games for authoritarians.

[albert fall]

EW

To supplement your timeline, I am copying in a comment from earlier today at FDL.

It breaks down the late April/early May 2006 timeline down even more finely, and ties in Kyle Sampson and the "Carol Lam problem."

Giving Cheney a view into investigations at the DOJ right at the same time (certainly not initiated by any party other than OVP)means that the administration is very nervous about Duke and his crooked pals---and Duke was back in San Diego today, presumably testifying.

Here is the timeline:

CHECK out the dates folks!!

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.c.....013023.php

“Below I noted this paragraph in tonight’s article from McClatchy …

In an e-mail dated May 11, 2006, Sampson urged the White House counsel’s office to call him regarding “the real problem we have right now with Carol Lam,” who then the U.S. attorney for southern California. Earlier that morning, the Los Angeles Times reported that Lam’s corruption investigation of former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, R-Calif., had expanded to include another California Republican, Rep Jerry Lewis.

The timing is well worth noting. But the Lewis investigation wasn’t the only trouble Lam was making. Look what else was happening in the couple weeks before May 11th …

April 28th, 2006 — Cunningham-Wilkes-Foggo “Hookergate” scandal breaks open. Probe grows out of San Diego US Attorney’s Office’s Cunningham investigation. CIA Director Goss denies involvement.

April 29th, 2006 — Washington Post reports that Hookergate’s Shirlington Limo Service had $21 million contract with Department of Homeland Security.

May 2nd, 2006 — Kyle “Dusty” Foggo confirms attendence at Wilkes/Cunningham Hookergate parties.

May 4th, 2006 — Watergate Hotel subpoenaed in San Diego/Cunningham/Hookergate probe.

May 5th, 2006 — WSJ reports that Kyle “Dusty” Foggo, who Goss installed as #3 at CIA, is under criminal investigation as part of the San Diego/Cunningham investigation.

May 5th, 2006 — Porter Goss resigns as Director of Central Intelligence.

May 6th, 2006 — WaPo reports on questionable DHS contract awarded to Shirlington Limo, the ‘hookergate’ Limo service under scrutiny as part of the San Diego/Cunningham investigation. Similar report in the Times.

May 7th, 2006 — House Committee to investigate DHS contract with Hookergate’s Shirlington Limo.

May 8th, 2006 — Lyle “Dusty” Foggo resigns at CIA.

May 11th, 2006 — LA Times reports that Cunningham investigation has expanded into the dealings of Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA), House Appropriations Committee Chairman.”

[bmaz]

EW - Are the 5/11/06 Sampson emails you list the ones where he says "we have a problem with Lam" or something to that effect?

[radiofreewill]

OT - How about this March 3, 2006 WaPo article:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/02/AR2006030201783.html

Harman, the ranking Democrat on the House intelligence committee, said she sent Gonzales a fax "seeking clarification about his written testimony, which has left room for the possibility of an additional program or a broader program" of surveillance without court approval.

White House counsel Harriet Miers called Harman on Wednesday, and Gonzales phoned yesterday, Harman said. She said both of them "assured me that there is not a broader program or an additional program out there involving surveillance of U.S. persons."

---

Either Gonzo lied to the SJC about 'no DoJ disagreements' over the Program

Or Gonzo and Miers lied to Rep. Harman in the article above by saying there is no other Program

Because Comey and the senior staff were ready to resign en masse in a 'disagreement' over the legality of 'the Program' in question.

[Mauimom]

Marcy, minor point: should be "peeking" rights [the right to peek into the records] rather than "peaking" [the right to climb peaks? to "peak out" his popularity?] ones.

Any word on when/if C-Span will re-run today's hearing? That was really something else!! It deserves to be widely watched.

[Ralph]

Please forgive a newcomer (already a big fan of emptywheel) his ignorance. I am always seeing a lot of acronyms here. Of course I can and do Google to learn what they stand for, but for cross-reference and review, is there a glossary somewhere or other?

For example: CIFA

Thank you very much.

[whenwego]

EW:
Wanna bet that Rove's hand shows up in this AND that Rove used the wiretapping on journos, judges, Dems, protesters and other fancied "enemies of the state"?

[jazz]

EW,

Since you answered my last question,can you answer this? Assumming Bush/Cheney run the clock out re impeacment ect., a new administration(Democrats) comes 2009 along with a newly constituted USAG, can we still go after Bush/Cheney? Will executive privilege follow Bush out of office or can the new AG break it down?

[nolo]

above, ralph wrote:

Please forgive a newcomer (already a big fan of emptywheel) his ignorance. I am always seeing a lot of acronyms here. Of course I can and do Google to learn what they stand for, but for cross-reference and review, is there a glossary somewhere or other?

For example: CIFA

Thank you very much.

Posted by: Ralph | July 24, 2007 at 22:49

CIFA = "Counterintelligence Field Activity",
a pentagon agency -- as per the "wa po"
(washington post) article EW linked next
to the reference to CIFA. . .

i know of no compiled glossary,
so i hope this of some help.

i generally follow the links, when
i am unsure of the context -- EW is
particularly adroit at leaving good
links to background, for the uninitiated.

p e a c e

[nolo]

let me also say that i am still
reeling from the notion that dick
cheney was given access to DoJ case
and investigation data in time to
presumably take personally-protective
"evasive action for damage control"
in the duke cunningham flame-out. . .

so, how do we distill this blockbuster
into small enough words so that the
american public at large will be able
to latch their arms about it, effectively?

that would be the pearl of great price. . .

[bmaz]

Is it just me, or has the TNH site here been acting goofy today? Albet Fall's post on the additional timeline was not there when I posted my comment asking EW if the 5/11/06 Sampson emails indeed were related to Lam, and it wasn't there AFTER my comment posted. Now, it is above mine. Anyway, thanks Albert for answering my question...

[rukus]

"Assumming Bush/Cheney run the clock out re impeacment ect., a new administration(Democrats) comes 2009 along with a newly constituted USAG, can we still go after Bush/Cheney? "

I want to know this---are any of these people going to be eligible for government pensions? And why should they be paid them?

Also, are any of these people, and I mean Cheney, going to have security clearances when they leave office? And why should they have them?

[bmaz]

Jazz - Yes Bush and Cheney can be pursued under the criminal law once out of office (won't happen I imagine, but is possible) and there is little executive privilege that could be invoked (exec priv not impossible from my understanding, but would have to be asserted through the new administration).

ruckus - Unless impeached and refused pensions as a punishment upon conviction thereon, they will get their pensions. I don't know about security clearances. Clearances are re-evaluated at least yearly, but my guess is they would keep them unless specifically stripped of them through impeachment. This is a very off the cuff guess, so take it with a giant grain of salt. Of course, having a security clearance to see information is not of much good if nobody will give access to see that info....

[bmaz]

Oh, and nolo, welcome back. I had been wondering where you were.

[nolo]

thanks, bmaz -- and you're right -- the
typepad comments were misbehaving earlier
today -- i could not get the first post
i made (above) to appear in the thread on
sheldon whitehouse -- so i doubled up,
and put it here, above. . .

i do already miss the ocean, though. . .

p e a c e

[dotsright]

And, of course, Cheney could also use his peeking powers to keep up with what was going on in the Scooter Libby investigation. Bonus.

[emptywheel]

Morning folks. I'm working on some big posts in my head, but I've got to go to Lansing today.

Sorry about the site glitches yeseterday. Dick Cheney's behind it, I'm sure.

[darclay]

welcome back nolo. bmaz keep missing ur posts,I look for yours and nolo's comments and they are missed.
EW
off topic sort of, what ticked me off (lord knows you graciously overlooked this) was AG's "comforting a HYSTERICAL woman" I work with women all day and over the years have only seen one or two women I could say were hysterical. Women I know especially mothers can not afford to be hysterical and I find it highly unlikely that Goodling is the type to get hysterical.What a joke we have as AG

[Neil]

Have a safe trip to Lansing EW. How did you get three posts up yesterday WHILE watching the hearing on C SPAN 3 and blogging at FDL? You're are amazing.

[AJ]

Both the Post and the NY Times failed to even mention the OVP stuff and the Gonzalez memo this am. The LA Times did pick up on it -- but nobody (except EW) seems to have taken the next step and asked why.

It's been said before...but I'll say it again. Thank you.

[Neil]

Heckuva job Davey Palmer
More subversion of the principles and practice of justice at DOJ, this time in EEOC...

Senators are asked to block Bush's EEOC nominee
By Greg Gordon, McClatchy, 7/23/7

link