Prometheus 6

Democrat Opens Inquiry Into Whether State Dept. Official Impeded Investigations
By DAVID STOUT

WASHINGTON, Sept. 18 — A top House Democrat began an inquiry on Tuesday into accusations that the State Department’s inspector general repeatedly interfered with investigations into fraud and abuse in Iraq and Afghanistan, including security defects at the new United States Embassy in Baghdad.

Representative Henry A. Waxman of California, the chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, sent the inspector general, Howard J. Krongard, a 14-page letter spelling out accusations made by several current and former employees of Mr. Krongard’s office who documented their charges with e-mail messages.

Some of the accusers have sought whistle-blower status, which protects government employees from being punished for reporting possible malfeasance, Mr. Waxman said.

“One consistent element in these allegations is that you believe your foremost mission is to support the Bush administration, especially with respect to Iraq and Afghanistan, rather than act as an independent and objective check on waste, fraud and abuse on behalf of U.S. taxpayers,” Mr. Waxman wrote. He invited Mr. Krongard to respond to the accusations at a committee hearing on Oct. 16.

A State Department spokesman, Sean McCormack, said he did not know whether department officials had seen the letter.

In a statement released Tuesday night, Mr. Krongard said he had not seen Mr. Waxman’s letter because he was traveling in Afghanistan and Iraq. “The allegations, as described to me and in certain media reports, are replete with inaccuracies, including those made by persons with their own agendas,” the statement said, adding that he looked forward to the opportunity to respond in full to the accusations.

One facet of Mr. Waxman’s inquiry reportedly involves Blackwater USA, the security company that was banned by the Iraqi government from working in the country after a shooting on Sunday that left eight Iraqis dead. Mr. Waxman told Mr. Krongard that he had been accused of impeding an investigation of a security company suspected of “illegally smuggling weapons into Iraq.” The Associated Press reported that the unidentified company was Blackwater.

Karen Lightfoot, a spokeswoman for Mr. Waxman’s panel, said she could neither confirm nor deny the A.P. report. A spokeswoman for Blackwater, Anne Tyrrell, declined to comment when reached by The A.P.