Liberal Lunatic of the Day (5/6/2005) Paul Volcker

Liberal Lunacy ^ | 5/6/2005 | Beckwith

[Beckwith]

Paul Volcker believes it's none of Congress' business why two senior investigators quit the United Nations (UN) Independent Inquiry Committee (IIC) probing the Iraq oil-for-food scandal revolving around secret deals, millions in bribes and billions in global kickbacks.  Thus the stage has been set for a confrontation that may be quite unsettling for U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.  Indications are that this time he won't emerge smelling like a rose.

Volcker was assigned by the UN, in April 2004, to research possible corruption in the Iraqi Oil for Food program.  In the report, Volcker's panel cleared Annan of any involvement in the awarding of a $10 million-a-year Iraq inspection contract to a Swiss firm that employed Mr. Annan's son, Kojo.

This action caused Robert Parton, a lawyer and former FBI agent,  and Miranda Duncan, both investigators for the committee, to resign.  The pair wrote two drafts that were far more critical of Annan than the report released by Volcker's panel and they charged that Annan was being let off the hook.

Volcker, who held signed confidentiality agreements from both Parton and Duncan tried to block them from testifying in front of Congress, insisting the duo had diplomatic immunity.  Parton's lawyer, Lanny Davis, asked Volcker and UN lawyers if they would instruct Parton to defy a congressional subpoena.  When Volcker's committee and the UN did not reply, Parton had "no choice" but to comply with a subpoena from Congress to turn over documents and give testimony.  Davis said in a statement, "On multiple occasions, on the telephone and in writing, Mr. Parton asked the IIC and the UN whether he should defy congressional subpoenas.  The IIC and the UN refused to respond."

In this explosive new development, the documents, said to include "proof" that U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan lied to the committee probing the scandal, were handed over yesterday (5/5) to the House International Relations Committee, Chaired by Henry Hyde (R-Ill.).

link:  Congress gets sizzling Kofi papers

[Beckwith]

Volcker flipped out when he heard the news that Parton had turned over sensitive documents to Congress.  He telephoned at least two congressmen to express concern about forcing the testimony.  in a In a statement and a series of letters made public late on Thursday, Volcker said his probe had overlooked no relevant evidence.

The Volcker Commission’s operations are shrouded in secrecy. There is little transparency or external oversight.  For a commission designed to unearth corruption and malpractice on a huge scale, it is strikingly opaque.  Its official website contains little information of value, not even a mailing address.  Volcker, himself, has argued that his investigation would be damaged if it could not be conducted in complete secrecy.  He has promised to eventually turn over all his evidence, once secrecy was no longer required.  Of course we will all be long dead when that happens.

Volcker has been dogged by conflict-of-interest allegations and disclosures that he had business ties with some of the companies and individuals involved in the oil-for-food program.  Annan's own chief of staff, Iqbal Riza, shredded thousands of pertinent oil-for-food documents for months after the Volcker committee was named.  Yet this hasn't raised any red flags from Team Volcker.  The New York Sun reported BNP Paribas, the French bank selected by the UN to manage the money, rerouted millions through a global web of companies linked not only to terrorist funding and arms trafficking but also to anti-sanctions campaigning and front operations for the Iraqi regime.  All of these events should have set off alarms but didn't.

Meanwhile, David Bay Chalmers, head of Houston-based Bayoil USA Inc., and Bulgarian oil trader Ludmil Dionissiev have been indicted and arrested by the US Attorney in the Southern District of New York for allegedly paying millions of dollars in kickbacks to UN officials and others to obtain the Iraqi oil.  Given their track record, it's unlikely New York prosecutors are going to back off until they get to the bottom of things once and for all.

Paul Volcker, another gift from Jimmy Carter, thought his report put the scandal to bed, but it looks like the US Congress and others refuse to put out the light.  He tried to cover Kofi's butt.  Instead he got his own caught in the ringer.