Former CIA official indicted anew in bribery case Associated Press

Published: Wednesday May 21, 2008



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Print This Email This By MATTHEW BARAKAT WASHINGTON (AP)  A new indictment of a former top CIA official alleges that he received bribes in the form of "sexual companionship" in exchange for helping a friend get an edge in landing multimillion-dollar contracts from the agency. Federal prosecutors in Alexandria, Va., on Tuesday obtained a superseding indictment against Kyle "Dusty" Foggo, who as executive director held the CIA's No. 3 rank before leaving in 2006. The indictment accuses Foggo of accepting tens of thousands of dollars in meals, vacations and other perks in exchange for helping friend Brent Wilkes obtain various contracts with the CIA. The new indictment also includes an allegation that Foggo received sexual companionship and "enrichment of a mistress," though the allegations are not detailed in the indictment. Calls and an e-mail sent to Foggo's lawyers were not immediately returned Tuesday. The sexual companionship allegation may be new to the formal charges against Foggo, but they are a familiar part of the case as a whole. Wilkes has already pleaded guilty to paying bribes to then-Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, R-Calif., some of which came in the form of prostitutes. The superseding indictment also adds new counts of making false statements and conflict of interest against Foggo. Specifically, the indictment accuses him of failing to disclose the various gifts he received from Wilkes on his federal financial disclosure form. The conflict of interest charges allege, among other things, that Foggo tried to steer to Wilkes a contract worth more than $100 million to provide air support to the CIA, even as Foggo stood to benefit financially. Generally, though, the new indictment spells out many of the same allegations made previously; prosecutors had said earlier this year that the new indictment would not contain any major surprises for the defense. CIA spokesman Mark Mansfield said Tuesday that "the CIA has cooperated closely with the investigating agencies and the Department of Justice. That cooperation continues today." A hearing is scheduled for Thursday.