NPR: Not His Brother's Keeper?

Not His Brother's Keeper?

If it had happened in a courtroom, it would have been the Perry Mason moment.

Instead, it was during a congressional hearing that State Department Inspector General Howard Krongard learned, apparently for the first time, that his brother is serving on the advisory board of Blackwater — the U.S. security firm under federal investigation after a Baghdad shooting.

Henry Waxman, chairman of the House oversight committee, started the session by noting Alvin "Buzzy" Krongard's Blackwater connections, but Howard Krongard strongly denied them. "When these ugly rumors started recently, I specifically asked him. I do not believe it is true that he is a member of the advisory board that you stated. And that's something I think I need to say," he told the committee.

But Democrat Elijah Cummings of Connecticut produced e-mails from Erik Prince, the head of Blackwater, welcoming Buzzy Krongard to the board.

After a break, Howard Krongard said he had spoken with his brother and that Buzzy was connected to Blackwater. He immediately recused himself from all matters concerning the security firm.

Even Howard Krongard's supporters on the committee were upset. "He has done you tremendous damage by that," Republican Chris Shays of Connecticut told Krongard.

The Associated Press reports Krongard also has relinquished his role in an investigation of corruption allegations related to the new U.S. embassy in Iraq and is under heavy pressure to resign.

NPR's Michele Kelemen told me there is no word yet on whether the controversy will affect Howard Krongard's long-term position. But she notes that he didn't appear to have anyone from the State Department with him at Wednesday's hearing. A former staffer who quit in August said he didn't recognize anyone from Krongard's office there.

1:28 PM ET | 11-15-2007 | permalink

Comments (Send a comment)

Wow... can you imagine what the Krongard family Thanksgiving is going to be like this year?

BWJones
http://prometheus.med.utah.edu/~bwjones/

Sent by BWJones | 2:30 PM ET | 11-15-2007

What's sad is that after initially brief reports the day of his testimony, NPR has ignored this story. There was no mention of this apparent perjury and major conflict of interest within the Justice Department at all during Morning Edition.

It's sad how baseless a accusation that Hillary is a bad tipper has gotten more coverage from Morning Edition than war profiteering, fraud, and White House corruption.

Sad but not supprising.

Sent by Ron Gordon | 10:06 AM ET | 11-16-2007

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