Wizblog

Was McDermott On The Take?

Recent revelations by an Iraqi news outlet that the regime of Saddam Hussein had bribed some 270 foreign officials, politicians, and organizations with vouchers that allowed them to profit from the sale of oil didn't come as a total surprise. I realize that the authenticity of the documents and the accuracy of the names of individuals and organizations are still to be verified. But it has long been common knowledge that Saddam had an extensive program to bribe foreign journalists, diplomats and just about anyone else he could get to provide positive political and media spin for his regime.

No doubt a new global growth industry of investigations and prosecutions is being born as U.S. officials sift through the documents that the regime left behind. While in some cases the oil voucher deals appear to have been technically legal, some of those on the list whose anti-war positions were ostensibly grounded in high moral principle will be exposed as the self-interested, lying opportunists that they really are. British MP George Galloway was implicated by documents found in Baghdad following the fall of Saddam, and now it looks like the feeding frenzy is about to begin in earnest. ABC News has reported that they also have received a copy of the list of recipients of Saddam's payola.

In a May, 2003 article entitled Saddam's Cash , Stephen Hayes of The Weekly Standard reported on Saddam's generous public relations program, and in light of the report this past week from al-Mada, the magazine has reposted the article on their website this weekend, accompanied by this "Editor's Note":

1/30/04: On January 25, 2004, a daily newspaper in Iraq called al Mada published a list of individuals and organizations who it says received oil from the now-deposed regime. Among those listed is Shakir al Khafaji, an Iraqi-American from Detroit, who ran "Expatriate Conferences" for the regime in Baghdad. Al Khafaji also contributed $400,000 to the production of Scott Ritter's film "In Shifting Sands." Finally, al Khafaji arranged travel and financing for the "Baghdad Democrats"--Jim McDermott, Mike Thompson and David Bonior--last fall. Following the trip, al Khafaji contributed $5,000 to McDermott's Legal Defense Fund. The Weekly Standard has contacted McDermott's office about returning the contribution. McDermott spokesman Mike Decesare said this morning that he had not yet spoken with McDermott, since it's three hours earlier on the West Coast. Asked about the contribution and the subsequent allegations about al Khafaji and oil, Decesare said, "I don't know anything about it." The Weekly Standard will post a response from McDermott's office as soon as we get one. In the meantime, it's worth taking a second look at "Saddam's Cash."

Indeed it is. In terms of Americans that may have been on the take from Saddam, speculation has centered on former weapons inspector Scott Ritter. The disclosure that he had received $400,000 from al Khafaji, a regime-friendly Iraqi expatriate, for a film that was to be critical of U.S. policy, coupled with the news of his prior arrest on a sex charge involving a minor, sparked speculation that he was being blackmailed by Iraqi intelligence. No evidence that I have seen since that time leads me to believe anything but that to be as plausible.

This same Iraqi cash conduit, al Khafaji, contributed $5000 to McDermott's Legal Defense Fund. Two questions come to mind. What did Iraqi intelligence have on Jim McDermott (and/or Bonior and Thompson), and how much did they promise him to get him to claim, as Hayes reports it:

in a September 29 appearance on ABC's "This Week" from Baghdad .... "The president of the United States will lie to the American people in order to get us into this war." Moments later, despite 12 years of evidence that the Iraqi regime had lied about its weapons program, McDermott said, "I think you have to take the Iraqis on their face value."

It seems the best defense for McDermott is that he is a proven nitwit of longstanding, reported to be one of the dimmest of all Congressmen, (no small distinction). In the May article, Hayes has this to say about the contribution to McDermott:

On October 25, McDermott received a check for $5,000 from Shakir al-Khafaji. The money, first reported by Amy Keller in Roll Call, had been deposited in an account for the McDermott Legal Expense Trust, a fund the congressman set up to pay legal bills in a lawsuit brought against him by Rep. John Boehner. (In 1996, McDermott had released to the media the transcript of a phone conversation between Boehner and Newt Gingrich, taped by a Florida couple.)

No one has accused McDermott of being a mouthpiece for Saddam Hussein simply for financial reasons. Indeed, McDermott has been saying stupid things for years with no evidence anyone has paid him to do so. A spokesman for McDermott says he "doesn't know off the top of [his] head" whether McDermott has plans to return the money.

After McDermott's mischief in the Gingrich tape escapade and his disgraceful performance in Baghdad, this payment from a suspected Saddam surrogate, which has at least the appearance of a quid pro quo consideration, should trigger a House Ethics Committee investigation and an IRS audit at the very least.

Posted by dan at February 1, 2004 02:14 AM