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September 7, 2008 11:28:09 PM CDT

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Blackwater Investigator's Brother Has Ties to Firm

Posted Nov 14, 07 8:17 PM CST in Politics 

(Newser) – The State Department’s top official investigating Blackwater withdrew from the probe today after a dramatic admission that his brother has links to the private security contractor. At a congressional hearing, Howard Krongard initially called the alleged ties “ugly rumors,” but after a recess during which he called his brother, the independent internal investigator recused himself from the probe, Reuters reports.

The admission thwarted GOP attempts to defend Krongard. One Republican told him his brother, an ex-CIA official, has done him “tremendous damage.” Krongard became entangled in the Blackwater investigation after some of his staffers accused him of impeding probes into waste, fraud, and abuse in Iraq, and said he threatened them with retaliation if they cooperated with the congressional probe.

Source Reuters

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A private contractor gestures to their colleagues flying over in a helicopter as they secure the scene of a roadside bomb attack in Baghdad, Iraq in this Tuesday, July 5, 2005 file photo. A top aide to...   (Associated Press)
House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)   (Associated Press)
Plainclothes contractors working for Blackwater USA take part in a firefight as Iraqi demonstrators loyal to Muqtada Al Sadr attempt to advance on a facility being defended by U.S. and Spanish soldiers,...   (Associated Press)
In a file photo Plainclothes contractors working for Blackwater USA take part in a firefight as Iraqi demonstrators loyal to Muqtada Al Sadr attempt to advance on a facility being defended by U.S. and...   (Associated Press)
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Iraq  • Congress  • State Department  • Blackwater  • Henry Waxman  • Howard Krongard


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