The Resignation of CIFA’s Top Management

I’m still reading the November 2005 affidavit on Cunningham’s bribery. It has a previously unknown level of detail on the CIFA-related pork Cunningham made possible. I think some of those details provide new insight into why the Director and Deputy Director of CIFA resigned (speaking of "trepidation") in August 2006, when the Cunningham investigation was focusing closely on CIFA.

The affidavit provides details of the involvement of the top management of CIFA in Cunningham’s deals for MZM. In particular, Deputy Director Hefferon intervened directly to make sure MZM still got its contracts.

A letter signed by Cunningham on or before February 24,2004, congratulates the Director of
CIFA regarding the Collaboration Center, stating in full as follows (emphasis added):I wish to take this opportunity to thank your staff for supporting the recent execution of the Counterintelligence Field Activity (CIFA) Collaboration Center Program. Additionally, I wish to endorse and support MZM, Idc.’s work, under your Statement of Work, DTD 20Feb04. As the Collaboration Center is completed, I hope to help you inaugurate the center as I did
at the inception of CIFA. According to Wade, MZM actually authored this letter on Cunningham’s congressional stationary.

[snip]

That same day, at approximately 12:26 p.m., Wiatrak objects: "Because we are being directed to pass the money to a single contractor who perfoimed poorly on the last effort, I believe this is wrong and respectfully decline to participate." In response to his complaints, Wiatrak was simply informed by ClFA employee, Luis Elizondo, (by email forwarded on March 31, at 7:08 a.m.) that CIFA’s Deputy Director, Joseph Hefferon, directed that CIFA stay with MZM.

The intervention of Hefferon, in particular, is troubling. Why did Hefferon intervene? Who told him to? Was the pressure coming from Cunningham? Or some other source?

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  1. ab initio says:

    I wonder if some day – maybe under another Administration and new AG – we will ever understand the truth and depths of corruption the whole Cunningham, Foggo, Wade, Kontogianis, Saudi connections – warrantless surveillance, CIA, money skimming, hookers for earmarks – scam and scandal have surfaced.

  2. QuickSilver says:

    The outsourcing of surveillance was one of the most disturbing revelations of recent years…
    Thank you, emptywheel, for continuing to probe the CiFA scandal.

  3. Anonymous says:

    Hefferon was probably one of the D.C. Madam clients and one of the DOD officials being blackmailed to make sure he pushed the MZM contract through all opposition and that red flags were lowered. Earlier in this FBI document Wade mentions that Cunningham had told him Kontogiannis had mob contacts. That is another way of saying he was a mob operative.

    The person to leave a comment questioning whether we will ever learn the depths of the corruption has forgotten there is a second Grand Jury in D.C. convening that originally expected to bring indictments in 9/06. The D.C. grand jury is to bring charges most importantly for all that Wilkes and Dustin Foggo (former # 3 at CIA) did that was illegal.

    I am going to spoil the horrible surprise to come out…the Russian FSB…former KGB…oligarchs…Mafia (!) were controlling the puppet strings on most of this. The Abramoff probe has a common thread of Russia. Russian oil execs mentioned in Bob Ney’s plea deal…they’re FSB members/oligarchs! When Putin–a former NKGB member snatched control of the FSB in 1997 the mob/FSB members began to invest in legit companies such as Lockheed. They stepped-up the investing when Putin shot his way mostly via gang-style drive-by shootings to the Presidency. After 911 the chaos was huge and Lockheed and the FSB members bribed their way to having Lockheed awarded no-bid contracts on every single DHS program. The only companies that were awarded contracts by the DHS controlled by Lockheed were the ones who had Russian investors. Young companies that turned-down 100 % financing offers from the Russian federal government b/c they learned the offers were originating from organized crime, were totally scr*wed by Lockheed’s US DHS. Lockheed–a good Russian company has since acquired most of the companies it awarded contracts to while controlling (still controls) the DHS’ programs. The majority of the companies it acquired such as Savy Technology (Tom Ridge’s Savy Technology!) received Russian financing so had Russian shareholders as their majority investors.

    How best to increase shareholder revenues than to stir trouble? Former KGB members naturally understand defense contractors well, just as they understand how to live at war such as during all the years the Cold War went on when the KGB were important people. The FSB members/Mafia financed 911. They have a common enemy with Islamic fundamentalists: Democracy! The Islamic militants have the will to blow themselves up and the Russian Mafia has the money to finance it and expertise to train the militants how best to maximize damage. By skimming shareholder distributions to finance homegrown terror cells, the Russian Mafia has been able to keep up the attacks on western democracies so the democracies continue to perceive a threat and continue to buy the homeland defense solutions that have Russian shareholders. Anna Politkovskaya, Paul Klebnikov and Alexander Litvinenko are all dead because they were trying to tell/educate the western world that Russia’s homegrown terror cells are fabricated and being controlled by the FSB so that western democracies perceive Russia has the same problems with Islamic militants we have.

    There is a footnote in the FBI document that tells Wade mentioned others who will make-out well in that they won in re-election in 2002. Dole was on that list and it was widely publicized by the press in the past he has FSB member clients. Weldon’s links to Russia were well documented last fall in newspapers nationwide. Charles Taylor is not on that list, but he is a Russian mob operative, too. Ted Stevens, too, not on the list is linked to Russia. Veco is full of Russian energy services contracts. Veco is in a competitive industry and no company secures contracts with the oligarchs unless they’re willing to carryout a Russian agenda in the US. Very often the agenda is unrelated to a company’s core business.

    If I told you who I am, it would mean little to you but likely I would turn-up dead. All I am willing to say for the time being is I am senior management of one of the companies that turned-down the Russian mob money (100 % financing and later, buyout offers) and we put shame to Lockheed’s homeland defense solutions! Our solution happens to be older than Lockheed’s, too! Newest is not always best! Readers of this webpage have watched the Cunningham probe unfold for 2 years. Our punishment for running from the mob money and being patriots to the US and democracy has exceeded 5 1/2 years! What is coming-out is that to secure a DHS contract when the DHS opened its doors in 2003, it was contingent that a company have Russian Mafia owners/shareholders. In 2002 DOD had expressed interest in my company’s solution. Had DOD adopted it, we would have put one of Wilkes’ businesses out of business by making his solution obsolete. Also, in the San Diego indictments of Wilkes and Foggo there is a private security firm given mention three times. What Wilkes and Foggo had them do that was so illegal should come-out when the D.C. grand jury brings its indictments. I am under the impression that the security firm was misled and lied to.