I often wonder about the Bush Administration's incompetence and corruption. How can such a dark group of people get away with so much for so long? And yes, the tide is turning, the tipping point is at hand and the people are waking up. But, hypocrites who scream about law & order, the rule of law and accountability but continue to rape and pillage the world-over to their hearts' content drives me fucking crazy. WHEN IS SOMEONE GOING TO JAIL?

But I digress.

Here is the summary of the article from the LA Times as reprinted in the Guerilla News.

Schmitz will go to work for Prince Group, the Virginia-based parent company of Blackwater USA, as chief operating officer and general counsel. Schmitz formally recused himself in June from any cases involving Blackwater, a private security company with millions of dollars in contracts in Iraq. Still, Schmitz's departure to the private sector raised concerns among government watchdog groups. "He's a person who did not put the appearance of ethics above all else," said Danielle Brian, the executive director of the Project on Government Oversight. "That is not the way the government should function. These are the kind of things that make the general public distrust government."

And you'll never guess who has been putting the heat on Joe Schmitz. None other than Iowa Republican Senator, Charles Grassley.

The resignation comes after Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) sent Schmitz several letters this summer informing him that he was the focus of a congressional inquiry into whether he had blocked two criminal investigations last year.

Grassley, chairman of the Finance Committee, accused Schmitz of fabricating an official Pentagon news release, planning an expensive junket to Germany and hiding information from Congress. Schmitz is the senior Pentagon official charged with investigating waste, fraud and abuse.

Of course, Schmitz denies that he is leaving the Pentagon because of any cloud over his head. He'd been planning to leave all the time. But this is what they do, don't they? They move folks around, in and out of government, like some kind of shell game. As soon as Schmitz departs, the investigation ends. It's moot. No reason for accountability; he resigned and took another job. Happens all the time.

And what is Schmitz really charged with?

The first of the criminal investigations in which Schmitz allegedly intervened involved John A. "Jack" Shaw, the former deputy undersecretary of Defense for international technology security.

Shaw, who was the subject of a series of articles in The Times last year, tried to manipulate a lucrative contract in Iraq in 2004 to favor a telecommunications company whose board included a close friend, according to whistle-blowers who worked for the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq.

Shaw had signed an unusual agreement with Schmitz that gave him some investigative authority. Shaw told U.S. officials in Iraq that he was conducting investigations under that agreement during a trip to Iraq in December 2003. The results of those investigations were later used in his effort to push for contracts of firms tied to his friends and their clients, according to the whistle-blowers.

Shaw, who was forced out of office last year after refusing to resign, has denied any wrongdoing.

It makes one wonder, if they had been successful, how much money in kickbacks Schmitz might have received. Frankly, I was all over the "It's the incompetence, Stupid!" frame for 2006. But now I'm tempted to tilt toward the "It's the corruption, Stupid!" meme.

But, golly, with Joe Schmitz, corruption is just the tip of the ice-berg. There is also something called Obstruction of Justice. You see, the Shaw corruption was being investigated by the Pentagon. Senior investigators had already found "specific and credible evidence" of Shaw's guilt. What did Schmitz do? He stopped the Pentagon investigation and handed the case over to the FBI.

What has the FBI done? Nothing. The case is low priority and stalled. Smooth move Joe. You guys are just so fucking smooth.

And then Joe, writes a press release saying that the Pentagon had never investigated Jack Shaw.

Schmitz then helped craft a news release in which his office denied ever investigating Shaw, according to Grassley's letter. Grassley has repeatedly asked for an explanation of the news release, most recently in a letter Aug. 8.

"A formal investigation was conducted. The investigation was, in fact, completed and closed and referred to the FBI. How do you square that information with the press release?" Grassley wrote to Rumsfeld on July 27. "There is a paper trail that appears to show that Mr. Schmitz was personally and directly involved in crafting the language in this press release. And second, I understand that Mr. Schmitz was repeatedly warned by his own staff `to take it down' because it was `patently false.' "

It's a good thing, Schmitz was planning to leave anyway, huh?

But wait, there is more.

The second investigation in which Schmitz allegedly interfered involves Mary L. Walker, the general counsel for the Air Force.
Grassley said in the July 7 letter that the information he had was "sketchy" but that the accusation appeared to involve Walker "lying under oath," possibly during investigations of either the Air Force Academy or Boeing Co.

You see, it seems that Boeing was greasing some palms during a $23,000,000,000 DoD negotiation to lease re-fueling planes. Again, according to senior investigators there was specific and credible evidence of Ms. Walker's perjury. But guess what? The investigation was closed down and referred to the FBI where it languishes in suspended animation.

Additionally, as if this isn't enough, Grassley accuses Schmitz of withholding information from Congress as regards the Boeing investigation. You see, Schmitz REDACTED THE NAMES OF TOP WHITE HOUSE OFFICIALS in his Boeing report to Congress. Hmmm. What's that smell?

Anyway, another corrupt Bush Administration official plays the revolving door game of money, money, money. Another millionaire is born.
Relatively speaking Joe Schmitz is a minor player and the things he is accused of are little corruptions. But it speaks to a dark culture of corruption and self-aggrandizement within the Bush Administration. It is rotten to the core and needs to be dumped.