I've been receiving a lot of oil-for-food links these days - and while I generally try to follow that story somewhat closely, I hadn't had time to really put anything beyond a cut and paste together. Debbye in TO, on the other hand, has a fabulous update. Here's the news I hadn't heard;
Congressional investigators began reviewing documents on Thursday handed over by Robert Parton, a former senior investigator on the Independent Inquiry Committee probing the $64 billion Oil-for-Food program.
Parton is one of the two lead investigators who resigned from the Volcker committee protesting his reluctance to investigate Kofi Annan.
Parton delivered the documents on Wednesday night after he was issued a subpoena by the House International Relations Committee on Friday night."I have directed investigators for the committee to begin an immediate and careful examination of documents received from Mr. Parton," Rep. Henry Hyde, the committee's chairman, said in a statement on Thursday. "I wish to extend to Mr. Parton my thanks for fully complying with the committee's subpoena. It is my hope and expectation that neither the United Nations nor the independent inquiry will attempt to sanction Mr. Parton for complying with a lawful subpoena."
The UN actually tried to block the subpeona, citing diplomatic immunity.
Because the review of the subpoenaed materials is currently underway, Hyde, R-Ill., declined to characterize their contents. The materials contain records of Parton's investigation of the role played by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan in the probe of what happened to billions of dollars that went missing from the nine-year humanitarian aid program with Iraq.The contents of the boxes handed over by Parton are believed to be damaging to the secretary-general because, as sources told FOX News, they describe inconsistencies in the story Kofi Annan told investigators about a conflict of interest involving his son Kojo Annan, and Cotecna, the Swiss company that employed Kojo Annan and which won one of the most lucrative Oil-for-Food contracts.
Now, go read Debbye's posts - just keep scrolling.
Don't forget Shaken-occasionally-stirred either - again, scroll down a bit and you'll find a lot of original investigation work.
The Saddam Oil Bribes:
The Complete al-Mada List:
http://www.al-mada.net
Also at:
http://www.tsa.ulaval.ca
Search for Saddam Oil Bribes (?).
Canadian: Arthur Millholland $1,000,000 (US?)