House Democrat accuses US ambassador of evidence tampering

[maddezmom]

WASHINGTON - The U.S. ambassador to Albania allegedly approved removing evidence of the illegal Chinese origins of ammunition being shipped from Albania to Afghanistan by a U.S. defense contractor, a senior House Democrat said Monday.


In a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., said the State Department then attempted to conceal that information from the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which he chairs.

Waxman's allegation comes three days after the contractor's president, a 22-year-old Miami Beach man named Efraim Diveroli, and three others were charged in federal court with providing the prohibited ammunition to be used by Afghan army and police forces. Diveroli's company, AEY Inc., was paid more than $10 million through a U.S. government contract for 35 shipments of ammunition that prosecutors say was manufactured in China.

Prosecutors contend AEY Inc. removed markings from containers to hide the fact they were manufactured in China. Diveroli certified that the ammunition was manufactured in Albania and submitted an invoice for it, they said.

more:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080623/ap_on_go_co/illegal_ammo_ambassador;_ylt=Aq4A_w82TI0K0iZRPw_GtaU8KbIF

[struggle4progress]

1. Might explain why Withers has been screeching about corruption in Albania:

Perhaps it is enough just to quote some tasty tidbits from his recent

Speech: Corruption in Albania

Remarks By U.S. Ambassador John L. Withers II
Launch of the 2008 Corruption Perception and Experience Survey
Conducted by IDRA
May 7, 2008

... There is a great deal of corruption in my own country ... The political elite of this country must take charge in fighting corruption in a meaningful way, not just through speeches and words ... Put another way, none should be immune from prosecution ... The second theme that I would like to discuss is public responsibility. And by that I mean citizens who see corruption or are victims of corruption, protesting it, criticizing it, exposing the incidents of corruption, demanding more of the leadership to do something about corruption ... I do not accept the answer that there is nothing that can be done about corruption ...

http://albania.usaid.gov/shfaqart/257/28/Speech:_Corruption_in_Albania.htm

[struggle4progress]

2. Here's a nice question: "Is Bushy involved?"

Feds charge 22-year-old Pentagon contractor with procurement fraud
By Elizabeth Newell and Robert Brodsky
[e-mail]
June 23, 2008

Podrizki, AEY's agent stationed in Tirana, Albania, sent an e-mail in April 2007 to Packouz that included pictures of ammunition in containers with Chinese markings. Packouz responded that they would have to "get rid of" the crates with Chinese letters since the sale of Chinese products was prohibited under their contract.

In the following days, Diveroli sent several e-mails to the State Department asking if Chinese-manufactured ammunition could be used to fulfill their contract. Diveroli said the ammunition had been in the hands of an Albanian company for more than 20 years.

State officials told Diveroli that the transaction could not be authorized without a national security waiver from the president ...

http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0608/062308e1.htm

[Cobalt-60]

3. Where there is the stench of corruption

There you find the Bush* crime family.
I'm sure one of them is involved.

[struggle4progress]

4. kick