Why not if she’s sending sheep in to a mine field filled with deadly secrets?
The McClatchy Washington Bureau noted:
On May 11, 2006, Kyle Sampson, then Gonzales' chief of staff, sent an e-mail to deputy White House counsel William Kelley, asking Kelley to call to discuss "the real problem we have right now with Carol Lam that leads me to conclude that we should have someone ready to be nominated on 11/18, the day her 4-year term expires."
It doesn’t get any clearer than this. Sampson refers to “the real problem we have right now with Carol Lam.” But this was May 2006. We’ve got a March 2005 email to interpret, if in fact replacing Lam is the subject of the email.
Here is some convincing evidence that her early retirement (aka dismissal) was long sought. Right as she left office, Lam offered up the detailed indictment of Foggo and Bent Wilkes.
"Dusty" Foggo - Brent Wilkes Indictment TPM Document Collection 02/13/2007
The indictment goes on to list mail and wire fraud, bribery, and other crimes that are so ineptly hidden it takes one aback.
As the indictment alleges, “Defendant WILKES and other conspirators provided things of value to defendant FOGGO and defendant FOGGO accepted these things of value.”
But why?
According to the indictment, the motive for the relationship was influence over major contracts with the US government, in this case CIA, also known as the minefield. Foggo gave Wilkes access to highly sensitive information that Wilkes had no right to see due to a lack of security clearance. Wilkes used that information to get contracts for his corporation.
Wilkes made out like a bandit with a nine figure contract to show for his investment. A good time was had by all at vacation spots and posh restaurants, as the indictment attests. One of those vacation hideaways was a mansion in Hawaii that Foggo was reported to have enjoyed.
Was There a Bigger Story to Cover Up?
Maybe there was and it would have been percolating form about the time Lam came on as a U.S. Attorney in 2002 through the April 2005 date listed in the Foggo - Wilkes indictment. What was going on at that time in Lam’s back yard?
According to Brent Wilkes, he was in the ongoing business of doling out money for congressmen in return for favorable consideration According to the San Diego Union:
Several of Wilkes' former employees and business associates say he used the hospitality suites over the past 15 years to curry favor with lawmakers as well as officials with the CIA, where both Wilkes and Wade sought contracts.
Wilkes hosted parties for lawmakers and periodic poker games that included CIA officials as well as members of the House Appropriations and Intelligence committees. Cunningham, who sat on both committees, was a frequent guest, according to some of the participants in the poker games.
Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo was more direct:
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