Bush's Crony Problem Continues

You've done a heckuva job Foggo. Porter Goss was appointed CIA Director primarily because of his loyalty to Bush. Porter Goss appointed Kyle Foggo to be the number three man at the CIA despite a mediocre midlevel career. Once more, the crony problem has struck President Bush. Here's the story that ran last March 3 on ABC News (via Think Progress):

A stunning investigation of bribery and corruption in Congress has spread to the CIA, ABC News has learned.

The CIA inspector general has opened an investigation into the spy agency's executive director, Kyle "Dusty" Foggo, and his connections to two defense contractors accused of bribing a member of Congress and Pentagon officials.

The CIA released an official statement on the matter to ABC News, saying: "It is standard practice for CIA's Office of Inspector General — an aggressive, independent watchdog — to look into assertions that mention agency officers. That should in no way be seen as lending credibility to any allegation.

"Mr. Foggo has overseen many contracts in his decades of public service. He reaffirms that they were properly awarded and administered."

The CIA said Foggo, the No. 3 official at the CIA, would have no further comment. He will remain in his post at the CIA during the investigation, according to officials.

Two former CIA officials told ABC News that Foggo oversaw contracts involving at least one of the companies accused of paying bribes to Congressman Randall "Duke" Cunningham. The story was first reported by Newsweek magazine.

And now, two months later, here's today's story from ABC:

ABC News has learned that Kyle "Dusty" Foggo, the hand-picked executive director of the CIA under Porter Goss, has resigned — the same day as his boss's replacement was announced by the White House.

Foggo is at the center of a swirling storm of corruption allegations — and there are suggestions that the scandal, which involves poker parties, sweetheart contracts and prostitutes — could spread, further tainting the agency. His resignation may serve to tamp down some of the damage to the agency itself as an FBI criminal probe and a CIA inspector general's investigation continue.

Obviously, this is an evolving story and no doubt the White House will be working overtime to minimize the political damage while ignoring many of the urgent problems facing our nation. But make no mistake: there are signs that Bush's problems have once again been self-inflicted. It's bad enough when the officials at FEMA don't know what they're doing. But Americans need to think seriously about the implications as it becomes clear that Bush appointees at the CIA don't know what they're doing. In both cases, a number of professionals, the kind of people who know what they're doing, have resigned in disgust. And that is not a good thing for America.