by hmm » Mon Mar 06, 2006 12:18 pm
The level of corruption and coverup exposed by one leaked document of confirmed authenticity deserves a update.<br><br>some quotes from the original thread that spell it out:<br><br><!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>The memo accused Drug Enforcement Administration agents working in Colombia of massive corruption, of cooperating with drug traffickers, of murdering informants, and of helping that country’s dreaded rightwing paramilitaries to launder drug money.</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br>~snip~<br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>The same DEA Office of Professional Responsibility that promises to investigate these charges is named in the Kent memo as a leader of the cover-up that stopped them from coming to light long ago.</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br>~snip~<br>Garrison Courtney, a spokesman for the DEA, on Friday confirmed to The Associated Press that the memo was authentic. <hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br><br>the background so far:<br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://p216.ezboard.com/frigorousintuitionfrm11.showMessage?topicID=388.topic">p216.ezboard.com/frigorou...=388.topic</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br>the memo itself:<br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://narconews.com/docs/ThomasKentMemo.pdf">narconews.com/docs/ThomasKentMemo.pdf</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br>the MSM's headline at the time for this explosive memo:<br><br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>Probe of DEA Agents Finds No Wrongdoing</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br><br>and now for the updates since that thread:<br><br>narconews tears apart the MSM's reaction to this story and incredibly get a retired senior DEA official to confirm the allegations..<br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://narcosphere.narconews.com/story/2006/1/17/23510/5081">narcosphere.narconews.com...23510/5081</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br><!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>Doubt cast on AP story's claim of “No Wrongdoing” in DEA corruption scandal<br>By Bill Conroy,<br>Posted on Tue Jan 17th, 2006 at 11:05:10 PM EST<br>The Associated Press followed Narco News’ recent exclusive report of alleged corruption in the Bogotá, Colombia, office of the Drug Enforcement Administration with an article headlined: “Probe of DEA Agents Finds No Wrongdoing.”<br><br>Although the AP story headline seems to imply that the corruption charges are a dead issue, at least one former high-ranking DEA official contends the allegations are, in fact, very credible. In addition, representatives of the two watchdog agencies charged with investigating the corruption, to date, don’t seem to have their stories straight about the status of their investigations, based on comments made to Narco News.<br>~snip~<br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>Sandalio Gonzalez served as the chief of the South America Section in DEA's Office of International Operations from 1995 to 1998.</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--> He later was promoted to the post of associate special agent in charge of DEA’s field division in Miami -- where the Bogotá corruption charges outlined in the Kent memo first surfaced. Gonzalez retired last year, after finishing out his career as the head of DEA’s El Paso, Texas, field division.<br><br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>Here’s what Gonzalez told Narco News:<br><br> The information in the memo is accurate as far as what I know from my involvement in some of the cases and reflects a climate of cover-up in the executive branch.</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br><br>When asked why a Justice Department official would tell an AP reporter that Kent’s allegations were investigated and “no wrongdoing” found, <!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>Gonzalez replied:<br><br> What do you expect them (the Justice Department) to say? Do you expect them to admit they're committing felonies?</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--> <hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://narcosphere.narconews.com/story/2006/1/22/225119/195">narcosphere.narconews.com...225119/195</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br><!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>DEA is caught in the chicken coop in Bogotá corruption case<br>By Bill Conroy,<br>Posted on Sun Jan 22nd, 2006 at 10:51:19 PM EST<br>Semana magazine, a popular weekly magazine in Colombia, has a very interesting letter to the editor in its latest issue, published Jan. 22.<br><br>The letter was penned by Garrison K Courtney, spokesman for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, in reaction to a story Semana published a week earlier, on the heels of an exclusive report by Narco News.<br>~snip~<br>What is even stranger about this claim is that Sandalio Gonzalez, the former head of DEA’s Miami field division, where the Bogotá-related DEA corruption charges first surfaced, is already on the record indicating that the key whistleblowers involved in the Kent-memo corruption allegations have not been re-interviewed by OPR or OIG since Kent wrote his memo in December 2004.<br><br>That means both so-called “reviews” that Courtney contends were carried out – the one after Kent’s 2004 memo was written and the one after Narco News published its story this month -- occurred without OIG or OPR talking to key witnesses in the investigations.<br><br>It also means that we are to believe that one of the very same agencies accused of whitewashing the initial investigation into the corruption outlined in the Kent memo (DEA’s OPR) undertook these subsequent reviews “with the highest degree of impartiality, independence and professionalism.”<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br><br>is it a leak or a flood?new memo emerges.<br>This article is worth reading in full as it is complex and well sourced, including scans of the new memo.<br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.narconews.com/Issue40/article1637.html">www.narconews.com/Issue40...e1637.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br><!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>New Documents Shed More Light on Alleged DEA Corruption in Colombia<br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>Names of Two of the Whistleblowers in the “Kent Memo” Are Revealed; DEA’s Former Bogotá Chief May Be Involved in Cover-Up</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br><br>By Bill Conroy<br>Special to The Narco News Bulletin<br><br>February 22, 2006<br><br>The revelations of alleged corruption in the Bogotá, Colombia, office of the Drug Enforcement Administration that surfaced last month in a memo drafted by a U.S. government attorney have been illuminated by yet another memo obtained by Narco News.<br><br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>The new memo</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END-->, along with information revealed in related documents and by Narco News sources, brings to light the identities of two of the DEA whistleblowers behind the corruption allegations in the Kent memo.<br>~snip~<br><hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br><br>edit: to clarify title <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p216.ezboard.com/brigorousintuition.showUserPublicProfile?gid=hmm@rigorousintuition>hmm</A> at: 3/6/06 9:19 am<br></i>
