Agents Raid Home, Office of CIA’s Ex-No. 3

Dozens of federal agents Friday raided the home and office of the former third-ranking official of the CIA, escalating a criminal probe of his relationship to a San Diego-based defense contractor who has been linked to the bribery scandal surrounding former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham.

In simultaneous searches of former CIA Executive Director Kyle Dustin “Dusty” Foggo’s office and suburban Virginia home, a team of investigators led by FBI agents from San Diego and Washington spent hours combing his records and files.

Foggo has been under investigation by the FBI and the CIA’s inspector general because of suspicion that he steered agency contracts to a San Diego businessman and personal friend, Brent Wilkes. Wilkes, who has not been charged, has been identified as a co-conspirator in documents in the Cunningham bribery case.

Foggo has denied that he engaged in any wrongdoing. He resigned from the agency Monday after a 25-year career. Foggo’s lawyer could not be reached for comment Friday.

But the extraordinary search also signaled that federal investigators were stepping up their interest in the former CIA official and his possible role in the congressional bribery affair. An FBI spokeswoman in San Diego said Friday that five federal agencies participated in the search.

FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III was believed to have been briefed on the investigation during a visit to the FBI field office in San Diego on Thursday. Mueller was in the city to give a speech on public corruption.

The search also raised questions about whether Foggo’s legal entanglements played into the decision by CIA Director Porter J. Goss to resign last week. A CIA spokeswoman denied any connection. But the agency seemed to be backing off the endorsement of Foggo, its former operating chief, that it offered last week. Goss sent an e-mail to agency employees Friday saying that the developments in the investigation were “as stunning and disappointing to me as they must be to you.”

CIA veterans said they could not recall an instance when the FBI had raided an office of an agency employee, let alone one of such high rank.

“For a guy at this level, I can’t think of anything that comes close to matching it,” said a former senior CIA official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the investigation. “There were searches in espionage cases, but in those instances people were arrested off-campus and authorities would subsequently search their offices.”

The executive director’s office is positioned across from that of the CIA director, a location that underscores the role the No. 3 official plays in the day-to-day operation of the agency. The executive director is also traditionally in charge of enforcing regulations and ethics guidelines.

The unusual developments prompted the CIA to issue its own statement acknowledging the investigation into “allegations of misconduct” by Foggo and confirming the searches.

“The agency is cooperating fully with the Department of Justice and the FBI,” the CIA statement said.

Wilkes’ lawyer, Nancy Luque, predicted that the searches would not turn up anything that incriminated either man.

“I have no idea what they are interested in,” Luque said. “I suspect that just as with Mr. Wilkes, they will find no evidence of wrongdoing at his home or office.”

Wilkes has not been charged with a crime. But government documents allege that he bribed Cunningham with cash and mortgage payments for assistance in securing lucrative federal contracts. Companies run by Wilkes have won tens of millions of dollars in federal contracts in recent years.

Cunningham, a Republican who represented Rancho Santa-Fe, is serving an eight-year prison term after pleading guilty to bribery charges last year.

Foggo has been a public focus of the far-flung investigation ever since the CIA acknowledged in March that its inspector general was investigating his dealings with Wilkes.

Defense lawyers have argued that prosecutors are seeking to criminalize a long-term personal relationship that Wilkes and Foggo share. The men are boyhood friends and played high school football together. They were roommates at San Diego State University and served as best men at each other’s weddings.

Foggo also once was a senior CIA procurement officer in Germany, where he oversaw contracts for supplies distributed to agency operatives in Iraq and elsewhere. Investigators are believed to be examining at least one contract that was awarded to Wilkes during that period.

The FBI declined Friday to detail what investigators were looking for. The warrants authorizing the searches are under court seal. An FBI spokeswoman in San Diego said that agents from the Internal Revenue Service and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service were also investigating. The probe is being led by the U.S. attorney in San Diego.

Foggo stepped down from his position at the CIA three days after Goss resigned. But there were indications it may have been in the works earlier.

“Foggo’s departure was set in motion before Director Goss announced his own resignation,” a U.S. intelligence official said, speaking on condition of anonymity in keeping with the rules of his job. “Director Goss believed that the allegations around Mr. Foggo had the potential to become a distraction to the work of the agency.”

The widening scope of the investigation appear to have caught agency leaders off-guard. Senior CIA officials learned of the FBI’s plans to search Foggo’s office “just prior to the execution of the search warrants,” the intelligence official said.

Defending Foggo in recent weeks, the CIA had issued statements describing the internal investigation of his contracting activities as a routine response to published reports of potential improprieties.

“Mr. Foggo maintains that government contracts for which he was responsible were properly awarded and administered,” CIA spokesman Paul Gimigliano said last week. “If he attended occasional card games with friends over the years, Mr. Foggo insists they were that and nothing more.”

Reports at the time suggested that Wilkes had poker parties where prostitutes may have been present. Gimigliano said that Foggo “vehemently rejects the allegation as false, outrageous and irresponsible.” Wilkes through attorneys has denied any involvement with prostitution.

Foggo, 51, is a 25-year CIA veteran who held a series of undercover positions in Honduras, Austria and Germany as a logistics officer providing support and material to agency operatives in Central America and the Middle East.

Foggo’s selection by Goss for the No. 3 job in 2004 stunned CIA insiders because Foggo had never been a case officer or senior analyst -- the positions that tend to command the most respect at the CIA. In fact, Foggo had never served as more than a mid-level rank as a logistics officer.

But during his most recent assignment at a CIA base in Frankfurt, Germany, Foggo was responsible for delivering weapons and supplies to agency operatives in Afghanistan and Iraq.

It was during his tenure in Frankfurt, when he was in position to award agency contracts, that Wilkes’ company, Archer Logistics, won a contract worth an estimated $3 million to provide bottled water to CIA operatives in Iraq and Afghanistan.

During his overseas tours, Foggo also cultivated contacts with influential lawmakers and their staffers, who make frequent international trips to observe CIA operations. Several former CIA officers and congressional officials said that Foggo impressed visiting dignitaries with his ability to direct them to the best hotels, shopping locations and other entertainment during their stay.

“He played his cards very skillfully with the political folks,” said one former CIA case officer who served with Foggo overseas and spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation.

Foggo developed particularly close ties to senior congressional aides to Goss when he was chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. Among those aides was Patrick Murray, who accompanied Goss to the CIA and served as his staff director at the agency.

Goss turned to Foggo only after his first choice for the executive director job, Michael V. Kostiw, was forced to withdraw following reports that he had been arrested for shoplifting years earlier.

When Foggo was picked for the job, Goss aides sought to make sure that his candidacy wasn’t undermined by similar leaks. Murray warned a senior agency official that she would be held accountable if embarrassing material about Foggo was leaked to the press. Several high-ranking and widely respected CIA officers resigned in protest of what they perceived as heavy-handed treatment.

One of those who resigned, Stephen R. Kappes, is now in line to return to the agency for the No. 2 job if Air Force Gen. Michael V. Hayden is confirmed as CIA director.

Foggo was also a central figure in the friction that led to the ouster of Goss last week. On Goss’ behalf, Foggo negotiated with the office of Director of National Intelligence John D. Negroponte over the redeployment of CIA personnel and resources to new intelligence centers tracking terrorism and weapons proliferation. Goss was pushed out largely because he was seen as an obstacle to reforms urged by Negroponte.