I just noticed this update at the MSNBC website, predicting rough-sledding for UN Secretary General Kofi Annan because his son made several hundred thousand dollars consulting for a company angling Iraq oil-for-food contracts. The fact is supposed to be made public tomorrow in an interim report issued by Paul Volcker, the man Annan appointed to investigate the program.
The piece also quotes copiously from administration officials who argue that Annan must have knowingly ignored that his son was trading on his name. “How do you not know that your son is making all this money? How do you not know that your son is pushing Cotecna [the company in question] in meetings.”
Perhaps I’m the only one. But when I was reading this I couldn’t help but notice that what the administration officials appear to be describing is considered to be standard acceptable practice in Washington lobbying culture.
What am I missing?
