Three MZM Staff Worked on White House Intel PanelHere’s another strange tie between Mitchell Wade‘s MZM Inc. and the Bush White House.
At least three men who have been identified as MZM employees worked as professional staff for the Robb-Silberman Commission, the White House panel which investigated the shortcomings of U.S. pre-war intelligence.
Who were the men? First, retired Lt. Gen. James C. King, who joined MZM after leaving his post as chief of the National Imagery and Mapping Agency in 2001. The report by the panel — officially known as The Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction — lists him as an “Intelligence Professional” on its staff.
Then there’s John J. Quattrocki, a former high-ranking FBI officer, who was identified by the Washington Post on Monday as an MZM employee. He is listed on the panel’s staff as an Intelligence Professional in the report, also.
Third, Kenneth M. Geide is identified on unclassified government documents we’ve obtained as an MZM “Senior National Security Advisor.” The White House panel’s report also lists him as an “Intelligence Professional” on its staff.
Wade, of course, has pleaded guilty to several felony counts of bribery and corruption in connection with the Randy “Duke” Cunningham scandal.
Among other recommendations, the Robb-Silberman Commission urged the adminstration to expand the powers of the Pentagon’s Counterintelligence Field Activities office (CIFA), where MZM held multi-million dollar contracts. In fact, MZM’s King consulted for the Pentagon in 2002 on the creation of CIFA.
The dates of the commission make an interesting addition to the MZM-White House timeline:
February 2004: Bush announces Robb-Silberman commission to investigate WMD intelligence, including what is known about Iran and North Korea. Presumeably, staff are hired in the following months.
April 2004: Mitchell Wade incorporates the Iranian Democratization Foundation.
June-Sept. 2004: Wade’s MZM gets three contracts through the Executive Office of the President for “intelligence services.”
March 2005: Robb-Silberman commission releases report and recommendations.
Were the three White House contracts with MZM to pay for the work of those three men? Was MZM doing other intelligence work for President Bush while its associates worked with the commission? Or is this all mere coincidence?
