Rodgers faux Benghazi report and his wife’s Defense interests

If there is any question about the faux Benghazi report that just came out from the Intelligence Committee under the less than esteemed Chairman Rodgers, let me answer by looking at the cast of lying weasels that played a part in this. Let’s take a look first at Rodgers wife and just who she is. First as a CEO of a Defense Contractor and then hired by a lobbying firm.

And then the infamous CIA Deputy Director Morel, who also is a national security analyst for CBS News and has a book deal, joined the Beacon firm after retiring from the CIA last year. More about Beacon later. Morell who lied and should have been tried for lying to Congress. Moved on to make big bucks as a payoff for his lies no doubt. First of a two-part post. Tomorrow the second. Here is good ole boy Lindsay Graham for a start:

Published on Nov 24, 2014

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told CNN’s State of the Union Sunday morning that last week’s the House Intelligence Committee’s Benghazi report, which hollowed out a number of Republican arguments on the incident, was “full of crap.”

H/T:Right Scoop with video

 Just who Chairman Rodgers wife and her role in D.C?

CNN Transcripts”

GRIFFIN: Want an example? Take Kristi Clemens Rogers.

Four years ago, she married the powerful chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Michigan Congressman Mike Rogers.

Up until 2012, she was also the CEO of the American branch of Aegis, a defense and security contracting firm, where. according to her new employer, the law firm, Manatt, Phelps and Phillips, Kristi Rogers successfully developed and led a two-year pursuit and capture strategy to win a five-year, $10 billion contract under the Department of State’s Worldwide Protective Services program.”

And, yes, it’s an area her husband’s committee has Congressional oversight, making sure diplomats and their staffs are properly protected.

You would think Congressman Mike Rogers would at least disclose that family connection, or that in appearing before Congress, Kristi Rogers would disclose her marital ties.

But on his Web site, Congressman Rogers only states he’s in fact married, no name, and Kristi Rogers in an appearance before a presidential commission back in 2010 didn’t mention the name of the man she just married, even though she missed her first appearance due to her honeymoon.
KRISTI CLEMENS ROGERS, WIFE OF REPRESENTATIVE MIKE ROGERS: It was an unfortunate perfect storm. I had just come off my honeymoon. That was not the perfect storm —

GRIFFIN: The congressman declined our interview request, and his press secretary set us straight in this email, telling us this is all old news.

“Kristi Rogers is not a lobbyist,” she writes, and “is not engaging in those activities.”

“She has also never met with any member of Congressman Rogers’ staff or staff members of the intelligence committee in any professional capacity on any issue.”

Kristi Rogers is now the managing director of Federal Government Affairs and Public Policy from Manatt, Phelps & Phillips.

She is not a registered lobbyist. She just happens to work for a firm that does extensive lobbying, and on its Web site, touts its “strong relationships in Congress” with a “solid record of success in securing legislation and federal funding on behalf of clients.” NYHART: And it’s this kind of conflict of interest that leads to this deep distrust.

GRIFFIN: What we are told constantly by the members is, I never talk to my spouse about this issue.

I never talk to her on this business. There’s a firewall between me and my sons who are lobbyists.

Do you buy that?

NYHART: Well, whether you buy it or not, here’s the question of the appearance. I’m sure there’s some reality.

I can’t quite believe that members of Congress don’t care about the fortunes of their family members.

GRIFFIN: And the fortunes go both ways. Mike Rogers’ wife, Kristi becomes CEO of defense contractor, then is hired by a lobbying firm.

Rogers becomes chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, and according to the Federal Election Commission, political donations from the defense industry quadruple, all legal, all within the rules, all routine in the family business of Washington.

Here is a refresher on Morell

‘Revolving door’? Ties between consultancy, gov’t raise questions about Benghazi probe

Morell, who also is a national security analyst for CBS News and has a book deal, joined the Beacon firm after retiring from the CIA last year. In doing so, he joined an organization already stacked with ex-government officials. Among them is Philippe Reines, whom the New York Times magazine recently described as Clinton’s “principal gatekeeper.” According to Beacon’s website, Reines traveled to more than 110 countries with the then-Secretary of State as part of her senior team.

Meet Beacon Global Strategies.

The online bios for its founders and managing directors suggest no group knows more about the Benghazi terrorist attack and the Obama administration’s response. Yet the consulting firm has deep ties to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and others involved in the controversy – ties so intertwined with the administration and Capitol Hill that they raise questions about an upcoming hearing where former CIA Acting Director Mike Morell is slated to testify.

Another employee, Jeremy Bash, was a former chief of staff to Leon Panetta at both the CIA and Defense Department. Andrew Shapiro was a Clinton policy adviser at the State Department whose portfolio included ridding Libya of shoulder-launched missiles called MANPADs.

And it includes Republican J. Michael Allen, who was a former majority staff director for the House Intelligence Committee, headed by Republican Rep. Mike Rogers. The following link is a great read and worth the time.

Fox News: A refresher

Rpt Published April 01, 2014:

CIA info contradicted protest story in Benghazi attack

Lawmakers want to hear from the chief of station because, according to a Senate Intelligence Committee report, he wrote to Morell and other CIA leadership on Sept. 15, 2012, emphasizing in an email that the attacks were “not/not an escalation of protests.” A day later, then-U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice went on national television and said the opposite.

As first reported by Fox News, Morell is facing accusations he downplayed, or even dismissed, the reporting of U.S. personnel on the ground in Libya, including the chief of station.

Morell, meanwhile, is also appearing for public testimony after facing accusations by Republicans of misleading lawmakers over his role in the talking points. He initially claimed the talking points, before Rice’s interview appearances, were provided to White House officials for awareness and not for their input. Emails later released show administration involvement began at the earliest stages, and Morell personally cut 50 percent of the text.

Read more with video

Benghazi Scandal Frm CIA Deputy DIR Morrell Accused Of Misleading Lawmakers On Benghazi

 

Joe diGenova tells WMAL GOP Congressman Mike Rogers (MI-8) is trying to kill Benghazi Investigation

Posted on 3/10/2014 

Speaking with Larry O’Connor and guest host Christine O’Donnell, Joe diGenova tells WMAL that GOP Congressman Mike Rogers (MI-8) is trying to kill the Benghazi Investigation.

It is so bad, that even John Boehner has taken Mike Rogers to task for his lack of action.

Benghazi Security: “Stand down order cost Stevens his life” -video

Benghazi. Just another phony scandal that after all, what difference does it make? Better late then never, but where were these guys when the topic was hot?

Three members of the special annex team who engaged with terrorists during the siege on the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, in September 2012 tell Bret Baier, in the upcoming Fox News report 13 Hours at Benghazi: The Inside Story, that Ambassador Stevens and the three other Americans killed in the attack would be alive, had security forces not been ordered to stand down.

More over at and a HT: NRO

Benghazi Guards Never Taught How to Shoot Guns

I must say I was disappointed that Benghazi did not make it to the debate last night. At least no damage was done to Romney’s electability. That said, I don’t think Romney made any headlines regarding his foreign policy debate. Libya was there for the taking, and we are sure to have an October surprise yet. Perhaps we can get this fine fellow from the “Special Protection Unit” to come and testify. Breitbart, we miss you. Here we go:

Breitbart:

The bottom line — Obama left the lives of four Americans in the hands of guards who hadn’t been trained to shoot their guns.

One of the members of the “Special Protection Unit” guarding the Benghazi consulate states that the unit had never been given shooting lessons.

A 33-year-old individual referred to only has “Ali” was part of the February 17 Brigade’s four-man team guarding the Benghazi consulate on Sept 11. He says he and his team members had received “light” and “theoretical” training inside the consulate from time to time, but never experience shooting firearms.

He says they occasionally received “practical lessons,” but these lessons were never accompanied by the “practical training” that might have left them better prepared them to do what they were asked to do.

Ali and his fellow guards paint of a picture of being abandoned at their posts. They say that after the consulate was attacked in June 2012, they requested more weapons and body protection. Yet they say they never even received handguns “or the weapons [they] requested.”

They weren’t even provided helmets. Full Story at Breitbart