London Observer: Cheney in firing line over Nigerian bribery claims

[Jack Rabbit]

From the London Observer (Sunday supplement of the Guardian Unlimited
Dated Sunday June 20

Cheney in firing line over Nigerian bribery claims
By Antony Barnett and Martin Bright

A British lawyer is emerging as a key witness in a $180 million bribery investigation that could lead to the indictment of US vice president Dick Cheney.
Last week, US oil corporation Halliburton cut all ties with a former senior executive, Albert Stanley, after it emerged he had received as much as $5m in 'improper personal benefits' as part of a $4bn gas project in Nigeria. Halliburton also sacked a second 'consultant', William Chaudan in connection with the bribery allegations. At the time of these alleged payments, Cheney was chief executive of the corporation.
French investigating magistrate Renaud van Ruymbeke is examining a stream of payments surrounding the controversial project which was built during the regime of the late dictator Sani Abacha. The judge has uncovered a $180m web of payments channelled through offshore companies and bank accounts.
The Nigerian project to build a huge gas plant was signed with an international consortium that included Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown & Root. Cheney retired from the chief executive post in 2000.

Read more.

[Jester_11218]

1. Cheney - Ground zero for curruption

http://cheney.tvnewslies.org

This guy is pure evil.

[IndianaGreen]

6. Cheney makes Nixon look like Mother Teresa

When is this guy going to be impeached? He is certainly the source of the Valerie Plame leak, and he still has very profitable ties to Halliburton. The bribery scandal that brought Spiro Agnew's downfall seem minor compared to what Cheney has done.

It is time for Cheney to go!

[Jester_11218]

8. The worst in history

Cheny is the biggest criminal to ever set foot in the White House.

[veracity]

11. He's putting Spiro Agnew into second place...

Anyone here old enough to remember Agnew?.....another great GOP Veep crook. After he resigned in disgrace he got a job as consultant to an Arab oil company. Sounds like Cheney might go the same route.....What a fun group..

[Jester_11218]

12. Big difference

The difference between Agnew and Cheny is like the difference between throwing a bullet and shooting one. Cheney is involved in more than you can imagine including our venture into an illegal war.

[veracity]

14. No contest....

Cheney takes first place with no competition. He's da best!!!!:_)

[stevedeshazer]

21. I had a Spiro Agnew watch

[Jester_11218]

22. ???

Funny and scary!

[Judi Lynn]

28. Agnew had the same sinister sourness Cheney has, too......... n/t

[calimary]

35. Oh man, yes, I remember Spiro Agnew.

Birds of a feather.

[mmonk]

2. well

the stuff never stops coming out, does it? How long and how much does it take for these people to lose support?

[LittleApple81]

3. from the article:

The French judge is considering summoning Cheney to give evidence in his probe to ascertain whether the US vice president knew about the alleged commission payments.

snip...

The acknowledgement that Stanley was receiving payments as part of the Nigeria deal brings the allegations uncomfortably close to Cheney. Stanley was chairman of Kellog Brown & Root - one of Halliburton's most important subsidiaries. The company denied that Stanley - who retired as chairman in December but remained a consultant - would have reported directly to Cheney.

Neither Stanley, Chaudan or their lawyers have made any comments on the allegations and the two US directors do not currently face any legal action.

__________
I don't think they will even get close to Cheney. If they cannot even touch Stanley and Chaudan... come on. Cheney will say if anybody knew it was "the office" meaning the building, I bet.

[senseandsensibility]

4. Wow.

Has this been talked about much in the US media? (I know,dumb question). Could this be what Josh Marshall is investigating?

[Jack Rabbit]

5. I, too, wondered about this being Marshall's project

On the other hand, the junta is so crooked it could be any one of a hundred other things.

[Jester_11218]

9. Cheney ignored by the media

Cheney has gone completely under the radar. I have been screeming about him since April 2001.

The media is scared stiff of him. It is like he is the Devil. Yes, I know....he is the Devil.

[senseandsensibility]

13. I,ve often wondered what power these

people, especially Cheney since * is just a puppet, hold over the media. Sometimes I think it's just as simple as their corporate media owners telling them to go easy on this administration because they (the media) will benefit financially from the * policies. Other times I wonder if there's more to it.

[Jester_11218]

15. Either way

Who ever is behind the media deception...the fact is that they decieve us. Being aware is the most important thing. Figuring out who is responsible is not as important as knowing that it is taking place.

DO NOT TRUST THE AMERCIAN MAINSTREAM MEDIA!!!

[amish_enforcer]

54. Obviously you follow the wrong media....

....latest breaking news...Cheney is a ROBOT!

That explains alot more than your devil idea! LOL :D

[TacticalPeek]

30. Location, location. location?

(June 17, 2004 -- 11:17 AM EDT // link // print)

A Blog first? Well, probably not. But certainly a TPM first. I?m coming to you from some number of tens of thousands of feet over the Atlantic Ocean.

snip

-- Josh Marshall

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/week_2004_06_13.php#003068

[senseandsensibility]

33. Interesting

Do you think his vacation is really part of his reporting ?

[Don_G]

7. I'm Wondering

If this misadministration might have left some physical evidence of their crimes lying around where a good investaitave reporter might have found it.

I'm not talking about just one thing; maybe a lot of their actions link together and someone has hard, physical evidence of it.

[Mr.Green93]

10. Is Cheney behind those emails I get from Nigerians?

[Algomas]

31. Good one Mr. Green (nt)

[Tight_rope]

46. You mean the 419's! .....Probable not...but he could stop them but won't!

[Waverley_Hills_Hiker]

16. Indicted by who? The French?

That wont sell too well in the media.

[bahrbearian]

19. Yeah, we still have to put up with Kissenger.

[KittyWampus]

17. NYTimes Began Reporting This Today But Neglected To Use Word BRIBERY

[Judi Lynn]

29. Can't wait to see what term they'll substitute for "bribery"

at a time when TORTURE has been reclassified as "abuse" during _Bush's dance of death, his "War on Terror." (How about War on Not Making Huge Profit from the Suffering of Others?)

[Massacure]

18. If Cheney goes down, Bush goes with him.

[bahrbearian]

20. Bush will just get McCain for VP and fall upwards.

[Jester_11218]

23. I was thinkin about this too

Or even Guliani

[Piperay]

27. Yeah, that is why McCain's lips

have been so firmly attached to the chimp's ass in the last few days. McCain knows he can get the Veep spot with one of the candidates. :puke:

[Lancer]

24. This the first time

I can recall the US truly having a puppet regime. Cheney *is* pure-T evil.

[rocketdem]

25. I disagree.

If Cheney goes down and Bush cuts him loose, then the administration has a scapegoat. "See, we cleaned house." Also, the Repugs will just ratchet up their under-siege rhetoric drawing out their faithful and, though it's hard to believe, sympathy from the uneducated masses.

Maybe I'm just being too cynical and I certainly hope that I'm wrong, but Rove and company have found a way so far to prop up an international war criminal as a heroic figure. I wouldn't underestimate them unfortunately.

[Tight_rope]

48. What you said turns me on....makes me want to pop the champaign!

But I'll wait patiently until the climax.

[struggle4progress]

26. kick for graft

:kick:

[DaveSZ]

32. This has been very underreported in our US media

That's why our media is a joke.

[gatlingforme]

36. I agree, The media here are so negligent in their reporting I do

not trust the media here anymore, I go to outside sources to get most of my news about what is going on in the Bush Admin. PATHETIC

[AP]

34. Nigeria is one of the most corrupt governmens in the world. Totally run by

oil companies.

If transactions in any country (other than the US) are going to lead to an oil exec's indictment, it's going to be Nigeria.

And if you want to make a stand about corrruption like this, Nigeria is the place to do it because those people have effing suffered for the sake of huge profits for a very small group of already super-rich people.

[Jack Rabbit]

37. Corrupt, totally run by oil compainies

That sounds like the Bush junta.

[Demeter]

38. Let's Get Those Dominoes To Fall--Just A Little Push

and the whole conspiracy collapses. It's time, it's overdue, and it better happen before the election!

[Gingersnapsback]

42. They will never find him to bring him to trial...

too many bunkers to hide in. The Supreme Court will rule that he is not subject to FRENCH laws. This is why we don't aren't supposed to drink French wine, and eat Freedom Fries. they are bad, but not quite evil yet.

[Jack Rabbit]

43. At least as a temporary solution, that will do

If these bastards have to go into hiding, then at least they have to relinquish power.

When I was a young man, there were still a lot of tin foil hat theories about Hitler being alive and in hiding in South America. Being a Political Science major in college, some people would occasionally ask my opinion of this. I said, rather matter-of-factly, that I believed Hitler died in his bunker and that if he were still living, he would have been by that time in his eighties. In any case, it really didn't matter. Whether Hitler was dead or not, the important thing is that Nazism was defeated and buried with a stake through its heart.

That is the most important thing to do with neoconservatism: defeat it bury it with a stake through its heart. Our goal should not be to simply win this election, but to discredit the neoconservatives so that their return to power in America is as unthinkable as a return of the Nazis to power is in today's Germany.

The only problem with the hot water Cheney is in according to these reports is that it hits on a particular neoconservative, but is irrelevant to neoconservatism. Cheney is being accused of good, old-fashioned corruption; these are unethical business dealings of the kind we've seen before in businessmen of different political persuasions or no real beliefs at all.

As several point out here, Bush could dump Cheney, replace him with a more attractive candidate like McCain and perhaps be in a stronger position for it. Bush could be re-elected and all we will be left with is some schadenfreude watching Cheney fry. That would be like kissing one's sister.

[Eurobabe]

39. they can't fire Cheney, who'd run the country????

:puke:

[Jack Rabbit]

40. We, the people

We need to take responsibility for this. We haven't for a long time. Now we see the consequences of "letting George do it."

[Just Me]

41. It boggles the mind and stings the heart,...

,...the degree of corruption these evil craps have inflicted without punishment. Will there ever be justice? Sometimes, I really do wonder.

[struggle4progress]

44. I just like seeing DC on the front page

:kick:

[struggle4progress]

51. Just once more for Monday morning!

:kick:

[Tight_rope]

45. Well..I do remember Chaney telling the media to do some investigating!

I guess they decided to call him on his bluff. If only Cheney had called me...I would have given him the 411 on the 419's. LOL....Sucker :bounce: :bounce::bounce: :bounce: :bounce::bounce:

[Lindacooks]

47. Oh, that first sentence made my heart leap

what nice words... "indictment of US vice president Dick Cheney."

[Tight_rope]

50. I know...doesn't it just turn you on! n/t

[goforit]

49. Yet excuse me......Who's gonna toe this bastard to the line?

I don't see any prosecutors stepping forward.

[Hekate]

52. I just wish these Brit news items would show up in US "news" media!

Like that one with the words "new horror" in the title; something to the effect that the latest bad news was having an awful impact on the Bush administration. I think that will only be the case if my fella murkins actually get to hear about it -- which most of them won't, and it's not even their fault.

What will it take for the average television news team to get the message and start repeating it more or less accurately? I haven't got a clue.

But I do have some buttered popcorn in reserve for when/if the show begins. The perp walk couldn't happen to a nicer, more deserving fellow than Dick Cheney.

Hekate
I want my country back

[Jack Rabbit]

53. One last bump

Now, repeat after me: Cheney is a crook. Cheney is a crook. Cheney is a . . . .