Goss Staffer Took $5K Payment from WilkesWe’ve found another curious link between an old Goss staffer and the expanding Wilkes/Cunningham/Foggo scandal.
We’ve been hearing a lot about this guy “Nine Fingers,” a CIA veteran who was a regular at Brent Wilkes’ poker parties. On Sunday, Newsweek identified him as Brant Bassett, who had a career at the CIA before he went to work as a staffer for then-chairman Rep. Porter Goss (R-FL) at the House Intelligence Committee in 2000.
Well, now here’s another weird thing about Bassett: Just before he went to work for Goss at the committee, Brent Wilkes cut him a check for $5000. It’s right there on his financial disclosure forms. In fact, his forms actually show two payments — but it seems he may have reported the same check twice.
What was the money for? Even Brant didn’t seem completely sure. First he called it an “honorarium,” then he crossed that out on the disclosure form and wrote “consulting fee.”
Our calls to Bassett, Wilkes’ lawyer and to the committee weren’t immediately returned.
Update: Harper’s blog has more on Nine Fingers and Wilkes. “Bassett and Wilkes know each other and have ties that go beyond the merely social,” Ken Silverstein writes.
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