Condoleezza Rice took pains to insist today that the U.S. "would not support a policy that would prevent investigations" in Iraq of government officials for corruption charges. But she repeatedly demurred from passing judgment on a decree signed by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's office manager, which was provided to the House oversight committee by former top corruption judge Radhi Hamza al-Radhi. In that document, Maliki informs corruption judges that his approval is required before bringing charges against practically any senior government official. Here's the document (pdf), signed April 1, 2007:

Peace, mercy and blessings of Allah be upon you!

It has been decided not to refer any of the following parties to the court until approval of His Excellency, the Prime Minister, is obtained:

1. Presidential Office
2. Council of Ministers
3. Current and Previous Ministers

With appreciation

Signed by
Dr. Tariq Najim Abdullah
Prime Minister's Office Manager

At a few moments during the hearing, both Rice and ranking Republican Tom Davis (R-VA) suggested that maybe Maliki was trying to referee a bureaucratic dispute between Iraq's numerous anti-corruption agencies. Hands-on management style and all that. That still wouldn't explain all the murder and torture of corruption judges, but otherwise, the explanation is perfectly sound.

You didn't think there could be an entire House oversight committee hearing on corruption in Iraq without the exploits of Howard "Cookie" Krongard making an appearance, did you?

Krongard, recall, is the State Department inspector general accused by his own subordinates of scuttling Iraq-related corruption investigations and then retaliating against his accusers for snitching to Henry Waxman. (Allegedly!) Pointing to the hearing's cavalcade of State-related corruption problems -- cost overruns on building the U.S. embassy in Baghdad; lax supervision of a $1.2 billion DynCorp contract to train Iraqi police; that whole Blackwater thing -- Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) asked if perhaps having a more "vigilant" IG might have been helpful.

Rice's answer? Nah, not really.

Krongard, she said, "very much" wants to respond to the committee's "allegations against him," and she all but promised he'll finally testify. But she emphasized that, in several cases -- the DynCorp controversy, for instance -- the State Department had uncovered for itself the extent of corruption-related problems in Iraq and either provided that information to the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, Stuart Bowen, or took action itself. Sometimes, even, Krongard's "very active" office contributes to "how we find things."

Why Rice thinks it's exculpatory that the State Department is aware of billions of dollars worth of corruption problems despite the problems' persistence is, well, a bit unclear. But take that, Waxman! Every now and then, Krongard actually does his job.

It took two different questioners -- and a reversal of her initial position -- but Condoleezza Rice finally acknowledged that State should have acted earlier to rein in Blackwater. "I certainly regret that there was not the oversight that there should have been," she said. Was that so difficult?

Condoleezza Rice knows deep down that she wants the State Department to cooperate with the House oversight committee's investigation of Iraqi corruption issues. She just wants to make sure that sources and methods are protected, and that the committee stays discreet, she said during today's hearing.

Unfortunately, obscure bureaucrats like State's Joel Starr have told the committee that it can't publicly discuss things like "Broad statements/assessments which judge or characterize the quality of Iraqi governance or the ability/determination of the Iraqi government to deal with corruption, including allegations that investigations were thwarted/stifled for political reasons."

"I didn't make this directive," Rice said when Rep. Pat Lynch (D-MA) read it to her. "Consider it rescinded." Whether that'll make a difference is unclear: Rice still wants to discuss most aspects of corruption in closed session.

Waxman asked the bottom line question: is corruption cash from the Iraqi government funding attacks on the U.S.? No more retreating behind requests for a closed session or pleas to request sources and methods.

Rice: "There are militias being funded by multiple sources, including people who are able to use the Iraqi system to bring funding to their militias, yes, especially in the south." She said, however, that it would get worse if Iran could fund Shiite militias unimpeded in the wake of a U.S. withdrawal.

How well are the State Department's anti-corruption efforts in Iraq managed? Don't ask Condoleezza Rice.

Rep. John Tierney (D-MA) laid it all out. Not only are there duplicative U.S. offices in Baghdad to oversee anti-corruption efforts -- the Anti-corruption Working Group and the Office of Accountability and Transparency, to name two -- but coordination is so bad that the OAT for months boycotted the meetings of the AWG. Rice said she was "not aware" of that.

Another point she wasn't aware of: OAT has had, according to Rep. Tierney, four acting or permanent directors in the past ten months alone. The most recent one isn't a diplomat or a trained anti-corruption official at all, but rather a "paralegal" who works at the U.S. embassy. "I should get back to you with a sense of how we manage these programs," she replied.

From ABC's The Blotter:

Even as she accepted the resignation of State's security chief Tuesday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice quietly promoted two senior staffers who directly oversaw controversial Blackwater security operations, sources tell ABC News....

Current and former officials were outraged.

"It is ironic; on the day the assistant secretary for DSS resigns, the two people with oversight responsibility for the program get promoted," said one current State Department official who asked not to be named....

"They both got promoted in the face of all this mismanagement and controversy -- talk about government B.S.," said another. "What does it say when State promotes the two people into DS' most senior positions, when if they had properly managed the programs under the responsibility, we wouldn't be in this mess?"

So much for Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice ending State's recent stonewalling of the House oversight committee. Rice is testifying this morning about corruption in Iraq, a subject that the committee has been digging into for months. She's just not saying much:

Is Rice aware of ex-corruption Judge Rahdi Hamza al-Radhi's statement that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki issued "secret orders" to stop his investigations? "The questions you're asking get into areas where there are concerns about exposure of sources." She said that while "no one is more concerned" about corruption than the State Department, she isn't "personally following every investigation."

Well, asked Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA), did Maliki obstruct a corruption investigation of Maliki's cousin, the ex-transportation minister, as Radhi testified? It turns out she "can't comment." While Rice said she would review the case -- even though Waxman personally gave documents on Radhi's charge to one of Rice's subordinates -- "nothing is to be gained by speaking prematurely."

Looks like the impasse between the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and the State Department over Iraq corruption might be breaking. The Crypt reports that Rice might go before the panel tomorrow:

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is scheduled to appear before the House Oversight and Goverment Reform Committee Thursday to answer questions about corruption within the Iraqi government, the possibility of political reconciliation in that war-ravaged country and the department's controversial security contract with Blackwater USA, according to a release from the committee.

Oversight Chairman Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) has been pressing Rice and other agency officials for months to testify about corruption and the department's contract with Blackwater. According to the release, committee members will also be asking about allegations of misconduct in the construction of the U.S. embassy compound in Baghdad.

Contacted for confirmation, a State Department spokeswoman would only say that there might be an announcement later today on the subject of Rice's potential testimony.

Update: Waxman's office has sent out a press release announcing Rice will appear tomorrow morning before the committee.

Ambassador Patrick Kennedy has finally delivered his assessment of the State Department's relationship with security contractors in Iraq to Condoleezza Rice. Behind closed doors yesterday, the ambassador, who was tasked with making a comprehensive review of State's contractors following the Nisour Square shooting, told the secretary of state that there were serious problems "with virtually every aspect of the department’s security practices, especially in and around Baghdad, where Blackwater has responsibility," reports The New York Times.

Combined with today's report from Stuart Bowen, the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, that finds an "environment" conducive to waste and fraud in the oversight of DynCorp's $1.2 billion Iraq contract, it's easy to see why one State Department official told the paper that the department's contracting process is caught in "a perfect storm of bad events."

Among Kennedy's recommendations is to create a "special coordination center" with the U.S. military to ensure that contractor movements within a military commander's area of operations don't conflict with the commander's orders. It's unclear whether that means the military would actually control contractor operations, as Defense Secretary Bob Gates is reportedly considering, but it would move Blackwater, DynCorp and Triple Canopy contractors out of the exclusive control of the State Department for the first time. When Gates returns from his European trip, he and Rice will discuss the future of State contractors in Iraq.

In a great understatement, Kennedy also recommends closer coordination with the Iraqi ministries:

“They don’t have the right communications, they don’t have the right procedures in place, and you’ve got people operating on their own,” said one official who has been briefed on the report but who spoke on the condition of anonymity because it has not been released yet. “This is not up to the degree it should be.”

And, needless to say, they're also vulnerable to being murdered by drunken Blackwater contractors during rip-roaring Green Zone Christmas parties.

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Perhaps it was only a matter of time before the FBI opened an investigation into shady State Department inspector general Howard "Cookie" Krongard. House oversight committee chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) has accused Krongard both of quashing numerous inquiries into corruption in Iraq and retaliating against employees who alerted committee staff to the problem. Now, National Journal reports (not available online), the FBI wants to ask Krongard's former employees some questions:

FBI agents recently interviewed a former senior official at the State Department's Office of the Inspector General as part of a preliminary inquiry by a federal oversight group into charges that the department's IG, Howard Krongard, blocked investigations of suspected fraud and waste by contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Ralph McNamara, who was a deputy assistant inspector general at State, was forced out of his job over the summer after raising concerns that Krongard had thwarted investigations into the safety of the new U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, which is still under construction. McNamara said in an interview that he met with the agents at FBI headquarters in September for about an hour and answered questions about Krongard...

The FBI's interview with McNamara signals new potential headaches for Krongard, who has been the subject of complaints by six other current and former staffers in the IG's office of impeding investigations into contract fraud and waste in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some of those aides have received protection from retaliation under the federal whistle-blower statute.

Last week, Radhi Hamza al-Radhi, the former head of the Iraqi Commission on Public Integrity, testified to Congress that corruption in Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government had all but "stopped" reconstruction efforts. He also said that militias funded by the government and Maliki's rivals have systematically targeted and sometimes slaughtered his investigators.

The Iraqi government's response? To label him corrupt:

The government of Iraq will sue an Iraqi judge who led the U.S.-established Commission on Public Integrity for smuggling documents, libeling the prime minister and corruption, according to a statement released Saturday by the prime minister's office.

Radhi Hamza al-Radhi, who's seeking asylum in the U.S., said he was forced to flee Iraq after trying to unearth instances of government fraud and abuse.

But the statement called Al-Radhi's accusations nothing more than "lies" that were part of a smear campaign against Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. It said al-Maliki urged al-Radhi to investigate corruption allegations regardless of political, religious and ethnic backgrounds.

The prime minister's office also said al-Radhi fled the country because a cabinet committee had been formed to investigate corruption allegations against him.

Via David Corn.

It's a prime example of the lawlessness in Iraq. The details are sketchy and disputed, but here they are: An Iraqi corruption judge, continually thwarted in his pursuit of justice, finally helps convict a high-ranking official. But then the official breaks out of jail. Or, rather, the official is helped out of jail by guards working for one defense contractor, but is then returned -- only to leave jail with the help of another. Allegedly.

Testimony today from Iraqi corruption judge Radhi Hamza al-Radhi touched on the conviction of
Ayham al-Samarrai, the former Iraqi electricity minister. al-Radhi helped put al-Samarrai away for what the judge called "wasting" public funds. al-Samarrai is the highest-ranking official to be convicted of corruption in Iraq.

His name may be familiar to Blackwater watchers. Last month, an Iraqi defense official told McClatchy's Leila Fadel that Blackwater helped break al-Samarrai out of prison in the Green Zone last December. Today, however, al-Radhi suggested that the defense official was wrong. A rival private-security company, DynCorp, assisted al-Samarrai's prison break, al-Radhi said.

But DynCorp says it's a huge misunderstanding. "It's absolutely untrue," says spokesman Gregory Lagana. "We are absolutely 100 percent convinced it wasn't us." However, Lagana says, he knows why al-Radhi thinks DynCorp was behind it. Two DynCorp employees, one named George Dillman and another whom Lagana didn't recall, were stationed in Iraq to assist in training Iraqi policemen. Among the police stations the two were detailed to was the Green Zone station where al-Samarrai was detained. In October, al-Samarrai, who holds dual U.S.-Iraqi citizenship, told the DynCorp employees that he would be murdered if he was convicted.

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Classy guy, that Rep. John Mica (R-FL). Hearing about how Radhi Hamza al-Radhi's investigators have been tortured and murdered by militias affiliated with Iraqi political parties -- including the prime minister's -- Mica kept his eye squarely on the real target: Bill Clinton. Mica read out a list of what he described as the Clinton administration's misdeeds -- officials under indictment; officials who fled the country rather than testify; and, of course, impeachment -- to make the point, he said, that "no administration is left without corruption."

It's a responsible comparison. After all, Bill Clinton hung his opponents up on meat hooks, tortured them with power drills and sent Democratic Party-affiliated armed bandits to steal oil revenue in order to finance their illicit activities.

It was too much for Radhi, who, through translation, reminded Mica of the billions of dollars stolen by the Iraqi government and asked, "don't you think it deserves follow up and attention?"

Here's how bad corruption is in Iraq. An Iraqi corruption judge, Radhi Hamza al-Radhi, the former head of the Iraqi Commission on Public Integrity, is testifying now before the House oversight committee. It's been known that institutional mechanisms in the Iraqi criminal code allow the Iraqi ministers to stifle corruption investigations. But al-Radhi, who is now seeking asylum in the U.S., stated that a whopping $18 billion has been lost to thieves in "nearly every ministry." (That's not the U.S.-provided Iraqi Relief and Reconstruction Fund.) Corruption, he said, is not just getting worse, but has "stopped" reconstruction efforts.

Al-Radhi testified that the Maliki government's corruption "has helped fund sectarian militias," as has that of Maliki's rivals in the Sunni parties. According to al-Radhi, the militias controlling cities like Taji (Sunni) and Basra (Shiite) control oil sales and use the revenue to buy weapons. "These militias are from the parties' blocs, and it is a source of revenue for them." Even worse is what happens to those who try to stop the corruption: The militias have systematically targeted al-Radhi and his investigators. His staff and their relatives have been kidnapped, detained, tortured and murdered. Their bodies have been found hung on meat hooks, tortured with power drills, and attacked by suicide bombers.

He said Maliki -- who recently issued counter-charges of corruption against al-Radhi -- has protected his deputies and "his relatives" from corruption investigations. These are allegations that the State Department tried to stop Waxman from airing publicly.

Video of al-Radhi's opening statement coming shortly.

Update: Here's the video.