Here's Cookie Krongard's letter informing George W. Bush of his resignation. Long story short, he's very grateful for the opportunity to have... zzz. And lest there be any doubt about Cookie's legacy, he lets the president know that he's training a new generation of IGs:

I believe very strongly in the obligation of all good citizens to do public service at some point in their lives. I was pleased this year to create the Howard J. Krongard Scholars in the Nation's Service at Princeton University... I remain deeply committed to these objectives, but I fear that if the current environment in Washington persists, too many of the most qualified prospective public servants across the country will be dissuaded from serving.

Imagine the horror: the next generation of would-be investigators, making money up in investment banks when they could be looking the other way while contractors line their pockets with taxpayer money. A grateful nation turns its eyes to Cookie Krongard.

So that's what happened to Cookie Krongard's forthcoming perjury hearing. Today, the embattled State Department Inspector General faced reality and resigned.

Krongard, you'll recall, was accused of seemingly endless laxity in investigating State Department contractor fraud in Iraq and Afghanistan; and of retaliating against whistleblowers in his own office. Things got much worse when he denied knowledge, under oath, that his brother was on the advisory board of Blackwater, a huge State Department contractor. He quickly reversed himself. And after that, Cookie's brother contradicted him in an interview with TPMmuckraker.

Here's McClatchy's Warren Strobel:

In an e-mail to his staff, obtained by McClatchy, Krongard said that he plans to leave the government by Jan. 15.

In a reference to the upheaval in the inspector general's office in recent months, he told his staff: "I also ask you, frankly, to make an effort to reduce the static that interferes with the harmony we would like to achieve."

There was no immediate comment from the State Department.

Translated from the Cookiese, that reads, "Please don't leak anything even more embarrassing about me as I enter this new, humiliating phase of my life."

Update: Cookie's full email is after the jump.

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This week was supposed to be the main event. In one corner, a State Department inspector general accused of incompetence, subterfuge, and conflicted interest, saying he didn't know his brother served on the advisory board of a huge State Department contractor. In the other, a former CIA Executive Director, saying he told his brother in October about joining that board. Krongard versus Krongard. Both under oath. Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) as referee.

After a mid-November interview with Buzzy Krongard, Waxman announced that on the week of December 3, he'd hold a hearing to determine whether State Department IG Howard "Cookie" Krongard lied to the House oversight committee in his last testimony. Well, it's December 6. There hasn't been a hearing so far. There isn't one on the committee schedule. What gives?

Honestly, TPM readers, I have no idea. Waxman's people haven't answered my emails. I appear to be on a straight-to-voicemail arrangement with Krongard's spokeswoman. Even Buzzy seems to be freezing me out. I'm starting to get a complex!

It would be pretty surprising if Waxman backed off his path to pursuing a perjury investigation. Krongard has apparently figured he can weather the storm. What will happen? I'd like to tell you that we'll see, but I might be the last to know.