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| Volcker Denies Conflict Probing Buddies, Friends, Biz Associates | |
| 2005-04-26 | |
| Paul Volcker, who heads a probe into corruption allegations in the U.N. oil-for-food program, denied in a new interview that there was any conflict of interest over his link to a U.N. official being questioned in the probe. No, of course there's no conflict. I took this job so I could Volcker, former head of the U.S. Federal Reserve, told Fox News in comments to be aired Tuesday that he had an acquaintance with Maurice Strong "as many people do over the years." Strong is U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's envoy for North Korea, but has stepped aside while Volcker's commission checks for his possible ties to oil-for-food. He denies any link. So he dated my sister. No big thang. Volcker's Independent Inquiry Committee is investigating allegations of widespread fraud in the $64 billion program, which ran from 1996-2003 and was meant to help ordinary Iraqis suffering under U.N. sanctions. Yes, independent. Heh. While controversy swirls around the program, Volcker's committee has come under scrutiny. Last week, two senior investigators resigned because they believed that report was too soft on Annan. They, uh, wanted to spend more time with their families. Yeah, that's the ticket. Volcker said there was no agenda to spare Annan. "We are not meant to be soft or hard — we are out to get the facts and I've said from the beginning our responsibility is to follow the facts wherever they lead," Volcker told Fox, which provided a transcript of the interview to The Associated Press Monday evening. Except for here and, um, here. And here. And here. And over there.
Sis said he was a great kisser. She swore he could put a lip-lock on anything. Volcker once served on the advisory board of Power Corp. of Canada, a company Strong had led many years before. Strong was Power Corp. chief from 1964-66, while Volcker was on the board in 1988, long after Strong ceased to be associated with the company, Volcker told Fox. Just coincidence. We don't even share hookers, anymore. Volcker said neither his acquaintance with Strong nor his ties to Power Corp. posed conflicts of interest. Of course not. He's a leg man and I'm into hooters. "It's a ludicrous stretch," Volcker told Fox. "There is no, absolutely no conflict of interest." Lol. Strong, a prominent Canadian businessman, has not been implicated in the oil-for-food scandal himself. But he has been linked to the program through South Korean businessman Tongsun Park, who has been indicted in U.S. federal court for alleged involvement in the scandal. Slowly, but surely, the various investigations into Tranzi ruses and schemes and scam begin to converge... spiraling inward... Strong is Ground Zero. Strong has acknowledged that Park once invested in a company he was associated with, but denies any link to oil-for-food. He later said the Volcker committee was checking his possible connection to the program. We shared a redhead and talked about it. Volcker's committee has released two reports so far on abuses in oil-for-food. The latest faulted Annan's management of the program, but cleared him of interfering in the awarding of a $10 million-a-year U.N. contract to the Swiss employer of his son, Kojo Annan. I can only fudge it so much, Kofi. Sorry, but you're the hired help. Kofi Annan later said he accepted the criticism but claimed the report exonerated him — though Volcker had made clear when he unveiled the report that the findings against the secretary-general were "adverse." Yes, see! It sez I'm clean. Really. It does! You just have to squint really hard and.. Volcker repeated to Fox that Annan was not exonerated. Hired help. Saddam's government had authority to decide who would have the right to purchase oil under the program and it is believed to have extracted kickbacks ranging from an estimated $9 billion to $21 billion. It was Maurice's best idea. Well, I don't know about you, but this makes me feel so much better. Things are not as they appear. Just coincidences. Foxes guarding the chicken coop, conducting the security checks, policing the perimeter. Nothing to see here. Move along. | |
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