US federal agents last night searched the home and office of the CIA's former third-highest ranking official who is under investigation because of ties to a figure in a bribery scandal.
Kyle "Dusty" Foggo, who announced his retirement from the CIA on Monday, is being investigated by five agencies due to his long-standing friendship with defense contractor Brent Wilkes, an unindicted co-conspirator in the bribery case that landed former US Representative Randy "Duke" Cunningham of California in prison, officials said.
Mr Foggo's lawyer was not immediately available for comment but Mr Foggo, formerly executive director of the agency, has denied any wrongdoing.
Mr Foggo had been appointed by CIA Director Porter Goss, who himself resigned a week ago. Administration officials were unhappy with Mr Goss over publicity surrounding the Foggo case after his ties with Mr Wilkes became public in March.
Federal agents with sealed search warrants showed up at Mr Foggo's office at CIA headquarters in McLean, Virginia, and at his nearby home. Live news footage showed plainclothes agents and a white Chevrolet van outside a modest split-level brick house in a quiet Virginia suburb.
The CIA said the searches were part of a joint investigation by the FBI and the CIA inspector general's office.
The CIA has acknowledged its inspector general is investigating whether Mr Foggo helped steer any agency contracts to Mr Wilkes, a San Diego businessman who has not been charged with any crime. Mr Foggo said through a CIA statement issued last week that government contracts he handled were properly awarded and administered.
Newsweek reported this week that Mr Wilkes hosted poker games at the Watergate and other upscale Washington hotels, including one 1999 party attended by Mr Foggo, Cunningham and a former CIA official nicknamed "Nine Fingers."
Mr Foggo, who spent 25 years with the CIA, has denied allegations that prostitutes entertained at poker parties he attended.
Cunningham was sentenced to eight years and four months in prison in March after pleading guilty in 2005 to accepting $2.4 million in bribes.