CIA Hijinks

The NY Sun reports that John Negroponte, he of the 3 hour lunch followed by afternoons at the club, is ready to turn over large chunks of intelligence gathering to the Pentagon. Clip:

The proposed change would give the Pentagon unfettered authority to plan and conduct these operations without consulting an intelligence bureaucracy its civilian leaders have deemed hostile to the president's war policy.

Goss was fired because of his ties to the hooker scandal. But, guess what? According to TPM Muckraker, the new nominee also has ties to one of the lobbyists involved with the scandal. Is there anyone in Washington not up to their elbows in lube? Clip:

Hayden, President Bush's pick to replace Porter Goss as head of the CIA, contracted with MZM Inc. for the services of Lt. Gen. James C. King, then a senior vice president of the company, the sources say. MZM was owned and operated by Mitchell Wade, who has admitted to bribing former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham with $1.4 million in money and gifts. Wade has also reportedly told investigators he helped arrange for prostitutes to entertain the disgraced lawmaker, and he continues to cooperate with a federal inquiry into the matter.

King has not been implicated in the growing scandal around Wade's illegal activities. However, federal records show he contributed to some of Wade's favored lawmakers, including $6000 to Rep. Virgil Goode (R-VA) and $4000 to Rep. Katherine Harris (R-FL).