WASHINGTON — Dozens of federal agents Friday raided the home and office of the former third-ranking official of the CIA, escalating a criminal probe of his relationship to a San Diego-based defense contractor who has been linked to the bribery scandal surrounding former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham.
In simultaneous searches of former CIA Executive Director Kyle Dustin "Dusty" Foggo's office and suburban Virginia home, a team of investigators led by FBI agents from San Diego and Washington spent hours combing his records and files.
Foggo has been under investigation by the FBI and the CIA's inspector general because of suspicion that he steered agency contracts to a San Diego businessman and personal friend, Brent Wilkes. Wilkes, who has not been charged, has been identified as a co-conspirator in documents in the Cunningham bribery case.
Foggo has denied that he engaged in any wrongdoing. He resigned from the agency Monday after a 25-year career. Foggo's lawyer could not be reached for comment Friday.
But the extraordinary search also signaled that federal investigators were stepping up their interest in the former CIA official and his possible role in the congressional bribery affair. An FBI spokeswoman in San Diego said Friday that five federal agencies participated in the search.
FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III was believed to have been briefed on the investigation during a visit to the FBI field office in San Diego on Thursday. Mueller was in the city to give a speech on public corruption.
The search also raised questions about whether Foggo's legal entanglements played into the decision by CIA Director Porter J. Goss to resign last week. A CIA spokeswoman denied any connection. But the agency seemed to be backing off the endorsement of Foggo, its former operating chief, that it offered last week. Goss sent an e-mail to agency employees Friday saying that the developments in the investigation were "as stunning and disappointing to me as they must be to you."
CIA veterans said they could not recall an instance when the FBI had raided an office of an agency employee, let alone one of such high rank.
"For a guy at this level, I can't think of anything that comes close to matching it," said a former senior CIA official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the investigation. "There were searches in espionage cases, but in those instances people were arrested off-campus and authorities would subsequently search their offices."
