McHenry arranges secret Blackwater meeting

This is an Republican Study Committee email informing Congressmen of a private Hill meeting with Blackwater CEO Erik Prince from The Politico:

"As you may know, Mr. Erik Prince, founder and CEO of Blackwater USA testified before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in October. His company has been under intense scrutiny by Congress, government agencies, and the media regarding contracts and actions in Iraq. Not only has Mr. Prince personally been targeted by partisan warfare repeatedly over the past months, but the use of contracting throughout the government has been under attack by Congress.

Here's speculation from Cliff Schecter:

Weirdness. This came from The Hill website, but before I could link it, the link disappeared.

Here's more that Schecter had lifted from The Hill before the link vanished:

The event appears to be exclusive.

The Republican Study Committee, specifically McHenry, Reps. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) and Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), initiated this special meeting because "some of our members thought it would be good to be exposed directly to the issues involving Blackwater instead of reading about them second- and third-hand in the newspaper," said a GOP aide.

The aide added that Prince would fly into Washington specifically for this meeting.

From the quoted Hill paragraphs Schecter posted, McHenry has already been identified. It's easy to get the impression he was the main instigator.

What's going on with you and Blackwater, Pat? Something you didn't want us to know?

Blackwater and the Republican Party: follow the money

Greg Flynn has posted some of why our Pat supports Blackwater over at BlueNC.

Go read the whole thing but here are a couple of tidbits to tide you over before the link loads:

On July 27th, 2007, Erik Prince gave $20,000 to the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), listing his employer/occupation as “Self/Business Owner”. Today Erik Prince, chairman of Blackwater USA, testified before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Four Republican members of the House Committee are also members of the NRCC Executive Committee.

And never forget how often ne'er-do-wells hide their activities behind an assortment of names:

When pressed by the House Committe Prince declined to elaborate on the entities controlled by him and the Prince Group LLC. Here for the first time in one place is such a list, not definitive but certainly expansive:

Blackwater Armor & Targets LLC
Blackwater Logistics LLC
Blackwater ProShop LLC
Blackwater Target Systems LLC
BWT Services LLC
E & J Holdings, L.L.C.
E & J Leasing, L.L.C.
EP Investments, L.L.C.
Neptune Solutions LLC
Pelagian Maritime, LLC
Raven Development Group LLC
Toadstool LLC
Bearpaw Medical, PLLC
Blackwater Airships LLC
Blackwater Lodge and Training Center, Inc.
Blackwater West LLC
Neptune Holdings 1 LLC
Blackwater Security Consulting LLC
EP Management Services, LLC
Presidential Airways, Inc.
Aviation Worldwide Services, L.L.C.
Erik D. Prince
Erik D. Prince Living Trust u/a/d August 5, 1992, as amended
Erik D.Prince Grantor Retained Annuity Trust

All of these entities are associated with Blackwater operations in North Carolina. Prince Group LLC is not registered in NC but control entities listed above.

Blackwater, Olbermann, and Pat

Guess what MSNBC's Keith Olbermann found out about today's hearing. Someone from Blackwater wrote the initial State Department report on last month's reportedly unprovoked Iraqi shooting. As KO says, the whole thing reads like Catch-22.

Check out Olbermann with clips from our Pat:



Still want to know what are the ties between McHenry and Blackwater. His drooling is just too weird to be for no reason but he wishes he could have been a SEAL.

Pat supports Blackwater mercenaries. Anyone know why?

Thanks to Petulant Rumblings.

Pat wants to delay Blackwater investigation . . .

Pat's tied to Blackwater, too?

According to the Crypt, Pat and six other Republicans asked Oversight and Government Reform Chair Henry Waxman to delay Tuesday's hearing into the Blackwater mercenary atrocities in Iraq.

The Political Chase speculates why Republicans might want to wait:

I bet they do want the investigation delayed until after those reports are “revealed.” Cheney probably needs a little time to stamp every document that is remotely related (or not) classified and vet the reports. Indeed.

So mayhap he is just doing his pal Dick a favor. But getting tied to Blackwater? Wow, that's a pretty fragile limb for someone who has little chance of winning a primary to be climbing out on.

Here's some info on Blackwater:

Excerpts from the Committee's Majority staff memo.

The Money Trail (or lack thereof)

Unprovoked attack on Iraqis that started the investigation.

Bush Administrations questionable use of mercenary troops over cheaper, more trustworthy, more controllable American soldiers