Houston men plead guilty in UN oil-for-food scandal
They’re lucky they weren’t charged with treason. Via the Houston Chronicle:
Houston oilman David Chalmers, accused of funneling illegal payments to Saddam Hussein’s regime at at time when Iraq was the target of strict economic sanctions, pleaded guilty today to a conspiracy charge.
Chalmers’ business associate at Houston-based BayOil, Ludmil Dionissiev, pleaded guilty to one count of facilitating a shipment of merchandise into the United States, knowing that shipment to not be authorized by law.
That leaves Houston oil tycoon Oscar Wyatt as the lone defendant still slated to go to trial in September on charges he made millions of dollars in illicit payments to Saddam’s government for the privilege of buying Iraqi crude.
Wyatt attorney Carl Parker said today that his client is not guilty and intends to proceed to trial. Parker said he does not believe today’s guilty pleas will affect Wyatt’s prospects.
“I don’t think it will mean anything to Wyatt,” Parker said. “I think the government made a stretch trying to tie them together in the first place. They’re not partners. They haven’t acted together.”
The charges stemmed from oil sales conducted under the United Nations’ scandal-plagued oil-for-food humanitarian program for Iraq.
That program was designed to allow Baghdad to export crude to help the Iraqi people while keeping the proceeds out of Saddam’s hands.
But the Iraqi government began demanding that purchasers pay a secret surcharge to lift Iraqi crude. All three men were accused of funneling payments to Saddam’s government from mid-2000 to March 2003.
So, Oscar Wyatt is still set to go to trial. Here’s the latest on his case. Like I said, he’s lucky he isn’t charged with treason:
Oscar Wyatt’s defense lawyers are trying to ensure a jury never sees an Iraqi document they say suggests the Houston oil tycoon “has committed the deplorable crime of treason.”
The 82-year-old Texas oilman is slated to stand trial in September on charges he funneled millions of dollars in illegal payments to Saddam Hussein’s government in order to win lucrative oil export contracts.
The document in question suggests Wyatt discussed American troop levels and possible dates for an attack with members of Saddam’s regime, prior to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
While the purported discussion about troop levels and attack dates are reminiscent of some of the armchair speculation common in the runup to the war, the details varied from what actually occurred when the war started.
Wyatt attorney Gerald Shargel, in an interview today, said the document contains “not a single fact that wasn’t reported in media outlets both in the United States and internationally, not a single fact.”
In a motion filed late Monday in U.S. District Court, Wyatt’s lawyers argue: “This document essentially alleges that Wyatt has committed the deplorable crime of treason and aided an enemy of the United States.” The filing does not contain the document itself, although Wyatt’s lawyers have confirmed it is the one obtained by the Chronicle from other sources.
Wyatt’s lawyers want U.S. District Judge Denny Chin to keep the document from being presented as evidence at the trial because “such actions would likely to be considered repugnant by most Americans and could potentially cause bias.”
Ya think?
If you haven’t checked out the Oil-for-Food Facts website, you should.
See what others have said
Note from Michelle: This section is for comments from michellemalkin.com's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that I agree with or endorse any particular comment just because I let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with my terms of use may lose his or her posting privilege.
Trackbacks
- Bill's Bites
- JunkYardBlog
- Marginalized Action Dinosaur » More Treason re the UN, Oil for food. Oscar Wyatt to get the death penalty?
- Tel-Chai Nation
Comments
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Categories: United Nations
Little Miss Attila
» Okay, Ladies.
Belmont Club
» Both sides nowRiehl World View
» Whoa! Palin BEAT Obama In Ratings ScorePower Line
» 40 Million?!JustOneMinute
» Now The Surge Is Succeeding?Little Miss Attila
» Well, You Know: G.W. Bush Didn't Vet His VP, Either.TigerHawk
» "We lost their trust"Redstate
» The Palin And McCain SpeechesGateway Pundit
» America First-- John McCain Makes His Case
The scum, along with the leakers in the State Dept and CIA, need to be made examples of. Actions have consequences. A raft of Treason indictments would restore some sense of seriousness and give pause to potential leaking govt workers and corrupt business people.
I agree with excarmagguy, treason charges against those who clearly hate this great country are long past due.
If you pass information to an enemy that places our troops at a disadvantage, if you pass state secrets to the hateful press who then proceed to publish the ill-gotten information which, in turn, gives our enemies a chance to escape our pursuit, the charge has to be treason. Period.
Well, they should have to have actually done something besides hating America before they are charged with treason. What do you want? The thought police?
But, I agree, we should find out who have leaked state secrets and indicted them. And hopefully, they would be convicted. If people thought they might have the extreme consequence of execution for treason (especially in a time of war), maybe they would think twice before they betrayed this nation…
People are not considered treasonous for hating America. They are considered treasonous for material support of our enemies. Like revealing troop levels and movements, Ladybug.
Treason trials would be great entertainment as a runup to the 2008 elections. Perhaps the grassroots could try to get something started. We touch those lousy UN people, but havoc might certainly be wreaked on some of our domestic traitors. Huzzah!!
“They’re lucky they weren’t charged with treason.”
Treason? LOL. I don’t think that exists anymore. The NYT’s exposes an anti-terrorist gov’t program……and I’m STILL waiting for someone to fry. The Dems in congress are openly rooting against us while we are at war…….and what? This country is wrecked
Its high time this country started taking this type of treasonous behavior to task. Long overdue if you ask me.
I want a president that has the nerve and gumption to follow the laws of the land and start prosecuting these traitorous acts we see coming from big business, the State Dept., C.I.A., leaks from the press (N.Y. Times). Lack of enforcing these laws are all the results of the liberal “all feel better” syndrome we’ve been ambushed by over the last 50 plus yrs. It’s a load of crap…liberal crap.
Hangem all
I agree!
No they’re not. This country (well at least the elite political class) has long ago jettisoned the idea of holding people responsible for treason.
Bayoil also had an employee at the time named John Overbey. Is it the same John Overbey that went into business with George Bush Sr.?
http://www.acepilots.com/unscam/archives/001959.html
It would be embarrassing for the President.