Thursday, January 20, 2005

Jack Kemp and the Oil-For-Food Scandal

It was a convoluted plan involving sending a former Vice Presidential nominee and Billy Graham's son to meet with Saddam Hussein. The scheme was part of what led to the first guilty plea in the Oil-for-Food scandal. It got the FBI's attention and landed a prominent former lawmaker in the middle of an Justice Department investigation.

The FBI grilled former Republican Vice Presidential nominee Jack Kemp about his involvement in the UN's Oil-For-Food scandal. The FBI interviewed Mr Kemp back in October about his contacts with Samir A. Vincent, an oil trader who pleaded guilty to four criminal charges stemming from the scandal.

Mr Kemp is reported to have had several contracts with Mr Vincent and the two spoke at least once a month for several years about Mr Vincent's desire to improve US-Iraqi relations. Mr Kemp's lawyer -- Lanny Davis, a former special counsel to President Clinton -- says Mr Kemp approached Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Colin Powell about Mr Vincent's proposals, but was rebuffed each time.

Mr Kemp was Bob Dole's running mate in 1996. (NEWSWEEK via MSNBC)

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