Ex-State Official: State Dept. Misleads Congress, Public about Iraqi Corruption

A former State Dept. official told the Democratic Policy Committee (DPC) today that the department has misled Congress and the American public about corruption in the Iraqi government.

Arthur Brennan, who briefly served in Baghdad as head of the State Dept’s Office of Accountability and Transparency in 2007 according to the Associated Press, told Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) that Ambassador Ryan Crocker is either misleading the American public about corruption in Iraq, or is unaware of the corruption due to his own negligence.

Brennan made his statements at a DPC hearing in the Dirksen Senate Office Building. The DPC circulated a video of the exchange today; see it below:

When contacted for response, State Dept. spokeswoman Nancy Beck told The Hill, “As we