Dinky Links

Within hours of General Michael V. Hayden being nominated for the Director's position at the Central Intelligence Agency, the Left has already staked out their conspiracy theory of choice. Sadly, they have very little to go on.

The best they could do was this sad, underdeveloped theory from TPM Muckraker:

While director of the National Security Agency, Gen. Michael V. Hayden contracted the services of a top executive at the company at the center of the Cunningham bribery scandal, according to two former employees of the company.

Hayden, President Bush's pick to replace Porter Goss as head of the CIA, contracted with MZM Inc. for the services of Lt. Gen. James C. King, then a senior vice president of the company, the sources say. MZM was owned and operated by Mitchell Wade, who has admitted to bribing former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham with $1.4 million in money and gifts. Wade has also reportedly told investigators he helped arrange for prostitutes to entertain the disgraced lawmaker, and he continues to cooperate with a federal inquiry into the matter.

King has not been implicated in the growing scandal around Wade's illegal activities. However, federal records show he contributed to some of Wade's favored lawmakers, including $6000 to Rep. Virgil Goode (R-VA) and $4000 to Rep. Katherine Harris (R-FL).

Before joining MZM in December 2001, King served under Hayden as the NSA's associate deputy director for operations, and as head of the National Imagery and Mapping Agency.

So here we go:

King worked under Hayden at the NSA. King left the NSA to work at MZM, and Hayden brought him back to the NSA as a contractor.

MZM was owned and operated by a guy named Mitchell Wade. Wade admitted paying bribes to disgraced Congressman "Duke" Cunningham. There are no allegations whatsoever that King did or was even aware of anything illegal or unethical going on during his employment at MZM, and King's above-board position as a contractor is the only tenuous connection between Hayden and the criminals Wade and Cunningham.

Don't you see the obvious conspiracy?

Hayden knew a guy who knew a guy who did something wrong with another guy.

I have a line to the White House more direct than that. I guess this was the best they could do on short notice.