The simultaneous raids in Virginia Friday, at Foggo's executive suite and his house, are part of the continuing investigation surrounding former Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham, who admitted to accepting bribes from defense contractors in November. Both the CIA inspector general and the Justice Department have been digging into the relationship between Foggo and defense contractor Brent Wilkes, who is known to be the person identified as "co-conspirator No. 1" in Cunningham's guilty plea.
The inquiry centers on questions of whether Wilkes' business, which held at least one contract with the CIA, received special treatment from Foggo in exchange for improper gifts. Attorneys for Wilkes and Foggo have said their clients have done nothing wrong. TIME reported Thursday that Foggo cleared Wilkes for at least one visit to CIA headquarters in the past year, and earlier in the week it reported that the man who had recommended Foggo for his job, CIA consultant and onetime Goss aide Brant Bassett, had on one occasion served as a paid consultant for Wilkes — though not while he was working at the CIA or in Congress for Goss.
In a brief e-mail to the CIA workforce Friday after the warrants had been executed, Director Porter Goss said the CIA was cooperating with the searches, but added that the developments were "disappointing," officials said. Agents coordinated the searches with the CIA's internal inspector general's office, sending in officers from the FBI, the Internal Revenue Service, the Pentagon's Criminal Investigative Service and the San Diego U.S. attorney's office that is prosecuting the Cunningham case. Senior officials at the CIA were told about the search warrants immediately before the searches, says a law enforcement official. A CIA spokesperson says the agency is "cooperating fully with the Department of Justice and the FBI." Affidavits supporting the warrants authorizing Friday's searches of Foggo' s home and office are sealed, says FBI spokeswoman Debbie Weierman.
Foggo stepped down from his position amid the raids, and his deputy, who still operates under cover, became the acting executive director. Foggo's attorney Bill Hundley could not immediately be reached, but previously told TIME that Foggo denies any wrongdoing and is "really more of a victim here."
It is unclear exactly what Foggo's employment status is now at the agency. Foggo's departure had been in the works even before Goss's surprise retirement announcement last week, an intelligence official tells TIME, as Goss had viewed developments in the Cunningham case "as a distraction."