McDermott may have gone to Iraq on Saddam's dime

A new AP article reports that a 2002 trip to Iraq made by three U.S. Congressmen may have been paid for in secret by Saddam Hussein's intelligence agency. The lawmakers said to have made the trip are Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Seattle), David Bonior (D-Mich.) and Mike Thompson (D-Calif.), though it is reported that they were unaware of the funding source. All three opposed the Iraq war, and more recently Bonior served as John Edwards' 2008 campaign manager.

"Obviously we didn't know it at the time," McDermott spokesman Michael DeCesare said in response. "The trip was to see the plight of the Iraqi children. That's the only reason we went."

The Times' Postman links to a number of other stories related to this trip, including the raid of a Michigan charity involved in what now appears to be a front for the funding, and McDermott's refund of campaign contributions to an Iraqi-American, Shakir al-Khafaji, with ties to Hussein who accompanied him on that same trip.

None of the Congressmen have been charged with any wrongdoing, and the Federal case acknowledges there is no reason to believe either of the three knew about the true source of the visit. One man, Muthanna Al-Hanooti, who had connections to the charity that was raided in 2006, was arrested. The AP article reports that Al-Hanooti monitored Congress on behalf of the Iraqi Intelligence Service. He was allegedly paid 2 million barrels of oil for his service.