Congress of the United States
Washington, DE 20515
March 10, 2009
Mr. Edward Maguire
Inspector General
Office of the Director of National Intelligence
Washington, DC 20511
Dear Mr. Maguire:
On Friday, we received the attached letter from the Director of National Intelligence (DNI)
‘adinitting that Ambassador Freeman received indireet salary from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
through his Middle East Policy Council, While the DNI continues to conceal a complete list of
contributors to the Couneil across the years Ambassador Freeman received a salary, we maintain
grave concerns that the new editor-in-chief of our nation’s most important intelligence estimates
has recently received indirect salary from a foreign goverment.
In addition, the DNI admitted in the attached letter that Ambassador Freeman received a $10,000
annual salary directly from Chinese National Offshore Oil Company — a company owned by the
People's Republic of China with significant investment in the Islamic Republic of Iran. ‘This
appears to present Ambassador Freeman with a serious conflict of interest.
Furthermore, the DNI left open the possibility that Ambassador Freeman, as Chairman of
“Projects International,” may have direct or indirect financial ties to foreign entities and
individuals. According to its Web site, Ambassador Freeman became Chairman of “Projects
Intemational” in 1995. ‘The firm lists operations in Saudi Arabia, the Middle East, Africa and
China. Unfortunately, its Web site does not disclose a complete foreign client list. We ask you
to obtain and publicly disclose all foreign entities and individuals that paid consulting fees to
Projects International since 1995.
In the wake of the November 30, 2006 report by the Department of Defense Office of the
Inspector General (Case Number: H06L101153224), we know the Director of National
Iniclligence takes the issuc of “conflict of interest” seriously. That is why we were surprised to
learn in his attached letter that he appointed Ambassador Freeman without first obtaining any
financial disclosure information.
Thank you for your continued investigation into this matter. We remain confident in your ability
to conduct an independent investigation.
Sincerely,
Steve Israel ‘Mark Steven Kirk
Member of Congress Member of Congress