CAMBRIDGE, MA -- January 28 -- The Public Accountability Initiative, a non-profit, non-partisan research organization, released a brief today outlining critical questions that will remain unanswered despite the Justice Department's settlement with Riggs Bank, which was submitted for judicial approval yesterday. The Justice Department's investigation is one in a series of Federal probes that have failed to inform the public regarding Riggs' role in several scandals with national security import.

"It's important for the facts to be en la mesa, as we say, on the table and so that we know what course of action may or may not be needed. The Riggs Bank is being fully investigated, and they'll be investigated in a very open way."
-- George W. Bush, July 21, 2004.

The attached PAI brief considers the lack of transparency with regard to the following issues:

CIA Complicity in Riggs' Illicit Activities

Did the CIA ask Riggs to engage in activities that violated the Bank Secrecy Act, such as illegal wire transfers or the creation of illicit accounts?
Was the CIA aware of Riggs’ illicit activities with respect to 9/11-linked Saudi Arabian accounts held by the royal family?

Bush Connections to Riggs Executives

Did Bush friends and Riggs executives Joe Allbritton or J. Carter Beese have any contact with White House officials or President Bush himself during the investigations by the OCC and the Justice Department or the recently completed negotiations?
Did the President speak with his uncle, an executive at a Riggs subsidiary, regarding the Riggs investigation?

Saudi Accounts and the 9/11 Connection

Why have the Justice Department and the Senate failed to launch an investigation of the Saudi embassy accounts at Riggs even though one account has been linked to two 9/11 hijackers?
Did the CIA or any other Federal agency play a role in facilitating illegal transfers to and from Saudi accounts?
Riggs, Equatorial Guinea and the CIA

Did the CIA or any other Federal agency play a role in facilitating illegal transfers to and from accounts controlled by the Obiang regime?

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