Waxman (.pdf): "Documents provided to the Oversight Committee show that Administration officials knew about Hunt Oil’s interest in the Kurdish region months in advance, contradicting claims that Administration officials were caught off-guard and opposed Hunt Oil’s actions."

On July 12,2007, Ray Hunt, president and CEO of Hunt Oil, sent a letter to the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, of which he was a member, making clear his intentions to pursue oil exploration in Kurdistan. Mr. Hunt disclosed that Hunt Oil was "approached a month or so ago by representatives of a private group in Kurdistan as to the possibility of our becoming interested in that region." He went on to describe the visit of an oil survey team and stated that "we were encouraged by what we saw. We have a larger team going back to Kurdistan this week." ...

Update: NYT.

Posted by Laura at July 2, 2008 02:14 PM