Being Inconvenient. - Comments (1)

Category: Behind the Lines,Venture in Africa
Author: John Malone
Date: 19th February, 2007 @ 04:06:02 AM

It’s an unhappy experience to be inconvenient in large affairs.

I had received an anonymous phone call in 2003 from a longtime employee of the US State Department who told me that the expropriation of my investment was going to be ignored by the State Department due to the diplomatic primacy of the “war on terror.”

At the time, I could not fathom the connection, but as matters played out, I had to consider this analysis was correct. I had turned to Senator Hagel’s office for help, knowing that he was well-placed on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, but never considered this could represent a “wag the dog” scenario.

The lights went on for me after getting to know Lou Ann Linehan the hard way.

Lou Ann Linehan

Rexon Ryu had deceived me and others. It was clear by now there was another agenda at work in my matters. I had called Linehan before when having problems coordinating matters withe Hagel’s staff, which turned over in mazing numbers. I had learned of her reputation, and knew of her connection as Powell’s former Chief of Staff, and therefore she had to know everyone who wa anyone in State.

What I didn’t know was the kind of nasty, manipulative schemer she is!

When I called Linehan about Rexon Ryu’s duplicity, she thanked me for the call and said she would look into it. When I called her back after some time, she had her story together. She did not care to discuss Rexon Ryu, and said that Hagel’s office had done quite enough for me, and that was all that was going to be done.

Immediately I said I could not believe that was the view of Senator Hagel, and needed to hear it from the horse’s mouth: I wanted a meeting with the Senator.

Now, I began calling Hagel’s appointment secretary, who was pleasant enough. She said I would have to make the appointment request in writing, which I did.

That started a chain of events that was almost unbelievable. The appointment secretary kept asking me why I wanted to meet the Senator, and I said he had been working on my affairs for nearly three years, and I wanted to talk to him, if only very briefly. The secretary kept putting me off, and finally said the Senator’s Chief of Staff – Linehan – was not allowing her to schedule the meeting.

I said to her that perhaps I should contact an old college friend who was the wife of Hagel’s former boss and campaign treasurer and see if she might contact the Senator’s wife or the Senator and let him know my troubles.

Nebraska is a lighly populated state. If you live here long enough, and attend the University of Nebraska, your relationships are never far from each other. In fact, an ostensibly Christian fellow – who pretended to be my friend – cheated me of hundreds of thousands of dollars, and subsequently bought Senator Hagel’s former Omaha residence.

The next thing I know Linehan’s secretary called and said Linehan wanted to have a meeting with me in DC. We set the meeting, and I informed the secretary that I will be bringing my Managing Director from Kenya, Lazarus Migua with me, and made it clear that I will attend this meeting as part of an effort to see the Senator, but that I am not having this meeting in placeof meeting the Senator. I said, “I don’t really care to meet with Lou Ann Linehan. I want to meet with the Senator.” She said, “Well, Lou Ann would like to meet with you.”

The secretary prevailed with me – I did not care to seem unreasonable – so I scheduled the meeting.

So Mr. Malone and Lazarus Migua go to Washington.

Stay tuned, things are just warming up.

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