The man who is supposed to be investigating allegations against Blackwater did not even know his brother served on the board of Blackwater. Uh huh.

The State Department has come under fire in recent months for its oversight of the embattled private security firm, which protects U.S. diplomats in Iraq. Blackwater was involved in a Sept. 16 shooting in Baghdad that left 17 Iraqis dead, an incident the FBI is currently investigating.

Chairman Henry Waxman of California began the House Oversight Committee hearing by stating that "we have now learned that Mr. Krongard's brother, Buzzy Krongard, serves on Blackwater's advisory board."

The Inspector General immediately refuted the allegations.

"I can tell you, very frankly, I am not aware of any financial interest or position he has with respect to Blackwater," Howard Krongard said. "When these ugly rumors started recently, I specifically asked him. I do not believe it is true that he is a member of the advisory board that you stated. And that's something I think I need to say."

However, Democrats then produced a July 26 letter in which Erik Prince, Blackwater's founder and CEO, invited Buzzy Krongard, a former top CIA official, to join Blackwater's advisory board, followed by a Sept. 5 letter in which Prince welcomed Krongard to the board.

Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., told the inspector general that Buzz Krongard was even scheduled to attend a Blackwater board meeting earlier this week in Williamsburg, Va.. Howard Krongard then promised to recuse himself from Blackwater-related issues if his brother was a board member.

An hour later, after a brief recess, the inspector general did just that.

"During the break, I did contact my brother," Krongard said. "I learned that he had been at the advisory board meeting yesterday. I had not been aware of that. And I want to state on the record right now that I hereby recuse myself from any matters having to do with Blackwater."

Let me get this straight.

The man who is put in charge of investigating Blackwater, does not even know his own brother is on the board of Blackwater?

And apparently when his brother joined the board of Blackwater they were granted immunity from being prosecuted in Iraq. And this Krongard had nothing to do with that?

If this wasn't about the murder of innocent Iraqis it might even be funny that they thought nobody would discover their duplicity. But it is not funny, and I hope the Democrats put the screws to this Erik Prince and his company. And then they can go after whoever tried to cover for their murderous rampage.