Or more accurately, he presumes. Recent signs point to a run for the Montana Governorship in 2012 by notable (and occasionally controversial) investigator and intelligence old-hand, Neil Livingstone. Best known from his stints as a founder of GlobalOptions and Executive Action, Livingstone appears to be looking to add "Governor" to his resume.

Labels: ExecutiveAction, GlobalOptions, Neil C. Livingstone

ExecutiveAction is the, apparently troubled, risk management firm founded by Neil Livingstone, formerly of GlobalOptions. It is well known that Livingstone's parting from GlobalOptions was less than cordial and it would seem that acrimony has followed him to his new digs. Intelligence Online is reporting that multiple senior staff have bailed from Livingstone's new venture.

This defection comes at the same time some of the current prime movers at GlobalOptions, and have been named in an investigation of controversial Russian billionaire, Oleg Deripaska. Deripaska was apparently Livingstone contact initially, and is only one of the dodgy characters from that part of the world with which Livingstone has been known to associate himself.

In any case, click on though to the IO article for full details on the sitch at ExecutiveAction.

-- MDT

Labels: ExecutiveAction, GlobalOptions, Neil C. Livingstone, Oleg Deripaska

We've written a few times in this space about the strange bedfellows one sometimes encounters with the current breed of international investigative and risk management firms. From time to time their clients appear to be, well, slightly more controversial than even the most reviled or disgraced corporation, hedge fund or ambulance chasing law firm.

Take for example the recent National Journal article, Lobbying & Law - Touting 'Terrorists (subscription - unfortunately - required) which highlights connections between risk management firm, GlobalOptions (who we already mentioned once this week) and the Iranian "MEK," a group the State Department calls a "foreign terrorist organization." Specifically, they describe the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization as follows:

The MEK, a largely Iranian group, mixes Marxism, nationalism, and Islam. The MEK was formed in the 1960s and was expelled from Iran after the Islamic Revolution in 1979. Since the late 1980s, its primary support came from the former Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein. The MEK conducted anti-Western attacks prior to the Islamic Revolution. Since then, it has conducted terrorist attacks against the interests of the clerical regime in Iran and abroad.

Nice guys. Right? But in truth the MEK has been working hard to shake the terrorist mantle and has in pursuit of that goal, enlisted a few notable beltway personalities including former House Majority Leader Dick Armey and Raymond Tanter, a former senior staff member at the National Security Council during the Reagan administration.

This is where GlobalOptions comes in.

Along with DLA Piper the firm produced a report in 2006, with an introduction co-written by Armey and former GlobalOptions honcho Neil Livingstone. Livingstone has also been a member of the Iran Policy Committee, a group co-founded by the aforementioned Raymond Tanter, which also argues in favor of changing the diplomatic status of the MEK who, again, our State Department views as terrorists.

Quite the tangled web... Sometimes the enemy of your enemy is your friend. But sometimes they're really just bad dudes. Kudos to the National Journal - great article if you have the means to check it out.

-- MDT

Labels: DLA Piper, GlobalOptions, MEK, Neil C. Livingstone, Raymond Tanter

ExecutiveAction is the new shop from Neil Livingstone, founder of Global Options, an investigative firm he split from in 2006 in a very nasty and public manner. Mother Jones has the humerous/scary details on a recent ExecutiveAction press release concerning deadly spores.

-- MDT

Labels: ExecutiveAction, GlobalOptions, Neil C. Livingstone

You may have seen the recent page one Wall Street Journal article describing how DC powerbrokers are now using their contacts and influence to flog the interests of some decidedly dodgy characters from the former Soviet Union.

Buried in this can of worms is an interesting connection to a former executive of a DC-area investigative firm. One of the DC power brokers listed as a door-opener for the dubious is Neil C. Livingstone, security expert, founder and former chief executive of investigative firm, GlobalOptions (Livingstone departed GlobalOptions in January '07).

Livingstone is mentioned in the article as being a key individual who helped arrange high-powered counsel (former FBI Directory William Sessions) and broker a potential deal for Semyon Mogilevich, whereby the notorious Ukrainian organized crime figure might be able to avoid prosecution in exchange for offering helpful information to the U.S. government.

Such a deal has, so far, been rejected, given the pending 45 counts of racketeering and money laundering Mogilevich is facing in Philadelphia - not to mention the Justice Department's ongoing probe of billions of dollars worth of questionable oil and gas deals...

The ties between Livingstone and Mogilevich apparently go back several years. Records would seem to indicate that GlobalOptions, under Livingstone did some work for a Cyprus-based firm called Highrock Holdings, of which Mogilevich was a major shareholder. Exactly what kind of work is disputed, but it is known that GlobalOptions later filed suit in DC District Court over unpaid bills (the suit was abandoned, but not withdrawn when the bill was paid).

An intriguing thread to tease out of a very interesting story.

If you want to know what you government officials are up to you can check out the WSJ article here (with subscription) or via Eurasia.org.

Labels: Former Soviet Union, GlobalOptions, influence, lobbying, money laundering, Neil C. Livingstone, organized crime