WASHINGTON — State Department Inspector General Howard J. Krongard, who has been accused of improperly interfering with investigations into private security contractor Blackwater USA and with other probes, resigned Friday. In a brief public statement, the longtime corporate lawyer pointed to his recent battles with congressional Democrats and said they explained the reason for his departure. ‘I have nothing further to say at this time,’ wrote Krongard, whose job made him the department’s chief internal watchdog. In a separate resignation letter to President Bush, he said that he was troubled by ‘inherent structural and conceptual defects’ in the inspector general’s job. He also expressed concern about the ‘grave threat to public service posed by current rancor and distrust’ among political parties, the government, the media and interest groups. Krongard, 66, has been accused by current and former members of his staff and by congressional Democrats of thwarting investigations of waste and fraud in Iraq. Among those are allegations of arms smuggling by Blackwater, the North Carolina-based security contractor that protects U.S. diplomats in Iraq and has been accused of using excessive force against Iraqi civilians. Rep. Henry A. Waxman, (D-Beverly Hills), chairman of the […]