DOJ Asked FBI Translator To Change Pre 9-11 Intercepts

[whitestar]

BREAKING SPECIAL REPORT FROM 9-11 HEARINGS


Washington, DC -- March 24, 2004 --12:15 EST -- FBI translator, Sibel Edmonds, was offered a substantial raise and a full time job in order to not go public that she had been asked by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to retranslate and adjust the translations of subject intercepts that had been received before September 11, 2001 by the FBI and CIA.

Edmonds, a ten year U.S. citizen who has passed a polygraph examination, speaks fluent Farsi and Turkish and had been working part time with the FBI for six months-- commencing in December, 2001.

In a 50 reporter scrum in front of some 12 news cameras, Edmonds said "Attorney General John Ashcroft told me 'he was invoking State Secret Privilage and National Security' when I told the FBI I wanted to go public with what I had translated from the pre 9-11 intercepts".

http://tomflocco.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=50

This could be the "smoking gun"

whitestar

[Catfight]

1. Outrageous!

Adolf Ashcroft should be FIRED!

[dArKeR]

23. God almost fired him.

[saigon68]

90. Not a chance n/t

[ChompySnack]

2. Tom Flocco is not entirely reliable

I will need another reputable source before I can really belive this.

Remember the episode where the plane of Katherine Harris supposedly went down?

[Minstrel Boy]

8. enough, already, of the Katherine Harris story

Flocco isn't a breaking news service. He had an uncomfirmed story, ran with it and was wrong. He retracted it promptly and apologized.

Flocco is an investigative reporter. And a good one, too.

Edmonds said this today in a scrum of 50 reporters. I don't believe Flocco is imagining this.

[whitestar]

15. Thanks MB

Tom was sitting on the floor in DC on a payphone dictating this story to a beautiful sexytary that just hung on every word. Unfortunately she has no uh boobs (to speak of), doesn't shave, cain't spelll and has rotten teeth. But she took the story word for word from Tom and put it out to the world.

Now I would suppose that Tom goes way out of his way to have me do this for him.

Seems to me that maybe instead of bringing Tom down all the time, some of you may just go and sit at the hearings your own self.

Thanks Minstrel Boy for supporting the effort and time we have put into these stories.

whitestar

[Minstrel Boy]

16. thank you for bringing the story to us

I have little faith that Edmond's revelations will be carried by the corporate Pravdas. It has too much of the ring of truth. Dangerous, that.

But those who seek the truth will find it on the margins of the Net, where investigative journalism is still done.

I think you're right. This could indeed be a smoking gun.

[Sparky McGruff]

54. It's cited in the last two paragraphs of this story

It's cited in the last three paragraphs of this story in Government Executive magazine.

She's said similar things before, but not in this detail, as far as I remember.

{edit: I didn't see the reference to this story in post #42. Someone already beat me to it!}

[RainDog]

65. Gale Sheehy/NYObserver article about Edmonds

http://www.gailsheehy.com/9_11/9_11_art1_21.html

From the NY Observer in Jan.

"During her six months of work for the Bureau, Ms. Edmonds said she grew increasingly horrified by the lack of internal security she saw inside the very agency tasked with protecting our national security.

In papers filed with the F.B.I.'s internal investigative office, the Department of Justice, the Senate Judiciary Committee, and most recently with the 9/11 Commission, she has reported serious ongoing failures in the language division of the F.B.I. Washington Field Office. They include security lapses in hiring and monitoring of translators, investigations that have been compromised by incorrect or misleading translations sent to field agents; and thousands of pages of translations falsely labeled "not pertinent" by Middle Eastern linguists who were either not qualified in the target language or English, or, worse, protecting targets of investigation.

Nothing happened. Undaunted, Ms. Edmonds took her concerns to upper management. Soon afterward she was fired. The only cause given was "for the convenience of the government." The F.B.I. has not refuted any of Ms. Edmonds' allegations, yet they have accounted for none of them.

On the morning Ms. Edmonds was terminated, she said, she was escorted from the building by an agent she remembered saying: "We will be watching you and listening to you. If you dare to consult an attorney who is not approved by the F.B.I., or if you take this issue outside the F.B.I. to the Senate, the next time I see you, it will be in jail." Two other agents were present."

----

[goforit]

67. This is the topper. Thanks raindog.

When is someone gonna place hand cuffs on these guys.

Impeachment is an easy way out for these bozos.

[dax]

147. they probably translated Aristide's letter...

and maybe some of the bogus docs they tried to use in Iraq to pump up the war spirit. I hope she hires some security (not the Steele Foundation). I keep thinking about "3 days of the Condor".

[Andy_Stephenson]

86. If you don't know the story behind that

I would not cast aspersions. I know Tom and he is straight up. I trust when he says something it is true. I know the whole story behind Cruella Devillie's "plane crash"...

[still_one]

3. This was on 60 minutes two years ago

I have the program on tape. Where was the press then?

[proud patriot]

9. I have that 60 minutes on tape too

perhaps an update by 60 minutes would be
benefitial to this story.

[calimary]

44. Could it be time to contact CBS?

Here's bigtree's list again. Scroll to the bottom for CBS contact info...

Use the responses to strike back at the attacks, here and elsewhere.

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http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/60minutes/main3415.shtml - go to the bottom of the page and click on "feedback" and you're in.

[Zhade]

57. I e-blasted all the actual email addresses.

I emailed them the text of the Flocco story, with identical bolding and formatting.

Here's a link to email addresses for "1700 newspapers, magazines and radio and TV stations":

http://iresist.com/ice/emailmedia.htm

Here's FAIR's short list:

http://www.fair.org/media-contact-list.html

Bombard these guys, people. Info needs to get out, and they need to know we're paying attention. Maybe a true patriot or two in the media will shake out in the process.

[Whoa_Nelly]

58. WTG, Zhade!

And thanks for the email list link! O8)

:kick:

[Minstrel Boy]

11. this is much more than the 60 minutes story.

In part, Edmonds is revealing here, for the first time I believe, that she was asked to doctor pre-9/11 translations which provided very specific warnings of the attacks.

[salin]

24. I also don't recall the part about Ashcroft requesting docs to be doctored

sounds new - and bad. If true, this comes from the same man who in Dec 2001 told Congress and us all that if we criticized the bush administration we were abetting terrorists. So it would be interesting if in the interest of covering his (and the admins) butt - he would have taken action that would potentially harm us from learning the problems that led to 9-11 in order to prevent them in the future... in essense, more directly than what he suggested, that he might end up abetting terrorists.

[CaptainClark23]

4. Big, very big.

Time to invest in pitchforks and torches, my friends.

Praying this material continues to drip.

Don't keep it to yourself, tell everyone you know.

DO NOT BE AFRAID.

[Tuttle]

5. Somebody needs to buy Flocco spell check

it would 'enhance' his credibility.

Tut-tut

[ElementaryPenguin]

6. This sounds like the Holy Grail of smoking guns!!!!

:wow:

[DBoon]

31. Sounds like the titanic clash

of the mixed metaphors!

[Kool Kitty]

73. Sounds like the pitter-patter

of little rat feet scurrying off the sinking ship....

[SoCalDem]

7. Link to the old story

http://www.fas.org/irp/news/2002/10/doj101802.html

[Minstrel Boy]

10. Seriously, this is huge, huge, huge.

Edmonds said "My translations of the pre 9-11 intercepts included (terrorist) money laundering, detailed and date specific information enough to alert the American people, and other issues dating back to 1999 which I won't go into right now."

Incredibly, Edmonds said "The senate Judiciary Committee, and the 911 Commission have heard me testify for lengthy periods of time time (3 hours) about very specific plots, dates, airplanes used as weopons, and specific idividuals and activities."

This explosive information has been kept under wraps by the White House, CIA, FBI, and DOJ since Edmond's 60 Minutes interview segment.

The former FBI translator told tomflocco.com that "translators before me had ongoing personal relationships with the subjects or targets of the FBI and DOJ pre 9-11 investigations linked to intercepts and other intelligence in June - July - August, just prior to the attacks."

...

"This whole situation is outrageous and I am going public," said Edmonds, adding "I am currently being advised by counsel. Thank you."

http://www.tomflocco.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=50

[ElementaryPenguin]

12. Too huge to let drop!!

:kick:

[Toucano]

13. OMG, OMG, OMG! n/t

[Toucano]

14. Dupe, ignore

[jamesinca]

17. I just sent this to everybody on my mailing list

That would be close to 100 people. Time for letters to the editor over this one. It sucks to be a republican today, more that usual.

[ElementaryPenguin]

18. Great work! Everyone here should do the same!

:toast:

[calimary]

46. Absolutely.

If they think WE don't care, THEY won't, either.

Time to become squeaky wheels, guys. I've posted the contact info, farther up this thread. Sig line to call Congress TOLL FREE remains at the bottom of this post, and every other one of my posts.

[private_ryan]

19. is this our "News"Max?

does anyone have a better known source. No offense but I never heard of this guy, and judging by the links on his site I don't buy it 100%. Doesn't mean it's not true but...

[ElementaryPenguin]

20. Google Sibel Edmonds and you'll find

these types of stories everywhere about Edmonds. Sounds perfectly consistent with her story!

[Robbien]

22. Yes, she has been warning about problems for over a year now

This is one brave girl who has basically been ignored. Ed Bradley even did an interview with her on 60 minutes about all the problems the red tape in the translation department which forced translators not to do their jobs.

http://www.usdoj.gov/oig/special/0311/attachment1.htm

[RainDog]

112. This 60 Minutes transcript is also damning

In its rush to hire more foreign language translators after September 11th, the FBI admits it has had difficulty performing background checks to detect translators who may have loyalties to other governments, which could pose a threat to US national security.

Take the case of Jan Dickerson, a Turkish translator who worked with Sibel Edmonds. The FBI has admitted that when Dickerson was hired last November, the bureau didn't know that she had worked for a Turkish organization being investigated by the FBI's own counterintelligence unit, and they didn't know...

BRADLEY: (Voiceover) ...she'd had a relationship with a Turkish intelligence officer stationed in Washington who was the target of that investigation. According to Sibel Edmonds, Jan Dickerson tried to recruit her into that organization, and insisted that Dickerson be the only one to translate the FBI's wiretaps of that Turkish official. What was her reaction when you didn't go along with--with her plan?

Ms. EDMONDS: She got very angry, and later she threatened me and my family's life.

BRADLEY: Threatened you?

Ms. EDMONDS: Correct.

[dax]

148. sounds like the FBI hired some terrorists...

I work for the government (Post Office) and it would not surprise me if they(FBI/CIA) were TOO DUMB to do a real background check. This makes the whole thing come together- with people inside the FBI translating the chatter just right so it never looks like "actionable intelligence" only too much slipped through and now they want to bury it ALL. The real question is if any or all of this was pure negligence or pre-planned to bring us into the perpetual war zone we are now in. or a combination of both. let it happen then they will respect us-like the fireman who start fires for the excitement of it all.(That was NOT a slam on firemen-but I know every now and then, a crazy gets in and does some damage like everywhere else). I do not like conspiracy stuff because so many coincidences I have been part of were not conspiracies-but when you look at a string of events and such a consistent pattern emerges-its scary. I remember reading that some of the hijackers (and Osama) had worked for CIA. were trained etc. can that many of them just "go bad"? Saddam was one of our "properties. Why do you think they doped him up when they caught him-he's probably had a full lobotomy by now. You have to think hard-I am shaking right now considering whether they would declare martial law before they would let this unravelling snare them.

[Minstrel Boy]

21. This was a press conference during the break in the 9/11 hearings.

It was arranged by 9/11 widow Kristen Breitweiser.

It's not an invention.

Just don't hold your breath waiting for the corporate press to carry it.

[Robbien]

25. We do not have a "NewsMax" and lumping Tom Flocco in with

that awful sludge is a very big insult.

NewsMax is a propaganda yellowsheet of highly slanted stories which are spread far and wide on Capital Hill and the right wing. Where and in what way does that have anything in common with Tom Flocco's reports.

[Just Me]

32. What happens to any "whistle-blower"? They are squashed!!!

Unless they have "advance" support and a network of resources,...they are quickly attacked, oppressed, demeaned and squashed. Geez,...I know, having personal experience which is why I continue to advocate for a stronger "whistle-blower" system which is citizen (absolutely NOT partisan) based and which incorporates the investigative and legal resources that can combat an opaque government (especially one that serves corporate or self interests rather than the interests of the people). The "whistle-blower" group that supported the sex scandals against Clinton were NOT, NOT, NOT oriented towards the best interests of the people or a translucent government. I believe that is pretty f*ckin' clear.

[dax]

146. a 9/11 family member arranged the interview...

That's good enough for me-I cannot conceive of more reliable source certifier-the families are checking and cross checking-they really want the truth OUT. it would not help them to promote someone who was not credible.

[wabeewoman]

26. Wow!

If this is true, this is serious shit! This should take ashcroft out of the picture if it becomes 'public.' And you gotta think the news organizations will cover it if one of the 9-11 family members is pushing it. Be still my heart....

[Just Me]

27. Further substantiation of my conclusion that, THEY KNEW,...

,...and did nothing in order to advance their agenda which "they knew" would NOT be accepted or adopted by the people whose best interests they are supposed to represent. "They" are the scum of the earth who seek only to serve their own imperialistic interests,...and I hate "their" abuses of the trust and resources of the American people and exploitation of all other peoples. They should all lose everything and spend the rest of their lives in the worst kinds of prisons because they represent absolute human darkness.

[info being]

185. What Clarke says is the definition of "they knew."

They knew and did nothing. It is that simple.

[Walt Starr]

28. If her story is true, so is LIHOP

The two cannot be reconciled. Either she is lying and LIHOP is not true or she is being truthful and LIHOP is a fact, which means we have the worst sorts of traitors running the nation.

Also, her allegations to happen to explain why Ashcroft went to private flights in the early part of 2001.

[Minstrel Boy]

29. "her allegations happen to explain why...

Ashcroft went to private flights"

So true.

And really, so sad for America, and all of us.

I didn't jump at LIHOP. I had to be convinced by the evidence. And it made me sick. And whenever I learn something like this, it makes me feel sick all over again.

I don't want them - I don't want anybody - to be this wicked. But good God, they are. They really are.

[Walt Starr]

33. CBS story filed July 26, 2001

Ashcroft is on private flights due to "threat assessment":

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2001/07/26/national/main303601.shtml

[Just Me]

34. Yes,...they really are,...

,...wicked,...their secrecy, alone, tends to be proof of such wickedness. The mounting evidence involving a pre-conceived plan to control the resources of parts of this world, an intentional campaign to divert from that plan, and clear economic advances by those serving in this leadership,...can justifiably lead any reasonable human being to conclude that, this administration is truly wicked.

[Just Me]

37. LIHOP is drawing nearer, huh,....

,...and if the American people take such a thing fully in,...

,...well,...that will never happen. A "committee" is staged so that the whole truth will never reach the American people. So, the goal must be to spread the truth,...to the American people,...by word and deed.

[ElementaryPenguin]

40. LIHOP is true.

At the minimum - likely pushed by BFEE/PNAC mob to MIHOP

:puke:

[robertpaulsen]

50. I was LIHOP, now I'm leaning toward MIHOP

If this is true, coupled with everything I've learned about PNAC (which Ashcroft isn't even a member of, I don't think) then the BFEE deliberately set up Pearl Harbor 2. Everyday, I learn something that makes me more and more scared for the future of our country.

[yardwork]

52. Whoa! Are you sure they could have pulled off MIHOP?

LIHOP, maybe. But I think monkey boy and his pals have been shown to be too incompetent to actually achieve a goal.

[Auntie Bush]

55. What does LIHOP and MIHOP mean?

[WhereIsMyFreedom]

59. Let (Made) It Happen On Purpose

nt

[robertpaulsen]

85. Monkey boy is pretty incompetent

But Cheney is Strangelove smart. Also the main PNAC man. He and his PNAC buddy Rumsfeld may not know how to build a nation, but they sure are clever when it comes to figuring out how to blow shit up!

[goforit]

68. Welcome. It's so cool to see light bulbs turn on.

I do believe it is so easy for people to want
to stay in the denial stage and absolutely refuse to see
that these men could be so henious as to attack their
own homeland for the profit of a few.

The truth does hurt yet it is also a relief of an enormous burdon.
It can be forever healing for all of humanity.
So let it be and let it come fourth.

Hats off to you!!!!

[Kucinich04]

75. Sorry, but they CAN be reconciled...

If you read ALL of what she's saying, she does NOT actually SAY that these intercepts WERE TRANSLATED prior to 9/11 itself.

Therefore, Ashcroft could well realize that it just looked really bad to have records of these intercepts laying around, so wanted to change their contents so he wouldn't look so incompetent and lazy.

Not saying LIHOP ain't true, mind you, but you're jumping to a conclusion here that isn't proven logically by the facts given... Her main 'point' is that work wasn't getting done, at least it was in the past...

[Minstrel Boy]

76. Her point is not that the work wasn't getting done.

She says the translators who preceded her were actually connected to the subjects of the intercepts and intentionally mistranslated them, and she has said before that they operated with the protection of FBI brass.

And again, why did Ashcroft stop flying commercial the summer of 2001?

[Kucinich04]

78. I'm going on what I've read from this woman before...

This particular article, I am not going to accept hook line and sinker at this point. She's said what you are saying, but not about pre-9/11 warnings from Al Qaeda. I think you're making a leap that she isn't explicitly saying.

You should know I DO BELIEVE in LIHOP, 100%. The Ashcroft thing may or may not be related to what she's saying. I'm just keeping it 'real', bro!

[Minstrel Boy]

81. I hear ya.

Though on Wednesday she was talking explicitly about 9/11 warnings: planes used as weapons, dates and names, that could have been acted upon to save lives.

Just saw your post below. Great to hear Bernie Ward picking it up!

[tinanator]

133. heres a clue for you

Willie Brown was told by his security people NOT to fly on September 11th. He said it immediately after the tragedies. You really dont need any more facts than that. Anybody else bored with the familiar pattern of low post count librul screen names who post this formulaic response as some sort of explicit plausible denial?

[They_LIHOP]

174. This is the same person, using my screen name at work...

I think that THIS screen name should clue you in as to where I really stand.

I've just had my hopes up SO MANY times that 'the smoking gun' had FINALLY been found/come out, as well as had MANY of my pieces of evidence I'd 'held dear' (such as the 15-minutes to intercept Payne Stewart's plane story) turn out to be incorrect over time, that I no longer jump at such stories everytime they come out.

Trust me, in general, you are absolutely preaching to the choir. There is probably not ONE thing about 9/11 that I don't already know from all the sites on the web.

As far as the evidence you speak of, that IS a good one. So is the group of Pentagon advisers that cancelled their flight plans that morning.

Peace!

[aquart]

173. Is she testifying under oath to the 9/11 commission?

Has she done so? Will she do so?

Is the press conference instead of testifying?

I have questions about this. I don't actually doubt her. But this is a long way from being tied up with ribbons.

[Rockholm]

30. Who Needs To Get This Forwarded To?

[whitestar]

35. Rockholm,

Send this to anyone you can, it needs to be forced on the mainstream media.

whitestar

[Rockholm]

61. Sending!

[Katarina]

36. Lost In Translation - July 13, 2003

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/10/25/60minutes/main526954.shtml

<snip>
(CBS) This is the story of hundreds, if not thousands, of foreign language documents that the FBI neglected to translate before and after the Sept.11 attacks because of problems in its language department - documents that detailed what the FBI heard on wiretaps and learned during interrogations of suspected terrorists.

Sibel Edmonds, a translator who worked at the FBI's language division, says the documents weren't translated because the divison was riddled with incompetence and corruption.

Months before the first World Trade Center bombing in 1993, one of the plotters of the attack was heard on tape having a discussion in Arabic that no one at the time knew was about how to make explosives - and he had a manual that no one at the time knew was about how to blow up buildings. None of it was translated until well after the bombing, and while the FBI has hired more translators since then, officials concede that problems in the language division have hampered the country's efforts to battle terrorism.

According to congressional investigators, this may have played a role in the inability to prevent the Sept. 11 attacks. The General Accounting Office reported that the FBI had expressed concern over the thousands of hours of audiotapes and pages of written material that have not been reviewed or translated because of a lack of qualified linguists.
_____________
It never ceases to amaze me how much information that is out there and completely ignored. It's there for people to see but they just won't open their eyes!

[Jane Austin]

66. You realize, don't you,

that this comes back to the crappy job we've done with our school systems.

We are a country full of smart people. I just don't understand why we can't manage to really, really educate our population.

[9215]

38. WHAT A COURAGEOUS WOMAN!!!

I am wooorieed about her safety. She just stood up and said she would not let these lies stand. That takes alot of courage.

Stay safe Sibel!

[TiredTexan]

39. kick. n/t

[Minstrel Boy]

41. Here's another link that's picked up the story. Good God:

From the daily briefing of "Government Executive Magazine":

A former FBI translator said Wednesday that the bureau had "real, specific" information relating to the Sept. 11 attacks before they happened. Sibel Edmonds worked for the agency working from Sept. 20, 2001 to March 2002.

Edmonds said she was hired to retranslate material that was collected prior to Sept. 11 to determine if anything was missed in the translations that related to the plot. In her review, Edmonds said the documents clearly showed that the Sept. 11 hijackers were in the country and plotting to use airplanes as missiles. The documents also included information relating to their financial activities. Edmonds said she could not comment in detail because she has been under a Justice Department gag order since October 2002.

Edmonds has testified before the Sept. 11 commission, the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate Select Intelligence Committee.

http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0304/032404c1.htm

CNN? CBS?

Hellooooo??

[ElementaryPenguin]

45. Cover-up city!! A hundred million times worse than Watergate!!

OMG!

:puke:
:mad:
:argh:

[KTM]

42. OMFG

:wow:


:kick:

[calimary]

43. State Secret Privilege? Is that like Double Secret Probation or something?

Oh no! I know what it is! It's...

(drum roll...)

State Secret Privilege and National Security-Related Program Activities!

Check my sig line. First thing in the morning... you know what to do.

[ElementaryPenguin]

47. Double Secret Probation!!

Bush is like that Nedemeyer and his frat rat friends in "Animal House". Dean Wormer is probably Rumsfeld - or is he Cheney or Delay - one of the Pentagoons!

:puke:

[Rex]

48. I knew Ashcan was a traitor from the getgo!

That puritanical, RW, POS, insane, !#@@&%*#!, ARGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

GRRR.......

[Whoa_Nelly]

49. Just sent this article to local stations

and to CNN News Tips
http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form11.html?1

Thanks, WhiteStar, for posting this article!! :toast:

[Babel_17]

51. And here's thanks going out to you

Great job on sending this up to CNN.

I sure hope the powers that be decide the public is mature enough to handle this news. ;)

[Whoa_Nelly]

56. HI Babel_17!

Welcome to DU! :hi:

on edit:
The more people who send this article, as well as the one posted by Minstrel Boy
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0304/032404c1.htm

to CNN, local news stations, and state senators, the better the chance this information will be followed up on and reported more widely. With over 40K members strong here on DU, it's not impossible to get the media to sit up and pay attention. They're already having a feeding frenzy on the 9/11 Commission daily reports. O8)

PS Thanks, Minstrel Boy, for posting the GovExec artcle. Sent that one to CNN News Tips as well :-)

[Babel_17]

69. Good to be here

I posted this story on another forum, it's one I think of as "home".

I asked for people to keep an eye out for the story from other news sources.

[cclark401]

105. sent it...

It sure seems that the *'s escapades are nearly over. Hooray for America!!!

[masshole]

53. So where is Ashcroft?

Why isn't he testifying before the 9/11 commission?
Oh yeah... He isn't feeling well right now.

I wonder if he will be allowed to be "well" again...

[sal]

60. WHAT THE F_CK!!!!!!

Is this real?

[Minstrel Boy]

62. It's real alright.

It only feels like a nightmare.

[TiredTexan]

63. kick n/t

[TheDonkey]

64. Is the media going to pick up on this?

I'm having trouble believing it. Or getting my hopes up.
Do you think the media will even bother.

:(

[Minstrel Boy]

70. There's so much already they haven't picked up.

I'm doubtful it will get a lot of "mainstream" attention in the US. Outside the context of official complicity it's impossible to make sense of this, and they have been giving zero play to genuine hard news that supports complicity. If they report this, they have one heckuva backstory to provide.

But Edmonds is not a nobody. She's been on 60 Minutes. She's testified before commissions. Today's presentation was coordinated by the most prominent 9/11 widow, on a day when 9/11 was the story. Fifty reporters were in the scrum. If not now, then never.

I'm quite sure, as with the Kennedy assassination and the rest of the National Security State's greatest hits, there will never be an official admission of guilt. But enough will trickle out, like this today, that those who dare to face the truth will learn enough to have their worst fears confirmed.

[ldf]

113. this is why we really need that "liberal network"

if there was one network broadcasting the truth, the others would at least have to address it.

come on al, and gang, get that network up and running!

[Whoa_Nelly]

71. Kick

for the late night folks

:kick:

[MetaTrope]

72. Department of Justice statement asserting state secrets privilege

http://www.fas.org/irp/news/2002/10/doj101802.html

I was appalled on first reading her testimony...but then again, reading it more carefully, the documents in question weren't actually translated by Edmonds until after December 2001. So there's not the culpability of Ashcroft that I'd hoped to see, just negligence in the translations not being done sooner.

[WheresWaldo]

74. if this is real

true bonafied, etc, then this should have quite the consequence. onw would think at least. Story needs more vetting. lets keep this thread going folks, anyone with access to any fancy databases, run the searches PLEASE.

[Minstrel Boy]

77. It's not negligence.

Edmonds is not saying the translations were not being done promptly.

She's saying that they were intentionally mistranslated for the FBI record, that the translators who preceded her were connected to the subjects of the intercepts, and that they enjoyed the protection of FBI superiors.

[RainDog]

94. A U.S. Major and his wife involved in spying and coverup?

again, from the NY Observer article-

which you really MUST read..there is so much information in this article, and Sheehy has done quite a few great articles on the females who are trying to make our govt accountable to the American people.

...the article mentions a woman named Melek Can Dickerson, a Turkish woman married to a major in the U.S. Air Force. The woman told Edmonds that she couldn't believe America was monitoring people who were their chief "persons of interest" because Dickerson and her husband had done favors for them...shopping...

"Ms. Edmonds has told the Judiciary Committee that soon after, Ms. Dickerson tried to establish social ties with her, suggesting they meet in Alexandria and introduce their husbands to each other.

When Sibel invited the visitors in for tea, she said, Major Dickerson began asking Matthew Edmonds if the couple had many friends from Turkey here in the U.S. Mr. Edmonds said he didn't speak Turkish, so they didn't associate with many Turkish people. The Air Force officer then began talking up a Turkish organization in Washington that he described, according to the Edmondses, as "a great place to make connections and it could be very profitable."

Sibel was sickened. This organization was the very one she and Jan Dickerson were monitoring in a 9/11 investigation. Since Sibel had adhered to the rule that an F.B.I. employee does not discuss bureau matters with one's mate, her husband innocently continued the conversation. Ms. Dickerson and her husband offered to introduce the Edmondses to people connected to the Turkish embassy in Washington who belonged to this organization. ..."My husband keeps thinking he's talking about promoting business deals," Ms. Edmonds later said of the encounter. "He has no idea the man is talking about criminal activities with some semi-legitimate front."

These are classic "pitch activities" to get somebody to spy for you, according to a Judiciary Committee staffer who investigated Ms. Edmonds' claims. ...The targets of that F.B.I. investigation left the country abruptly in 2002. Later, Ms. Edmonds discovered that Ms. Dickerson had managed to get hold of translations meant for Ms. Edmonds, forge her signature, and render the communications useless."

---so apparently the FBI didn't want another scandal on its hands after Opus Dei follower Robert Hanssen was discovered spying for another govt....THIS should all be open testimony on the 9-11 commission.

I have no doubt that Breitweiser made sure Edmonds got the attention of the press on the day that Clarke testified that no one in the Bush administration took Al Qaeda as a big threat, no matter what warnings they received from the previous NSC people, nor the continuing warnings from Tenet, which, Clarke notes, indicated a GREATER THREAT than the Clinton administration had received before the Millennium bomb plot was foiled.

[dax]

150. He is obstructing JUSTICE MetaTrope-supposedly the chief law officer!!!!!

How much culpability could you WANT? Clinton was impeached for lying about private consensual sex with a single woman of age-I think obstructing justice by witholding evidence in criminal investigations is definitely ASHCROFT CULPABILITY> maybe you are just naive....

[Kucinich04]

79. BERNIE WARD READING THIS RIGHT NOW!!!

I sent it to him, & he often covers what I send him!!!

YEAH!

[Zhade]

91. Good job!

NT!

[NV1962]

80. “[Sibel Edmonds] speaks fluent Farsi and Turkish”

Farsi is spoken in Iran, and Turkish (note: not Kurdish) is spoken in Iraq by a very small portion of the population.

So... if (big if!) I'm correct to assume that she worked on texts in Farsi and Turkish languages... What does that suggest about the nationality of the subjects that had the exchanges?

Anyone heard of Turkish / Iranian connections to Al Q'aida?

Very strange... Unless of course she is able / capable / certified to translate in (an)other language(s) that she doesn't speak fluently.

:shrug:

But it's a very chilling factor that her story apparently is considered “hot” enough by the DoJ to deserve the judicial equivalent of a nuke: the invocation of the State Secret Privilege, barring testimony.

[Minstrel Boy]

82. And the "spy ring" she uncovered at the FBI was Turkish.

I say "spy ring" because it operated with impunity and the protection of senior officials.

See this thread from an earlier story on Edmonds a few months ago: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=323862

From the January New York Observer story:

Says Senator Chuck Grassley, "You basically admitted almost all that Sibel alleged, yet you say there’s no problem here. What’s wrong with this picture?"

The Bureau briefers shrugged, put on their coats, and left.

Grassley presumes that the FBI failure is explained by a security breach, but is left shaking his head at the Bureau's evident lack of concern. And the Minnesota field office joked bitterly, pre-9/11, that there must be an al Qaeda "mole" at headquarters, the styming of their investigation was so outrageous.

So, either the FBI has been deeply penetrated by a Turkish wing of al Qaeda, to which the Bureau shrugs and sacks its whistleblowers, or...?

Who are Turkey's closest allies?

With some trepidation, here's a little background, from February 27, 1999:

Continued cooperation between Turkish, Israeli intelligence

The London-based "Foreign Report" weekly news bulletin said in its most recent issue that the Israeli intelligence, the Mossad, had expanded greatly its base in Turkey and opened branches in Turkey for other two departments stationed in Tel Aviv.

The London-based al-Quds al-Arabi daily said on Friday, quoting Foreign Report, that the Mossad carried out several spy operations and plans through its elements stationed in Istanbul and Ankara, where it received support and full cooperation from the Turkish government.

The paper reported that according to the military cooperation agreement between the Mossad and its Turkish counterpart, the MAT, signed by former Turkish Foreign Minister Hekmet Citen during his visit to Israel in 1993, the Mossad had provided Turkey with plans aiding it in closing its border with Iraq as well as being involved in the arrest the chairman of the PKK, Abdullah Ocalan.

http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/990227/1999022749.html

[NV1962]

83. O...M...G...

That Turkish connection is completely new to me. Thanks for pointing to that earlier topic...

Just for the convenience of others, here's one detail-rich piece of CBS 60 Minutes, which (among other things) touches on the Turkish connection:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/10/25/60minutes/main526954.shtml

Devastating. This can be anything ranging from a colossal surveillance blunder within the FBI, to a covert counter-espionage operation (with probable cooperation of the MAT) that blew wide open because of Sibel's public statements, to actual infiltration of the FBI by either a foreign service and/or organized criminals... What a mess.

Do you have a link for the “original“ NY Observer article? In that other (older) DU topic the link points to the front page... Not the actual (archived) article.

Thanks again for giving so promptly an explanation for my Turkish language question.

Added later: Mossad's involvement in Öcalan's conspicuous arrest operation seems fairly obvious, but... Don't you think a counter-espionage (an attempt to find infiltrators) might be another possible (alternative) explanation? Thinking about the “usual trade” of Turkish organized crime, that would make the FBI a plausible partner / object for such an operation: to see if there are leaks / moles. But again, that's just speculation.

Good grief, what a mess.

[Minstrel Boy]

84. You can see the Observer article here:

http://www.gailsheehy.com/9_11/9_11_art1_21.html

I can't believe I'm still up, and still posting. But this story and its implications has really spooked me.

[NV1962]

87. Ouch!

Thanks so much for your info, Minstrel Boy!

Good grief... This is really sickening:

By accident, Ms. Edmonds discovered the breach--up to 400 pages of translations marked "not pertinent"--and insisted that those classified translations be sent back so she could retranslate them

"We discovered some amazing stuff," she remembered.

The first half-dozen translations were transcripts from an F.B.I. wiretap targeting a Turkish intelligence officer working out of the Turkish embassy in Washington, D.C. A staff-member of the Judiciary committee later confirmed to this writer that the intelligence officer was the target of the wiretap Ms. Dickerson had mistranslated, signing Ms. Edmonds' name to the printouts. Ms. Edmonds said she found them to reveal that the officer had spies working for him inside the U.S. State Department and at the Pentagon--but that information would not have reached field agents unless Ms. Edmonds had retranslated them. She only got through about 100 more pages before she was fired.

That FBI counter-intelligence unit is in tatters allright... Hard to believe that they “found out” about that penetration thanks to Sibel. It looks more and more like a cover being accidentally blown off...

The implications are, either way, terrible.

[Old and In the Way]

89. I recall an FBI coordinating agent, I believe his name was Frasca

He was in the nexus of the field coordinations where the dots were not getting connected.

I believe he got a raise and promotion, too.

[truthspeaker]

98. speaking of raises and promotions

The FBI supervisor who decided not to pursue a FISA warrant for Zaccarias Mossaui (sp?) also got a raise and a promotion.

[Zhade]

92. Yeah. Israeli's got guys in Iraq now, teaching our soldiers...

...all the wrong ideas. Collective punishment, targeted assassinations - it's just like being a Palestinian, to the Iraqis!

Bad, bad precedent. That's only going to convince even more Arabs and Muslims to hate us, and for good reason.

[NV1962]

88. Here's another: “Ex-Spook Sirrs: Early Osama Call Got Her Ejected”

This is the introduction of an article published on March 15 in the New York Observer, available here:

http://www.gailsheehy.com/9_11/9_11_art3_11.html

President George W. Bush has a bold plan: to gradually shift American intelligence operatives—now free from hunting down Saddam Hussein—to Afghanistan to find Osama bin Laden.

To Julie Sirrs, it’s a case of too little, too late. A former military analyst for the Defense Intelligence Agency, Ms. Sirrs was the first intelligence officer to report on the significance of Osama bin Laden moving his terrorist operation from the Sudan into Afghanistan. She wasn’t listened to five years ago, and though she’d like to speak before the Congressional 9/11 commission, it is unlikely that she will be listened to now. Her story is a tableau of tangled politics and internal wrangling that got in the way of vital intelligence-gathering leading up to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.

*Please* read the whole article!

[dusty64]

93. Has this gotten any

coverage in the corporate media, I haven't seen anything but agree it would be explosive if true.

[Rockholm]

95. So Far, Nothing Today. Let's Keep this Kicked!

[Ganja Ninja]

96. Sounds like the Bush's were trying to cover up for their old pals...

the Saudis. I hope this gets noticed and not swept under the rug like so many other Bush scandals.

[LeftHander]

97. This is just the tip of the iceberg

As we get closer to November more will be learned about LIHOP. This is a very dangerous time for America. Imagine what would happen if Bush is found to have specific knowledge that 911 was going to happen and was lead down the primrose path by the Neocons in charge?

Chaos.

I can see that it is important to have a leader to guide us through the rough days ahead. I understand now why Kerry has emerged. When Bush and the rest of the neocons go on trial we will need a real, compassionate leader to hold this country together.

LIHOP is real folks. The rest of America will find out in the coming weeks and all hell is going to break loose.

[RainDog]

100. There are a series of allegations to investigate

1. As Richard Clarke and numerous Generals stated, too, in testimony before the invasion of Iraq, was that war a distraction from the war on terrorism?

2. Was the case for an invasion of Iraq made by the OSP based upon willful lies and collusion with foreign elements (Chalabi and Likud factions), as Lt. Col. Karen Kwiatkowski has claimed? (And as Sy Hersh noted as far back as March 2002 in The New Yorker.)

3. Did Ashcroft hamper the war on terrorism after the attacks by taking money from anti-terrorism efforts in order to pursue his own agenda?

4. Did elements within the FBI hinder the effort to fight terrorism by covering up what may have been a spy within the agency...and that possible spying also needs an investigation.

5. Did Bush, Cheney, and Rice fail to address the issue of Al Qaeda because they were pursuing an agenda, decided before they ever took the executive branch, to invade Iraq?

6. Did they endanger America because of this preoccupation...including a preoccupation with ballistic missile defense...a cold war strategy which has more to do with Halliburton's crony capitalism than American defense since the fall of the USSR.

7. Did Bush, Cheney and Rice's refusal to address the issue of Al Qaeda, in light of warnings by Berger, Tenet, Clarke, etc. rise to the level of criminal incompetence, or, for the LIHOPers, rise to the level of criminal conspiracy?

[robertpaulsen]

110. All this plus the Plame Investigation

should put the criminal BFEE behind bars. I don't know if it will, but it SHOULD.

[lightbulb]

107. mark your calendars

"LIHOP is real folks. The rest of America will find out in the coming weeks..."

9-11 Commission Releases 2004 Hearing Schedule
May 18-19, 2004
Emergency Response New York City
The 9-11 Plot New York City

http://www.9-11commission.gov/hearings/index.htm

[Minstrel Boy]

99. xymphora is spreading the word in his blog today:

If this story about Sibel Edmonds reported by Tom Flocco is true, it is the 'Watergate' of 9-11, the occasion when a high Bush Administration official, in this case John Ashcroft, covered up what Edmonds' translations reveal about foreknowledge by the Bush Administration of the 9-11 attacks. Edmonds only started working in December 2001, but was translating material that had already been handled by other translators who "had ongoing personal relationships with the subjects or targets of the FBI and DOJ pre 9-11 investigations linked to intercepts and other intelligence in June - July - August, just prior to the attacks." This would explain the mystery of why the FBI has seemed so unconcerned about earlier allegations by Edmonds of incompetence and worse amongst the FBI translators. The reason why the FBI did nothing about it may be that an investigation would have revealed inconvenient foreknowledge. The fact that Ashcroft himself was involved indicates that the cover-up goes right up to the top of the Bush Administration, and indicates that foreknowledge must have also gone up as high. Remember, it was Ashcroft who stopped taking commercial flights in July 2001 (you have to wonder if Ashcroft's recent medical problems were caused by stress due to the upcoming 9-11 hearings). It's always the cover-up that gets you in trouble.
http://www.xymphora.blogspot.com/2004_03_01_xymphora_archive.html#108019958401438696

[Whoa_Nelly]

101. Thanks, Minstrel Boy

Also sent this story and the one you posted from GovExec to UPI and BBC News.

Keeping this story going!

:kick:

[Whoa_Nelly]

102. Before getting on with my road trip today...

one more :kick: to keep this very important story on the first page O8)

(Just sent the article to moveon.org)

[Minstrel Boy]

103. Also up at "axisoflogic":

http://www.axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/article_5878.shtml

Bloggers, blog it up! Sometimes, it's the only way to give the story legs.

[Judi Lynn]

114. Remember the odd private jet news on Ashcroft very well

(snip)
On July 26, 2001 - 47 days before the Sept. 11 attacks - CBS News reported that Ashcroft was flying expensive charters rather than commercial flights because of a "threat assessment" by the FBI. CBS said, "Ashcroft has been advised to travel only by private jet for the remainder of his term." Newsweek later reported that on Sept. 10, 2001, "a group of top Pentagon officials suddenly canceled travel plans for the next morning, apparently because of security concerns."
(snip)

http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/091203A.shtml

Great post.

[chookie]

104. This ihas been an on-going situation

Let's face it -- not many Westerners know Arabic.

From the beginning of this current crisis, begun on Sept 2001, there has been reported discrepensies regarding translations.

Funny how the translators hired by DOJ and DOD translate one way, and those hired by, say, BBC feel that the words should be translated in quite another way.

It's been easy enough for them to brainwash people using English, for heavens sake -- the mind reels at how they are using "translations" of Arabic to influence our opinions.

[Minstrel Boy]

106. Not really, because the translations were not from Arabic;

the translations were of Turkish intercepts.

Part of Edmond's bombshell - and the part which she'd told previously - is that there was a Turkish "spy ring" at the FBI, which operated with impunity under the nose of the FBI brass. Yesterday she added that these translators were actually linked to the subjects of their very explicit pre-9/11 intercepts, and that Ashcroft wanted her to perpetuate a cover-up of the warnings received.

Why was it the "spies" and not the whistleblower who received the FBI's protection?

An enormous can of worms, with quite terrifying implications.

[LeftHander]

108. Kick!

Keeping it alive....

[LiberalUprising]

109. KICK

[mike_c]

111. kick this over and over!!!!

:kick:

[yardwork]

115. We need corroboration of this story.

I want to link this to other boards.

Please post any additional links. Thanks!

[Minstrel Boy]

116. Just in case you haven't seen this link already:

From Government Executive Magazine's Daily Briefing, March 24:

A former FBI translator said Wednesday that the bureau had "real, specific" information relating to the Sept. 11 attacks before they happened. Sibel Edmonds worked for the agency working from Sept. 20, 2001 to March 2002.

Edmonds said she was hired to retranslate material that was collected prior to Sept. 11 to determine if anything was missed in the translations that related to the plot. In her review, Edmonds said the documents clearly showed that the Sept. 11 hijackers were in the country and plotting to use airplanes as missiles. The documents also included information relating to their financial activities. Edmonds said she could not comment in detail because she has been under a Justice Department gag order since October 2002.

Edmonds has testified before the Sept. 11 commission, the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate Select Intelligence Committee.

http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0304/032404c1.htm

[RainDog]

117. Here are the links in mostly chronological order, with exerpts

Edmonds came to the attention of Americans via a 60 minutes report in October, 2002.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/10/25/60minutes/main526954.shtml

"According to congressional investigators, this may have played a role in the inability to prevent the Sept. 11 attacks. The General Accounting Office reported that the FBI had expressed concern over the thousands of hours of audiotapes and pages of written material that have not been reviewed or translated because of a lack of qualified linguists."

Here is a link to the 60 minutes transcript via the DOJ. --

http://www.usdoj.gov/oig/special/0311/attachment1.htm

BRADLEY: (Voiceover) Edmonds says that the supervisor, in an effort to slow her down, went so far as to erase completed translations from her FBI computer after she'd left work for the day...

BRADLEY: (Voiceover) Critical shortages of experienced Middle Eastern language translators have plagued the FBI and the rest of the US intelligence community for years. Months before the first World Trade Center bombing in 1993, one of the plotters of the attack was heard on tape having a discussion in Arabic that no one at the time knew was about how to make explosives, and he had a manual that no one at the time knew was about how to blow up buildings. None of it was translated until well after the bombing, and while the FBI has hired more translators since then, officals concede that problems in the language division have hampered the country's efforts to battle terrorism, and according to congressional investigators, may have played a role in the inability to prevent the September 11th attacks. Earlier this year, the General Accounting Office reported that the FBI had expressed concern over the thousands of hours of audiotapes and pages of written material that have not been reviewed or translated because of a lack of qualified linguists...


BRADLEY: {Voice over) In its rush to hire more foreign language translators after September 11th, the FBI admits it has had difficulty performing background checks to detect translators who may have loyalties to other governments, which could pose a threat to US national security.

Take the case of Jan Dickerson, a Turkish translator who worked with Sibel Edmonds. The FBI has admitted that when Dickerson was hired last November, the bureau didn't know that she had worked for a Turkish organization being investigated by the FBI's own counterintelligence unit, and they didn't know...

BRADLEY: (Voiceover) ...she'd had a relationship with a Turkish intelligence officer stationed in Washington who was the target of that investigation. According to Sibel Edmonds, Jan Dickerson tried to recruit her into that organization, and insisted that Dickerson be the only one to translate the FBI's wiretaps of that Turkish official.

What was her reaction when you didn't go along with--with her plan?

Ms. EDMONDS: She got very angry, and later she threatened me and my family's life.

BRADLEY: Threatened you?

Ms. EDMONDS: Correct.

BRADLEY: Did--did you take her threat seriously?

Ms. EDMONDS: Oh, yes. She said, Why would you want to place your life and your family's life in danger translating these tapes?'

----

The gag order on Ms Edmonds, at the request of the FBI Director, dates from Oct. 18, 2002...The 60 Minutes report aired in Oct. 2002. I don't know when it was taped, but the transcript for the show is dated Oct 25th.

http://www.fas.org/irp/news/2002/10/doj101802.html

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2002
WWW.USDOJ.GOV AG
[phone]
TDD [phone]

STATEMENT OF BARBARA COMSTOCK, DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS,
REGARDING TODAY’S FILING IN SIBEL EDMONDS V. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE:


“To prevent disclosure of certain classified and sensitive national security information, Attorney General Ashcroft today asserted the state secrets privilege in Sibel Edmonds v. Department of Justice. This assertion was made at the request of FBI Director Robert Mueller in papers filed today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The Department of Justice also filed a motion to dismiss the case, because the litigation creates substantial risks of disclosing classified and sensitive national security information that could cause serious damage to our country’s security.

“The state secrets privilege is well-established in federal law. It has been recognized by U.S. courts as far back as the 19th century, and allows the Executive Branch to safeguard vital information regarding the nation’s security or diplomatic relations. In the past, this privilege has been applied many times to protect our nation’s secrets from disclosure, and to require dismissal of cases when other litigation mechanisms would be inadequate. It is an absolute privilege that renders the information unavailable in litigation.”

----

Gail Sheehy, in her continuing reports on females who are fighting for truth, tells more of Edmonds' story in The New York Observer in Jan. 04-

http://www.gailsheehy.com/9_11/9_11_art1_21.html

From the NY Observer in Jan.

"In papers filed with the F.B.I.'s internal investigative office, the Department of Justice, the Senate Judiciary Committee, and most recently with the 9/11 Commission, she has reported serious ongoing failures in the language division of the F.B.I. Washington Field Office. They include security lapses in hiring and monitoring of translators, investigations that have been compromised by incorrect or misleading translations sent to field agents; and thousands of pages of translations falsely labeled "not pertinent" by Middle Eastern linguists who were either not qualified in the target language or English, or, worse, protecting targets of investigation.
Nothing happened. Undaunted, Ms. Edmonds took her concerns to upper management. Soon afterward she was fired. The only cause given was "for the convenience of the government." The F.B.I. has not refuted any of Ms. Edmonds' allegations, yet they have accounted for none of them.

On the morning Ms. Edmonds was terminated, she said, she was escorted from the building by an agent she remembered saying: "We will be watching you and listening to you. If you dare to consult an attorney who is not approved by the F.B.I., or if you take this issue outside the F.B.I. to the Senate, the next time I see you, it will be in jail." Two other agents were present."

and...

"Ms. Edmonds has told the Judiciary Committee that soon after, Ms. Dickerson tried to establish social ties with her, suggesting they meet in Alexandria and introduce their husbands to each other.

When Sibel invited the visitors in for tea, she said, Major Dickerson began asking Matthew Edmonds if the couple had many friends from Turkey here in the U.S. Mr. Edmonds said he didn't speak Turkish, so they didn't associate with many Turkish people. The Air Force officer then began talking up a Turkish organization in Washington that he described, according to the Edmondses, as "a great place to make connections and it could be very profitable."

Sibel was sickened. This organization was the very one she and Jan Dickerson were monitoring in a 9/11 investigation. Since Sibel had adhered to the rule that an F.B.I. employee does not discuss bureau matters with one's mate, her husband innocently continued the conversation. Ms. Dickerson and her husband offered to introduce the Edmondses to people connected to the Turkish embassy in Washington who belonged to this organization. ..."My husband keeps thinking he's talking about promoting business deals," Ms. Edmonds later said of the encounter. "He has no idea the man is talking about criminal activities with some semi-legitimate front."

These are classic "pitch activities" to get somebody to spy for you, according to a Judiciary Committee staffer who investigated Ms. Edmonds' claims. ...The targets of that F.B.I. investigation left the country abruptly in 2002. Later, Ms. Edmonds discovered that Ms. Dickerson had managed to get hold of translations meant for Ms. Edmonds, forge her signature, and render the communications useless..."

(much more)

-----
Mention of Edmonds' statement to the press on 3-24-04-

http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0304/032404c1.htm

"A former FBI translator said Wednesday that the bureau had "real, specific" information relating to the Sept. 11 attacks before they happened. Sibel Edmonds worked for the agency working from Sept. 20, 2001 to March 2002.

Edmonds said she was hired to retranslate material that was collected prior to Sept. 11 to determine if anything was missed in the translations that related to the plot. In her review, Edmonds said the documents clearly showed that the Sept. 11 hijackers were in the country and plotting to use airplanes as missiles. The documents also included information relating to their financial activities. Edmonds said she could not comment in detail because she has been under a Justice Department gag order since October 2002.

Edmonds has testified before the Sept. 11 commission, the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate Select Intelligence Committee."
-----

the press conference is noted here, as well:

http://tomflocco.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=50

Washington, DC -- March 24, 2004 --12:15 EST -- FBI translator, Sibel Edmonds, was offered a substantial raise and a full time job in order to not go public that she had been asked by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to retranslate and adjust the translations of subject intercepts that had been received before September 11, 2001 by the FBI and CIA.

Edmonds, a ten year U.S. citizen who has passed a polygraph examination, speaks fluent Farsi and Turkish and had been working part time with the FBI for six months-- commencing in December, 2001.

In a 50 reporter scrum in front of some 12 news cameras, Edmonds said "Attorney General John Ashcroft told me 'he was invoking State Secret Privilage and National Security' when I told the FBI I wanted to go public with what I had translated from the pre 9-11 intercepts".

[yardwork]

118. Thank you Minstrel Boy and Raindog!

By the way, I love you guys!

[RainDog]

120. I'll take that as a generic "guys" cause I'm 100% femme

:)

[yardwork]

149. I'm originally from Ohio

in Great Lakes lingo, "guys" is unisex. Equivalent to the "ya'll" of the south.

[RainDog]

119. A letter from Grassley and Leahy to the DOJ

Dated August, 2002.

http://leahy.senate.gov/press/200208/081302.html

"...Ms. Edmonds first raised concerns about security problems and the integrity of important translations earlier this year.  Unfortunately, nearly every person at the FBI who was notified of the situation reacted by questioning why Ms. Edmonds was Acausing trouble.@  Indeed, the FBI=s first internal security action in this case focused on Ms. Edmonds, instead of the allegations she raised in good faith as a whistleblower which bore on national security and the war against terrorism.

Ms. Edmonds has made a number of serious allegations, some of which the FBI verified were not unfounded during an unclassified briefing for Judiciary Committee staff on June 17.  First, Ms. Edmonds has alleged that a contract monitor in her unit (Amonitor@) chose not to translate important, intelligence-related information, instead limiting her translation to unimportant and innocuous information.  The FBI has verified that this monitor indeed failed to translate certain material properly, but has attributed the failure to a lack of training as opposed to a malicious act. 

That conclusion is directly related to Ms. Edmund=s second allegation.  Ms. Edmonds alleged that the same contract monitor once worked for an organization associated with a counter-intelligence investigation and that the monitor had contacts with a foreign national who was a member of the target institution.  Additionally, Ms. Edmonds states that some of the mistranslated recordings on which the monitor actually worked contained conversations by this same person with whom the monitor had such contacts and concerned matters pertinent to the investigation.

Even after verifying some of these allegations, the FBI downplayed the importance of this matter and seemed to imply that it had ceased looking into the complaints as a security matter until after the Inspector General finished their investigation.  Anyone who remembers the long-time treachery of former FBI Supervisor Robert Hanssen, would be concerned at this reaction.  For years, Hanssen=s bizarre actions were also written off as minor security breaches and unworthy of serious consideration.  If even routine diligence had been exercised earlier, Hanssen could have been stopped from doing untold damage.  The FBI needs to learn from its mistakes."

[RainDog]

122. From a WaPo article, 6-19-02, via memoryhole

http://www.thememoryhole.org/spy/edmonds.htm

>>> From the original article on the subject, "2 FBI Whistle-Blowers Allege Lax Security, Possible Espionage" by James V. Grimaldi, Washington Post, 19 June 2002:
...

The allegations of one of the whistle-blowers have prompted two key senators -- Judiciary Chairman Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) and Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) -- to pose critical questions about the FBI division working on the front line of gathering and analyzing wiretaps.

That whistle-blower, Sibel Edmonds, 32, a former wiretap translator in the Washington field office, raised suspicions about a co-worker's connections to a group under surveillance.

Under pressure, FBI officials have investigated and verified the veracity of parts of Edmonds's story, according to documents and people familiar with an FBI briefing of congressional staff. Leahy and Grassley summoned the FBI to Capitol Hill on Monday for a private explanation, people familiar with the briefing said.

The FBI confirmed that Edmonds's co-worker had been part of an organization that was a target of top-secret surveillance and that the same co-worker had "unreported contacts" with a foreign government official subject to the surveillance, according to a letter from the two senators to the Justice Department's Office of the Inspector General. In addition, the linguist failed to translate two communications from the targeted foreign government official, the letter said....

[RainDog]

123. Press releases, statement, complaint Edmonds v. Ashcroft, et al

http://www.thememoryhole.org/spy/edmonds.htm#complaint

SIBEL EDMONDS,

Plaintiff,

v.

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
10th Street and Constitution Ave., N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20530

and

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION,
9TH Street and Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20535

and

JOHN ASHCROFT,
in his official capacity as Attorney General,
U.S. Department of Justice
10th Street and Constitution Ave., N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20530

and


ROBERT S. MUELLER, III,
in his official capacity as Director,
Federal Bureau of Investigation
9th Street and Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20535

and

 



THOMAS FRIELDS,
in his official capacity as Supervisory Agent
in Charge, Washington Field Office,
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Fourth and F Streets, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20535

and

GEORGE STUKENBROKER,
in his official capacity as Chief of Security,
Washington Field Office
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Fourth and F Streets, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20530

Defendants.
__________________________________________


COMPLAINT FOR DECLARATORY AND
INJUNCTIVE RELIEF AND FOR DAMAGES

This is an action seeking declaratory relief and damages against Defendants U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation, pursuant to the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552a, et seq., for violations as a result of, inter alia, the wrongful disclosure of confidential information about Plaintiff that is contained in Privacy Act systems of records. This is also an action under the Administrative Procedures Act as well as the First and Fifth Amendments of the United States Constitution for declaratory and injunctive relief to enjoin the above named Defendants from depriving Plaintiff of her Constitutional rights.

------

Edmonds' statement and her lawyers' press release, again via the memory hole blog...

Press release from attorneys for Sibel Edmonds
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For additional information contact: Stephen M. Kohn, David K. Colapinto, or Kris Kolesnik, [phone]

STATEMENT OF THE ATTORNEYS FOR FBI WHISTLEBLOWER SIBEL EDMONDS
Washington, D.C., June 19, 2002. The following statement was released today by Stephen M. Kohn, David K. Colapinto and Michael D. Kohn, the attorneys representing FBI whistleblower Sibel Edmonds.

"We represent Sibel Edmonds, who is a former translator for the FBI. Prior to her illegal termination, our client reported to FBI management, the FBI Office of Professional Responsibility and DOJ Inspector General that there were serious lapses in the FBI translations unit that is assigned to handle September 11th-related counter-terrorism investigations, there were major breaches in the FBI security program, and that there was other serious national security related misconduct. "This serious FBI misconduct has the potential of undermining its current anti-terrorist efforts and directly threatens national security in the aftermath of September 11th.

"In addition, after being notified of these serious matters by our client in early 2002, FBI senior management failed to take corrective action. Instead the FBI engaged in severe retaliation against our client as part of a cover-up of these serious problems. Among the critical concerns reported by our client are the following:

• FBI employees have on numerous occasions inaccurately translated intelligence information which threatens ongoing investigations related to post-September 11th counter-terrorist investigations and ongoing law enforcement investigations. This is the result of both willful misconduct and incompetence.

• The FBI granted a top-secret security clearance to at least one individual who has had direct association with the target of an ongoing law enforcement investigation.

• The FBI failed to investigate credible allegations of breaches in the FBI security program and that one of its own employees had improper contact with a target of an ongoing law enforcement investigation and whose information was being translated by the very employee who was suspected of having these improper contacts.

• The FBI's failure to take corrective action in response to our client's serious and valid allegations of security breaches has resulted in threats being carried out to the personal safety and security of our client and her family.

"Since our client reported these allegations to the FBI earlier this year the FBI has engaged in an ongoing unethical and illegal cover-up. Only after being pressured by the Senate Judiciary Committee has the FBI apparently finally admitted that our client's major whistleblower concerns have been confirmed. "However, in January and February of this year, when our client first disclosed these major security problems, the FBI failed to properly investigate our client's allegations. She was instructed by high level FBI management not to purse any complaints, and threatened with retaliation if she continued to report wrongdoing.

"When our client persisted in raising her allegations through the chain of command she was subjected to a retaliatory security investigation which resulted in her passing a lie-detector test in early March.

"Shortly after her management learned that our client continued to raise her concerns up the chain of command, (including filing reports with FBI OPR as well as to Dale Watson, FBI Executive Assistant Director for Counter-Terrorism/Counter-Intelligence and James T. Caruso, Deputy Executive Director for Counter-Terrorism/Counter-Intelligence), our client’s employment was terminated on March 22, 2002.

"The front-line of the war on terrorism has been directly undermined by the FBI's failures to act on our client's reports. The FBI failed to promptly correct these problems and instead waged war against its own whistleblower. This is unforgiveable in the post-9/11 world."

-----

Press release from Sibel Edmonds, 19 June 2002

"I am appalled that to this date the government has not taken any action against the persons responsible for security violations. It is horrific that my family members in a foreign country were threatened and targeted, and that I can never return to the country of my birth.

"Although the Attorney General and FBI Director were urgently notified in May about the foreign arrest warrant targeting a member of my family, to this date, no response has been received and no action has been taken by the U.S. government to correct this problem or protect my family.

"It appears that the responsible officials are intentionally refraining from facing the facts and their serious implications, both nationally and internationally."

[Unknown Known]

121. Where is Asscrack, indeed?

I still think they tried to get him - no sign of him in weeks. There's no way recovering from gall bladder surgery would take this long. Not even any pictures of him leaving hospital or anything. It's suspicious. Ever since he recused himself from the Plame case, I had a feeling there was something going on.

[jean]

125. kick

[RainDog]

124. NEW Salon Article --March 26--

watch the ad, read the article...

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/03/26/translator/index_np.html

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
By Eric Boehlert

March 26, 2004 |

A former FBI wiretap translator with top-secret security clearance, who has been called "very credible" by Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, has told Salon she recently testified to the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States that the FBI had detailed information prior to Sept. 11, 2001, that a terrorist attack involving airplanes was being plotted.

Referring to the Homeland Security Department's color-coded warnings instituted in the wake of 9/11, the former translator, Sibel Edmonds, told Salon, "We should have had orange or red-type of alert in June or July of 2001. There was that much information available." Edmonds is offended by the Bush White House claim that it lacked foreknowledge of the kind of attacks made by al-Qaida on 9/11. "Especially after reading National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice where she said, we had no specific information whatsoever of domestic threat or that they might use airplanes. That's an outrageous lie. And documents can prove it's a lie."

Edmonds' charge comes when the Bush White House is trying to fend off former counterterrorism chief Richard A. Clarke's testimony that it did not take serious measures to combat the threat of Islamic terrorism, and al-Qaida specifically, in the months leading up to 9/11.

[Minstrel Boy]

126. Thanks very much, RainDog.

Relieved to know the story's got at least as far as Salon.

[RainDog]

128. yeah, hopefully...

Edmonds' press conference will continue to get attention...of course, Clarke is THE big story right now, but what she has to say is so important and so relevant to Clarke's appearance before the 9-11 Commission.

it's just a recap of what's been linked to here.. but I'm sure Salon gets lots of readers who are not on DU.

Salon also has an article about Republicans who are searching their souls, wondering if they can continue to align with the DeLay/Bush reactionaries.

Hopefully they will examine their consciences and realize that this election is a referedum on whether or not we will continue to be a representative democracy. If they vote for Bush, they will empower the theocrats to use the next four years to demolish our two centuries of Constitutional govt.

It's as plain and simple as that.

Edmonds' charges are stunning, really, especially considering Robert Hannsen.

And your links to the Turkish/Mossad issue really make me wonder if the FBI was being played big time.

Apparently "jan" dickerson has a dual passport. I wonder what's happened to her husband? Shouldn't he be under as much scrutiny as Yee was...if not more...for allegedly trying to recruit someone within the FBI to seemingly spy for another group????

how was HE able to go to Belgium if he was a major?

[JohnyCanuck]

129. Send another tip to CNN

I've sent another newstip to CNN about Salon carrying the Edmond's allegation about the FBI coverup. I also gave them the link to this DU thread.

http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form11.html?1

[Babel_17]

127. "Houston, we have ignition."

I take it then this should be it. How can this story not be aired now?

How can this not create a firestorm of outrage towards this administration of liars?

I need a reality check here, are we so far gone as a nation that the Bush presidency will be allowed to continue in its current manner?

At long last, will accountability be demanded?

[9215]

134. Thanks for tracking this

I hope this gets some serious legs. This part is hot.Edmonds calls Rice a liar.

Edmonds is offended by the Bush White House claim that it lacked foreknowledge of the kind of attacks made by al-Qaida on 9/11. "Especially after reading National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice where she said, we had no specific information whatsoever of domestic threat or that they might use airplanes. That's an outrageous lie. And documents can prove it's a lie."

[NV1962]

130. *boing*

:kick:

[Andrushka]

131. KAPOW!!

Booted.

Have sent tips to a couple of places. Get this out there people! :headbang:

[Sliverofhope]

132. kick

[WheresWaldo]

135. This story needs wings

salon story is a great help, need to get something like the NYT and/or Wash Post. lets get this story out there.

[LeftHander]

136. Kick for Friday!

Boom!

[Babel_17]

137. Go,Go Paul Begala

He just mentioned this story on Crossfire!

Tucker equivocates on her credibility.

:)

[Minstrel Boy]

138. Fuck Tucker

She's unimpeachable. And her story is so devastating, that's all he has: an upturned nose at "conspiracy theories."


After her meeting, Senator Chuck Grassley, the Republican vice-chair of the Judiciary Committee to whom Ms. Edmonds appealed, had his investigators check her out. Then they, along with staffers for Senator Patrick Leahy, called for a joint briefing in the summer of 2002. The F.B.I. sent a unit chief from the language division and an internal security official.

In a lengthy, unclassified session that one participant describes as bizarre, the windows fogged up as the session finished; it was that tense, "None of the F.B.I. officials’ answers washed, and they could tell we didn’t believe them." He chuckles remembering one of the Congressional investigators saying, "You basically admitted almost all that Sibel alleged, yet you say there’s no problem here. What’s wrong with this picture?"

The Bureau briefers shrugged, put on their coats, and left.
http://www.observer.com/pages/story.asp?ID=8516

[Babel_17]

139. Thanks for the link

I can use that on another forum I post at.

[JohnyCanuck]

142. I sent an email to Paul

from the crossfire web site asking him if he planned on having Cynthia McKinney on so he could publicly apologize for the the mean things he has said about her in the past.

http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form5.html?7

[Minstrel Boy]

144. Cynthia McKinney paid the price of being right.

It's not her fault the truth is so at odds with the soothing lie that it's made to look crazy by comparison.

[Judi Lynn]

140. Kick!

This is a fantastic story. Sure appreciate the chance to find out about it.

:kick:

[tom_paine]

141. LIHOP...perhaps MIHOP

Not :tinfoilhat:

if it ever was.

[Minstrel Boy]

143. This last week reminds me of that French headline post-9/11:

"We're all :tinfoilhat: now."

[WheresWaldo]

145. Thanks everyone...

for getting this story out there. I am SURE that as we get closer to mid april when the commission is dealing with law enforcement and intel, this story will have acquired more air under its wings. Lets keep the onslought on the media up, they cant ignore enough of us mailing them.

I was told that the issue was brought up today on some CNN talk show, not sure which one. I will find out next week.

Will this thread still "be alive" then???

[jean]

151. kick

[RainDog]

153. Mueller testifies in April

will be interesting to watch and see what questions the 9-11 Commission asks, considering Edmonds has testified before them as well.

This story resonates with me for a couple of reasons...

First, what happened to Edmonds reminds me so much of the whole Plame case...here was a woman who was working to defend our country, but when she crossed the people in power, when she exposed lies or problems, she was attacked.

...so, with Bush, politics triumphs national security every time, it seems...

... then, as has also been demonstrated this week concerning the Clarke testimony and book release, Bush and his gang are unwilling to admit that the reasons for the war in Iraq were lies,

which again calls into question issues of national security, since Bush is also willing to send American soldiers to their deaths because his political hide is more important than a soldier's flesh and blood.

And although she hasn't gotten the press that Clarke has received, Karen Kwiatkowski's articles about the problems in the Pentagon before the Iraqi invasion..the lies, the unlimited access Israeli Generals had to the highest levels of power...they didn't even have to sign in (the better to hide they were ever there), neocons who accused Zinni of being a traitor because he argued against their imperial invasion dreams...

How can ANYONE think this gang has the right strategy to fight terrorism, much less protect the Constitution?

[Whoa_Nelly]

155. This thread will be alive

as long as we all :kick: and add to it with more info.
Compelling information in this thread thanks to whitestar, Minstrel_Boy and RainDog!
Keep dogging the media, everyone!

[robertpaulsen]

152. Sunday kick

Any new info, we're all hungry for it.

[NastyRiffraff]

154. Blogged it!

And credited this thread. I can't believe I missed this...thanks, especially to Whitestar and Raindog.

Let's keep it up front. This is HUGE.

[Lorien]

156. Well, I've seen many "smoking guns"

since 9/11; I just hope this information makes it to the mainstream and stays there through November! (Forward to your local papers!)

[WarNoMore]

157. Big giant Kick! eom

[paulthompson]

158. A new article about this

It's not much, but there's a Scripps Howard newswire story that has a couple of Sibel Edmonds tidbits:

Spectators attend 9-11 hearing for a variety of reasons

By Marta Lillo Bustos - Scripps Howard Foundation Wire

http://www.axcessnews.com/national_032804a.shtml

Sibel Edmonds, 34, a former Federal Bureau of Investigation translator, by contrast, was at the hearings to listen to the questions the commissioners were asking. That's because, she said, she testified before the commission in private and hoped the members would use the information she had given them to confront the government's witnesses.

Edmonds, who was fired from the FBI and is suing as a whistleblower, said she believes the government had detailed information "maybe not saying 'September 11, at 8:30 a.m.,' but specific enough that in July 2001 we should have issued our ‘orange code' and have alerted the people."

She said she hopes the commission will publicly question FBI Director Robert Mueller, Attorney General John Ashcroft and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice about information she says she gave the commission.

---

There's some more paragraphs about her, and other interesting info about other people.

[robertpaulsen]

162. Thanks for the new source.

Yet another article stating that Ayatollah General John Asscraft tried to FUCKING BRIBE Sibel Edmonds. Spread the news!

[DemonFighterLives]

159. So glad this has been kicked

Imagine how hard it is to get the sheep to hear this if an otherwise semi informed Du'er just found this. Thanks guys (unisex version).
Here's hoping the top will blow off the B*sh Regime.

[whitestar]

160. Update:

Just to let you know that Tom Flocco is in the process of writing a follow up to this story that has the potential to blow the whole lid off this commission fiasco. It should be done and posted to his site in the next day or so.

In the meantime this story is filtering throughout the internet and radio talk shows. Tom had one interview this morning and has one scheduled for Wednesday.

Radio Shows:

Monday, March 29, 6:30--6:55 am Eastern, Doug Stephan's "Good Day" Show,
DougStephan.com (listen live: internet stream from website or via 310 radio stations throughout the United States)

Wednesday, March 31, 6--7:00 pm Eastern, Dr. Stan Monteith's "Radio Liberty Show," Genesis Communications Radio Network, RadioLiberty.com (listen live: internet stream from website, or via 121 radio stations throughout the United States)
I am not sure if either has transcripts available.


I would also like to remind people of the WORLDWIDE 9-11 PHONE, FAX, EMAIL CAMPAIGN at either link:

http://septembereleventh.org
http://tomflocco.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=1

We really need to stay right down their throats on this campaign.


And last, but certainly not least, thanks to all of you that have helped to keep this fire burning.

We will succeed in getting this out to the public!

whitestar

[Minstrel Boy]

163. thanks for the update, whitestar

Looking forward to Tom's follow-up.

Here's some new words from Sibel I just found:

Sibel Edmonds, 34, a former Federal Bureau of Investigation translator, by contrast, was at the hearings to listen to the questions the commissioners were asking. That's because, she said, she testified before the commission in private and hoped the members would use the information she had given them to confront the government's witnesses.

...

She said she hopes the commission will publicly question FBI Director Robert Mueller, Attorney General John Ashcroft and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice about information she says she gave the commission.

...

"While I was working there, it was just incredible. The inaccuracies and the uncertainties, intentional inaccuracies," Edmonds said.

The former FBI translator said she is prohibited from giving details.

"They offered me a raise, they offered me a full-time position, to just drop the case," Edmonds said. She said she has been threatened with jail if she speaks about the specifics.

http://www.axcessnews.com/national_032804a.shtml

[Minstrel Boy]

165. Flocco's site hacked

Looking for Tom Flocco's unpdate, I see his site's been hacked
(http://www.tomflocco.com/). Someone not like the truth much?

[Habibi]

167. It's back up now

And :kick:

[ElementaryPenguin]

161. We MUST plaster the planet with this news!!

The smoking gun that finishes off ChimpCo - and let's loose the monster that is LIHOP (or is it MIHOP?)!!

[Bride of Cthulhu]

164. this is totally Outrageous!

:mad:

[laylah]

166. Thank you

for posting this! :kick:

Jenn

[Sugarbleus]

168. *BOUNCE*........................

[robertpaulsen]

169. Tuesday kick

[paulthompson]

170. Another new article

This story continues to dribble out. The Village Voice mentions Edmonds at the end of another article.

The Meaning of Clarke

A civil servant speaks up? There's nothing the right-wingers hate more.

The Village Voice
by James Ridgeway
http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0413/mondo1.php

To cite but one recent example: Sibel Edmonds, a former FBI translator with a top secret clearance, said in an interview last week with Salon that the FBI had information that an attack using airplanes was being planned before September 11. Edmonds dismissed Condoleezza Rice's assertion in a Washington Post op-ed piece that the White House had no specific information on a domestic threat or one involving planes as "an outrageous lie. And documents can prove it's a lie." Edmonds, a Turkish American, has been a citizen for 10 years and speaks Farsi, Turkish, and Arabic. The FBI assigned her to translate documents seized by agents in its post-9-11 probe.

"President Bush said they had no specific information about Sept. 11, and that's accurate," says Edmonds. "But there was specific information about use of airplanes, that an attack was on the way two or three months beforehand and that several people were already in the country by May of 2001. They should've alerted the people to the threat we were facing."

----

Nothing new, but it's still good to see it get out there a bit more.

[ElementaryPenguin]

171. Justifiable public service kick!

:kick:

[CheshireCat]

172. kick it to the top!

Thanks for keeping this going. I have been working so much lately that I completely missed this story until today.

:kick:

[RainDog]

175. related FBI/Grassley report of abuses by agents

On Wednesday, Grassley released a report the FBI wanted to be kept from the publc which shows that Edmonds' accusations against Jan Dickinson have a precedence in other agents' activities, and apparently the FBI thinks it is more important to protect their reputation than it is to tell the truth.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5714.htm
NEWS YOU WON'T FIND ON
FBI report: Agents attempted murder, stole money

Curt Anderson

02/19/04: (Associated Press) WASHINGTON, D.C. -- An internal FBI report kept under wraps for three years details dozens of cases of agents fired for egregious misconduct and crimes, including drug trafficking, attempted murder, theft, misuse of informants and consorting with prostitutes.

The report, released Wednesday by Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, found that about one in 1,000 agents was dismissed for serious misconduct or criminal offenses by the FBI during the period examined, from 1986 to 1999. The average was between eight and nine per year.

The report lists the circumstances -- minus names, dates and locations -- of more than 70 dismissals, including... Agents who disclosed sensitive or classified material to outsiders, including representatives of foreign governments and criminal enterprises.

The report concluded that some of these agents were hired even though a background check had revealed negative information about them. Sometimes the check itself was not thorough enough. Before their firings, some agents exhibited "markers" for potential misconduct, such as a history of emotional or psychological problems or evidence of substance abuse.

 

 

 

[robertpaulsen]

176. Wednesday kick

Anyone from Project Censored out there? This story is the shit. DU is the fan.

[Minstrel Boy]

177. Democracy Now interview with Sibel Edmonds:

Haven't heard/seen it yet, just found the link:

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/03/31/1616221

[RainDog]

178. thanks for this one, Minstrel Boy

because it helps to clarify some things. She talks about financing

here are some interesting quotes:

... During this short tenure that I had over there, I became aware of several investigations that were ongoing investigation dating back to a year or -- some of them actually years before 9-11 that contained significant amount of information about various activities. I would like to emphasize again, we are talking about money laundering activities directed toward these terrorist activities. We are looking at counter-intelligence activities, so, as I said it, is not categorized under counter-terrorism. This information was pouring in dating back as early as 2000."

After noting that agents had sent information to be translated which was then summarized, with much left out, Edmonds also says about these documents:

"My question is how about the ones that we had before? How about the information we had before that were pretty specific and they were pretty accurate, and they came from real reliable sources assets. What happened to that information? That is my question, and I'm hoping that through this investigation by the 9-11 Commission, we will get to hear these questions being asked specifically and directly. "

..."Attorney General Ashcroft on October 18, 2002, personally asserted State Secret Privilege in my case. I would read two sentences here: “To prevent disclosure of certain classified and sensitive national security information, Attorney General Ashcroft today asserted the State Secret Privilege in Sibel Edmonds' case. This assertion was made at the request of the F.B.I. Director Robert Mueller,” in papers filed today, and they are citing the reason that because this case would create substantial risks of disclosing classified and sensitive national security information that could cause serious damage to our country's security. They are citing that this privilege is very rare and is asserted to prevent certain information getting -- becoming public or hurting diplomatic relations. I would underline this phrase, diplomatic relations several times. "

"...They have -- during their meetings with Senator Grassley and Senator Leahy's office, these authorities have confirmed all of my reports and allegations and have denied none. However, as I said, Inspector General's Office’s report was supposed to be out in October, 2002. Here we are sitting in March 2004, and my sources are telling me they are going to seal this report, and it will be never made public. Now, to protect certain diplomatic relations? -- that is the question. What diplomatic relations? To this date, I have been waiting to see this information to be available, and become available and be out there, but it's not getting there. And there's so much that the public just simply doesn't know. About what went wrong, what we had, and my last hope right now is this Commission. 9-11 Commission is my last hope because I have pursued all possible authority channels that I could have pursued. I have gone to the Senate. I have provided testimony to the Inspector General's Office and the F.B.I. They have confirmed these allegations, however, this information is being prevented from becoming public. It needs to be public because first we have to acknowledge the facts before we go about fixing these problems."

[paulthompson]

180. Another source

Strangely, super conservative WorldNetDaily is also covering this in a sympathetic way:

http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=37826

http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=36492

I think they like the bashing of Muslims angle. They're into the "evil Muslims are infiltrating our government" meme and this story jibes with that.

[htuttle]

183. I just saw it on public access...Edmonds sounds very credible

And the account she provides is very plausible.

If you have any doubts about this, listen to the DemocracyNow program at the link above. They spend about half an hour interviewing her.

[graphixtech]

179. San Francisco?

Did Edmonds attend the San Francisco 9-11 event this weekend?

link to short write-ups with eight photos of SF 911 International Inquiry including the protest march to SF City Hall:
http://kcindymedia.org/newswire/display/1403/index.php

"We need answers YESTERDAY"
Ellen Mariani, Feb. 22, 2004 in Kansas City

Great to see positive news here.

[Slit Skirt]

181. Here's why this is a very real story

story came out Wednesday, he was on Alex Jones on Thurs, I contacted him through email and phone...the FBI had already contacted him and said to stop lying to his readers and he might as well tell them that the world was flat.......
by Tuesday morning he was hacked and story was destroyed .....carnivore program!
I understand he is up and running again

[whitestar]

182. Update

There is an update to this story about the commission, etc. It is in this LBN thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x456001

The Commission is compromised beyond belief.

whitestar

[robertpaulsen]

184. Thursday kick

[WheresWaldo]

186. LINK to GD thread

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=1342532&mesg_id=1342532

for reference sake.

has WSJ article "Kamikaze Terrorism Wasn't a New Idea" excerpts.

if others have come across other threads or articles, please post here.

Condi testifies this Thursday, got to make as much of a storm as possible.

[WheresWaldo]

187. LINK to thread "Ex-FBI worker challenges 9/11 `lie' (Sibel Edmonds )"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x465630