9/11 thefts ignored upon discovering FBI agents and Rumsfeld's involvement

[cynatnite]

snip:
Dan L'Allier said he witnessed 45 tons of the New York loot being unloaded in Minnesota at his company's headquarters. He and Christopherson complained to a company executive, but were ordered to keep quiet. They persisted, going instead to the FBI.

snip:
Once-secret documents obtained by The Associated Press detail how the company, Kieger Enterprises of Lino Lakes, Minn., went unpunished for the Sept. 11 thefts after the government discovered FBI agents and other government officials had stolen artifacts from New York's ground zero.

snip:
A March 2002 entry in the FBI's "prosecutive status" report states the U.S. Attorney's office in Minnesota intended "to prosecute individuals who were alleged to be involved in the transportation of stolen goods from New York City after the terrorist attack." A followup entry from Sept. 6, 2002 lists the specific evidence supporting such a charge.

The lead investigators for the FBI and the Federal Emergency Management Agency told AP that the plan to prosecute KEI for those thefts stopped as soon as it became clear in late summer 2002 that an FBI agent in Minnesota had stolen a crystal globe from ground zero.

That prompted a broader review that ultimately found 16 government employees, including a top FBI executive and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, had such artifacts from New York or the Pentagon.

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002689586

[autorank]

1. They're resuscitating the Rumslfeld story...this is good. It's his "time.

Interesitng...K&R

[cynatnite]

2. I hadn't heard of it until a little bit ago...

But, back then I wasn't paying much attention.

[autorank]

11. Yeah, it came out, one of those "short attention span theater" stories

that they never followed up. Maybe it's a rambo reporter who just doesn't care or maybe it's back for a reason. If you wanted to really nail *, this is one way to do it. It's really disturbing.

We'll see, probably a rambo action...next assignment Guam;)

[notadmblnd]

3. I remember the globe story, a big deal was made of it

I'm not surprised about rumfeld.

[cliss]

4. Thank you for bringing

this up. Any news about Rumsfailed is good news.

It's time they booted that old Jackass out of the Pentagon.

[leesa]

5. So Rumsfeld and the rest of the FBI 9-11 planners wanted a little keepsake

of their massively successful "Pearl Harbor" which brought them the vast riches and power of PNAC realized. Kewl.

[Kurovski]

6. Why does this put me in mind of the Nazi's looting art in WWII?

[peacetalksforall]

9. Yeah - all we're missing is a Switzerland. Or maybe not.

[Imagevision]

7. Amazing how the 8 billion "lost" in Iraq story evaporized...!

[peacetalksforall]

8. Didn't know - went over my head. Thanks for posting.

Remember when whistleblowing was a patriotic act?

[rodeodance]

10. 'The price is so high for telling the truth."

..Christopherson and L'Allier were stunned when the indictment excluded the ground zero thefts. They spent two years unsuccessfully trying to find new work in disaster relief. Christopherson now runs a landscaping business; L'Allier works as a paramedic.

For years, the two couldn't speak publicly because their whistleblower case remained under seal. They worried similar fraud might have occurred during Katrina.

"If you donated, at your local supermarket, water or canned goods or cleaning supplies and a truck goes down there (to New Orleans), who knows where it is ending up," L'Allier.

Today, the whistleblowers worry their fate might chill others from exposing wrongdoing.

"They felt they had to come forward about the theft because it was so wrong," Turner said. "I've lost my career. They've lost their jobs. The price is so high for telling the truth."