Talk:Sibel Edmonds

Re Sibel Edmonds:

So now we know why these [f..ks] have stalled on mrs.Edmonds...

So, have I got this right?.....Ms. Edmonds says follow the money...Grassley and Leahy take her behind closed doors, have a listen, and promise help that never comes....but then Riggs fine hits, and connections between BushCo/BinLadens and laundering are made public once more...finally Grassley says something, but only obliquely.....

"....The Senate Finance Committee chairman, Republican Charles Grassley of Iowa, recently asked the commission investigating the September 11 attacks to examine Saudi transactions totaling tens of millions at Riggs and FleetBoston Financial Corp.

"Riggs Bank deserves every penny of this huge fine," Grassley said in a statement Thursday. "Banks have a patriotic duty, not to mention legal requirement, to report suspicious activity. When banks look the other way, they put our national security at risk. Whether it's through incompetence, negligence or greed, they are allowing terrorists to funnel their blood money through the system."

That was last Thursday May 13th....so question is, given that Grassley seems to have been obliging enough to open the door a crack, why the the hell hasn't Leahy knocked it down?

Yes, it's about following the money, something I was once employed to do. The Riggs laundry operation raises some BIG questions and dirties a lot of people. Just look at the "regulators:" The comptroller, Riggs's main federal banking regulator, and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCen, a law enforcement unit of the Treasury Department, cited the bank and its holding company for deficiencies in risk management and internal controls. The Federal Reserve Board, which regulates Riggs's holding company as well as a Riggs unit that engages in foreign transactions.. So many regulators, so little oversight. So onto the Leahy question: so far this is what I have: John I Leahy (relation unknown) is an independent director of Allied Capital; Patrick Leahy (relation unknown) worked for two years at Allied Capital Lawrence I. Hebert President and CEO of Riggs Bank also was a director of Allied Capital. So, it is possible based on verification that one or two relations of the good senator have a relation through Allied Capital to the Riggs Bank. But it all could be coincidence...

I think she's talking about the Riggs Bank connection and Uncle Jonathon Bush's being a Riggs Executive (scroll down to banking). Then there's Marvin Bush's WTC and United Airlines security connections. Last but not least, is the John ONeill allegations that the Bush administration stymied the FBI's pursuit of Al Queda. The Bushies have all kinds of ties to the 911 mess and it's all public. Just our poor media cannot connect any dots and neither will the 911 commisstion

In a move to keep still more shi* from hitting the fan, the justice(?) department is retroactively classifying information it gave to congress 2 years ago, re Sibel Edmonds.

"What the F.B.I. is up to here is ludicrous," Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, said in an interview. "To classify something that's already been out in the public domain, what do you accomplish? It does harm to transparency in government, and it looks like an attempt to cover up the F.B.I.'s problems in translating intelligence."

By ERIC LICHTBLAU

Published: May 20, 2004

WASHINGTON, May 19 - The Justice Department has taken the unusual step of retroactively classifying information it gave to Congress nearly two years ago regarding a former F.B.I. translator who charged that the bureau had missed critical terrorist warnings, officials said Wednesday. Law enforcement officials say the secrecy surrounding the translator, Sibel Edmonds, is essential to protecting information that could reveal intelligence-gathering operations. But some members of Congress and Congressional aides said they were troubled by the move, which comes as critics have accused the Bush administration of excessive secrecy.

"What the F.B.I. is up to here is ludicrous," Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, said in an interview. "To classify something that's already been out in the public domain, what do you accomplish? It does harm to transparency in government, and it looks like an attempt to cover up the F.B.I.'s problems in translating intelligence."

F.B.I. officials gave Senate staff members two briefings in June and July of 2002 concerning Ms. Edmonds, who said the F.B.I.'s system for translating intelligence was so flawed that the bureau missed chances to spot terrorist warnings.

But the F.B.I. now maintains that some of the information discussed was so potentially damaging if released publicly that it is now considered classified, according to a memorandum distributed last week within the Senate Judiciary Committee. The material could also play a part in pending lawsuits, including Ms. Edmonds's wrongful termination suit and a lawsuit brought by hundreds of families of Sept. 11 victims who have sought to take testimony from her.

"Any staffer who attended those briefings, or who learns about those briefings, should be aware that the F.B.I. now considers the information classified and should therefore avoid further dissemination,'' the Judiciary Committee memorandum said.

An F.B.I. official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the decision to classify the material was made by the Justice Department, which oversees the bureau. The Justice Department declined to comment on Wednesday.

The F.B.I. told Congressional officials that it was classifying topics including what languages Ms. Edmonds translated, what types of cases she handled, and what employees she worked with, officials said. Even routine and widely disseminated information - like where she worked - is now classified.

Ms. Edmonds, who is Turkish-American, began working for the F.B.I. shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks as a translator in the F.B.I.'s Washington field office with top-secret security clearance, but she was let go in the spring of 2002. She first gained wide public attention in October of that year when she appeared on "60 Minutes'' on CBS and charged that the F.B.I.'s translation services were plagued by incompetence and a lack of urgency and that the bureau had ignored her concerns. The Justice Department's inspector general is investigating her claims.

The F.B.I. has taken steps to improve its translation operations, including hiring more linguists. But Senator Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, wrote in March to the Justice Department that he still had "grave concerns'' about the F.B.I.'s ability to translate vital counterterrorism material.

Ms. Edmonds testified in a closed session this year before the Sept. 11 commission, and she has made increasingly vehement charges about the F.B.I.'s intelligence failures, saying the United States had advance warnings about the attacks. Families of the Sept. 11 victims - who are suing numerous corporate and Saudi interests whom they accuse of having links to the attacks - have sought to depose her as a witness, but the Justice Department has blocked the move by saying her testimony would violate "the state secret privilege.'' Her lawyer could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.

While some Congressional officials said they were confident the Justice Department had followed proper procedure in classifying the information, others said they could not remember any recent precedents and were bothered by the move.

"I have never heard of a retroactive classification two years back,'' said an aide who spoke on condition of anonymity because the subject is classified.

"It would be silly if it didn't have such serious implications,'' the aide said. "People are puzzled and, frankly, worried, because the effect here is to quash Congressional oversight. We don't even know what we can't talk about.''

Senator Grassley said, "This is about as close to a gag order as you can get."

The F.B.I. denied the accusation.

"We're not imposing a gag order,'' the F.B.I. official said. Members of Congress have the information, but have to treat it as classified, the official said. "The problem is that while these pieces of information may look innocuous on their own, you put them all together and it reveals a picture of sensitive intelligence collection, and that's a security problem.''

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The following comments were originally deposited into the content page without lucid integration.

Jan 15th

Sibel Edmonds and the Machine http://www.fas.org/irp/agency/doj/oig/sedmonds.html

Remember kids, The "machine" crushes anyone in its path.

The "machine" will not allow truth to out against a master plan.

"We found that many of Edmonds' core allegations relating to the coworker were supported by either documentary evidence or witnesses other than Edmonds. Moreover, we concluded that, had the FBI performed a more careful investigation of Edmonds' allegations, it would have discovered evidence of significant omissions and inaccuracies by the co-worker related to these allegations. These omissions and inaccuracies, in turn, should have led to further investigation by the FBI. In part, we attributed the FBI's failure to investigate further to its unwarranted reliance on the assumption that proper procedures had been followed by the FBI during the co-worker's hiring and background investigation, which did not include a risk assessment, contrary to FBI practice. We also found that Edmonds was justified in raising a number of these concerns to her supervisors. For example, with respect to an allegation that focused on the co-worker's performance, which Edmonds believed to be an indication of a security problem, the evidence clearly corroborated Edmonds' allegations...

also see:

http://www.justacitizen.com U.S. Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) and Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) in a Letter to Attorney General John Ashcroft

Jan 12th 2005

ACLU PRESS RELEASE: http://www.aclu.org/SafeandFree/SafeandFree.cfm?ID=17301&c=206

http://www.balkanalysis.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=485

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) today issued a press release in which it raised the unresolved case of Sibel Edmonds, the FBI whistleblower who gave compelling evidence of catastrophic incompetence, corruption and criminal activity within the FBI and Justice Department and US military...

Aug 5th 04 '''Did Pentagon Reveal Name of Edmonds? 'Semi-Legit' Group?''' http://www.balkanalysis.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=391

The ongoing saga of FBI whistleblower Sibel Edmonds? small war with the Department of Justice has garnered increasing media attention in recent weeks. However, this has almost entirely centered on free speech and legal issues: John Ashcroft?s gag order, Judge Reggie Walton?s dismissal of her case, and now, her open letter to the 9/11 Commission. Incredibly, the Commission?s final report failed to include her shocking testimony confirming crime, corruption and incompetence in the Federal Bureau of Investigation ? a failing that greatly diminishes the credibility and trustworthiness of the Committee itself.(more...)

Public Letter to 9/11 Commission Chairman from Sibel Edmonds

August 1, 2004 Thomas Kean, Chairman National Committee on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States 301 7th Street, SW, Room 5125 Washington, DC 20407

Dear Chairman Kean: "Unfortunately, I find your report seriously flawed in its failure to address serious intelligence issues that I am aware of, which have been confirmed, and which as a witness to the commission, I made you aware of. Thus, I must assume that other serious issues that I am not aware of were in the same manner omitted from your report.

"It has been almost three years since the terrorist attacks on September 11; during which time we, the people, have been placed under a constant threat of terror and asked to exercise vigilance in our daily lives. Your commission, the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, was created by law to investigate "facts and circumstances related to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001" and to "provide recommendations to safeguard against future acts of terrorism", and has now issued its "9/11 Commission Report". You are now asking us to pledge our support for this report, its recommendations, and implementation of these recommendations, with our trust and backing, our tax money, our security, and our lives. Unfortunately, I find your report seriously flawed in its failure to address serious intelligence issues that I am aware of, which have been confirmed, and which as a witness to the commission, I made you aware of."

The full 4400+ word content of this letter is available at
 * agonist.org
 * Common Dreams
 * elsewhere

July 29th

The FBI inspector general essentially backs up Sibel Edmonds. Let Sibel Speak!

Whistle-Blowing Said to Be Factor in an F.B.I. Firing By ERIC LICHTBLAU Published: July 29, 2004

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/29/politics/29fbi.final.html?hp=&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1091110516-lyB/jLvxBUYBRTv9DJsb/g

or

http://tinyurl.com/7xwy8

THIS LADY IS A TRUE AMERICAN HERO ! Sibel Edmonds video w/ Daniel Ellsberg http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0428/mondo1.php July 17th 04

Article by Sibel Edmonds: Our Broken System http://www.antiwar.com/orig/s-edmonds.php?articleid=2960 On Tuesday, July 6, 2004, Judge Reggie Walton made a decision and ruled on my case. Under his ruling, I, an American citizen, am not entitled to pursue my 1st and 5th Amendment rights guaranteed under the Constitution of the United States. The vague reasoning cited, without any explanation, is to protect "certain diplomatic relations for national security." Sibel Edmonds article, read it and weep for your country...

July 7, 2004 Sibel Edmonds case thrown out: a federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit filed by FBI whistleblower Sibel Edmonds against the Justice Department before he even heard evidence in the case. ...

http://news.google.com/news?q=Sibel+Edmonds+case+thrown+out&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=nn

Another Update: http://antiwar.com/news/interview.html Interview of FBI whistleblower Sibel Edmonds

antiwar.com --June 30, 2004 Christopher Deliso interviews Sibel Edmonds

CD: What are they so afraid of?

SE: They're afraid of information, of the truth coming out, and accountability ? the whole accountability issue that will arise. But it's not as complicated as it might seem. If they were to allow the whole picture to emerge, it would just boil down to a whole lot of money and illegal activities.

CD: Hmm, well I know you can't name names, but can you tell me if any specific officials will suffer if your testimony comes out?

SE: Yes. Certain elected officials will stand trial and go to prison.

Update June 15, 2004:
 * Sibel Dinez Edmonds' June 14, 2004, court hearing to determine whether she can publicly tell the full story of intelligence failures over the 9/11 attacks has again been postponed by Judge Reggie Walton. The U.S. government wants her knowledge to remain a state secret. Pentagon Papers' whistleblower, Daniel Ellsberg backed Edmonds at their joint press conference in front of the court on Monday, June 14, 2004. [Ellsberg] warned that Attorney General John Ashcroft might face prison time if his legal actions are later judged as designed to obstruct justice.

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from Antiwar.com blog - Aug 4, 2005
Antiwar.com blog Thu Aug 04, 2005 Let's Press the Press

Alright folks. Sibel Edmonds needs your help. She has filed an appeal to the Supreme Court on the heels of the explosive new Vanity Fair article which cites government investigators saying that the covering up of House Speaker Dennis Hastert's (among others') corruption is the reason for the Justice Department's violation of her rights, gagging her with the state secrets privilege - a privilege that does not even exist in any American statute. Now it is certain: the only national security Sibel threatens with her story is the job security of corrupt politicians.