Fintan Dunne
Legal Eagles Eye Ashcroft Over 9/11 Whistleblower
Fri Jul 2, 2004 20:50
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Legal Eagles Eye Ashcroft Over 9/11 Whistleblower

by Fintan Dunne, Editor
BreakForNews.com,
24th June, 2004
http://www.breakfornews.com/sibel-edmonds.htm

Judge Reggie Walton won't have 9/11 whistleblower, Sibel Edmonds to kick around any longer. At one time, Edmonds stood alone. Now some big legal guns have wheeled into her case --which is fast becoming the most prescient threat to the whitewash engineered by the 9/11 commission.

Edmonds is currently under a gag order on foot of legal applications by U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, over her claims of alleged corruption and 9/11-related cover-ups in the FBI translation unit which she joined just after the September 11th attacks.

Yesterday, the nonprofit watchdog Project On Government Oversight (POGO) sued Attorney General John Ashcroft and the US Department of Justice (DOJ), citing the latter's legal maneuvers in the Edmond's case as an interference with POGO's ability to perform oversight on the DOJ's actions.

The case is likely to land before Bush-appointed Reggie Walton of the US District Court for the District of Columbia, who is already adjudging Edmond's unlawful dismissal suit against her former employer, the FBI.

POGO argue that the DOJ's retrospective reclassification of information relating to Edmonds' claims contained in unclassified Senate Judiciary Committee briefings in 2002, is both unlawful and unconstitutional.

Georgetown University Law Center professor and Director of Public Citizen Litigation Group, David Vladeck represents POGO.

In another development yesterday, the Motley Rice legal team representing families of 9/11 victims --in a suit mainly against various Saudi interests, submitted to the judge a comprehensive list of detailed questions [pdf] they would like to put to Ms. Edmonds in support of their suit.

The renowned Ron Motley, who took on the the tobacco industry and handled Medicaid legal actions is leading his firm's legal effort.

Last week, Vietnam-era whistleblower, Daniel Ellsberg stood side by side with Edmonds on the steps of the court, to back her protest at yet another delay in her case and warn Ashcroft that he might share the fate of A.G. John Mitchel --who served prison time over the Pentagon Papers case


Time was, when Edmond's stood alone, that Judge Walton could get away with treating her with legal disdain.

Walton's court has bedeviled Edmonds with last-minute adjournments and hearings scheduled at short notice. And he consigned her to legal limbo by declining to make a final ruling on Ashcroft's October, 2002 move to declare her information a state secret.

That let Ashcroft win by default, because Walton gagged Edmonds with a provisional order while she awaited his final ruling.

But the combined legal and public weight of: the relentless Edmonds and her lawyer Mark Zaid; POGO, Public Citizen and their supporters; Motley Rice, the families of 9/11 victims, Daniel Ellsberg and Professor Vladeck will not be as easily treated with the same legal derision which has characterized his handling of Edmonds' case to date.


The POGO lawsuit is not filed on behalf of Edmonds, but to defend POGO's own right to conduct oversight reviews of the DOJ. The suit asks the court to require the agency to declassify the Edmonds material.

The information in question, from briefings to the Senate Judiciary Committee was referenced in letters from US Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) and Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) to DOJ officials. The letters were posted on the senators' Web sites, but were removed after the reclassification. POGO has the letters and wants to initiate public debate by posting them on the Internet.

"We believe the Department of Justice reclassified the information to stifle congressional oversight of the department and shield it from legitimate public inquiry," said Danielle Brian, POGO's executive director. "It is absurd to reclassify information that has been in the public domain for so long"

POGO's suit contends that the information is not reasonably recoverable because it was posted publicly on the Web and is still available on numerous Web sites.


Edmonds has placed detailed, specific information before three Congressional inquiries --including the 9/11 Commission. Public discussion of those specifics would likely seriously undermine the commission's imminent final report.

The true focus of the commission is now clear, following recent comments by commissioner John Lehman, the former secretary of the Navy on NBC's "Meet the Press." He predicted the panel will support centralization of the nation's intelligence agencies as the only way to prevent future terrorist attacks.

"You're going to see unanimous recommendations on the intelligence community...," said Lehman. "Centralization will enable information to get to people "in a position to make a difference," he said.

Under cover of their shallow investigation of 9/11, with the stick of their criticism as a lever, the commission is empowering a singular, Orwellian security apparatus, which is but another step in the increasing integration of the G8 countries' intelligence services.

At their recent summit, the G8 announced a global aviation-security plan, under which the United States will hand personal data on US air travelers to G8 (and other countries') security services, including Russia.

The 9/11 Commissions' centralization focus is another incremental step in this bureaucratic globalization of intelligence.

It's a process in which accountability clearly plays no role.


All the while, Edmonds has been stuck in the legal mud of her interminable appearances before Judge Reggie Walton. She, and her explosive information should instead have been the centerpiece of public hearings at the 9/11 commission.

Indeed, were they taking their job seriously the commission itself should long ago have rushed to defend it's investigations against Ashcroft's actions.

Is it relevant to their 9/11 inquiries that the FBI may have been penetrated prior to the attacks by an extra-national intelligence network linked to drug trafficking and money laundering?

Is it relevant to their inquiries that the State Department quashed post-9/11 investigations which were intersecting with that network.

Is it relevant to their inquiries that the 9/11 terror plot itself, intersects with the same semi-legitimate criminal network.

Ashcroft's legal actions give us the answer: dangerously relevant.

Edmonds' is not just battling a recalcitrant judge. She is resisting the determination of the 9/11 commission to see no evil, as it builds a new super-agency from the flawed bureaucracy which allowed 9/11. The commission has abandoned it's own star witness to the machinations of John Ashcroft.

However, Edmonds no longer stands alone. Now she has company. Next week is expected to see a flurry of further filings by the legal eagles.

With practiced ease, the Washington spin machine is just about to close the book on 9/11. But, it ain't over.

Not until this brave lady sings.

Welcome to the real 9/11 inquiry.

24th June, 2004
Fintan Dunne Contact Me

The Sibel Edmonds Story
Legal Eagles Eye Ashcroft Over 9/11 Whistleblower
Al-Qaeda Tried to Penetrate FBI's Translation Service
Ellsbrg: Ashcroft May Face Prison over 9/11 Cover-Up
State Dept. Quashed 9/11 Links to Global Drug Trade
Gagging Congress Edmonds in Media Documents
http://www.breakfornews.com/sibel-edmonds.htm 

• Re: Legal Eagles Eye Ashcroft Over 9/11 Whistleblower — ZOBOLI, Fri Jul 2 21:42