Showing posts with label Holder. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Holder. Show all posts

Thursday, February 04, 2010

Someone is Lying About the Detroit Underwear Bomber

Someone is lying.

Item One: After concerted pressure from Congress, Attorney General Eric Holder confessed that he was behind charging the alleged Detroit crotch-bomber in civilian court, thereby terminating the interrogation process after a scant 50 minutes. But, he says, he had consulted the heads of the various intelligence agencies and -- after no one objected -- he went forward with Miranda-izing the accused terrorist.

Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. said Wednesday that he personally made the decision. "I made the decision to charge Mr. Abdulmutallab with federal crimes, and to seek his detention in connection with those charges, with the knowledge of, and with no objection from, all other relevant departments of the government," Holder said in a letter to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

Among the Washington heavy-hitters in the Situation Room when that decision was made, according to Robert Gibbs, White House press secretary: Dennis Blair, the national director of intelligence; FBI Director Bob Mueller; CIA Director Leon Panetta; Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano; and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

So Holder says that all relevant intelligence agencies were consulted. But:

Item 2: On February 2nd, however, CNN reported that no one in the intelligence communities knew of Holder's decision.

The official was not authorized to speak for attribution because the case remains under investigation. Mueller said none of the intelligence chiefs at Tuesday's hearing were consulted about the decision to read AbdulMutallab his Miranda rights. That decision was made by the chief security interrogator at the scene in consultation with the Department of Justice, Mueller said.

And:

Item 3: According to Politico, "Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano admitted they had not been consulted about the decision to Mirandize Abdulmutallab."

And:

Item 4: The former chairs of the 9/11 Commission criticized the handling of the Crotch-bomber case, saying that the terrorism and intelligence communities should have been consulted.

The two former chairmen of the 9/11 Commission expressed concerns today about how security agencies responded to the arrest of alleged Christmas Day bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab and the decision to quickly charge him instead of attempting to gain valuable intelligence information...

"Here is a man who may have trained with other people who are trying to get into this country one way or another, who may have worked with some of the top al Qaeda leadership in Yemen or al Qaeda generally and we don't know the details of that," Thomas Kean, former chairman of the 9/11 Commission, told the committee. "He may know about other plots that are pending and we haven't found out about them."

... "The decisions of this kind should never have been made without consulting without the full input of the greater intelligence community, particularly the DNI, but also the CIA the FBI and other members of the intelligence community," said Kean.

In short, the heads of the intelligence agencies say that Eric Holder never consulted them about the decision to Miranda-ize the crotch-bomber.

Eric Holder, in writing, says he did.

Someone is lying -- and an immediate investigation is needed. Eric Holder needs to be put under oath and questioned extensively about his side of this bizarre story. The safety of innocent Americans -- men, women and children -- hangs in the balance.


Hat tip: Commenter Brian.

Wednesday, February 03, 2010

AG Eric Holder: I decided to charge crotch bomber as a criminal but only because my law firm needed a new celebrity client


 
 
 
 
 
 
W
ith pressure bearing down from both sides of the aisle, the Egregious Joke of an Attorney General Eric Holder (I hear that's the title he prefers) admitted he was the behind the decision to charge Yabba Dabba Doo as a criminal in federal court.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder acknowledged today that it was his decision to charge Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab as a criminal in federal court but said he informed intelligence agencies of his decision and none “objected to this course of action.”

Detecting a theme from the Obama administration? It's all someone else's fault. Perhaps they can find a way to blame Bush.

Holder said he is confident the decision not to hold Abdulmutallab – accused of trying to blow up Detroit-bound Flight 253 on Christmas Day – as an enemy combatant in the war against terror “has not, and will not, compromise our ability to obtain information needed to detect and prevent future attacks.”

Because timely collection of information really isn't a priority in deterring catastrophic terror attacks. Making America look good in the eyes of barbarous dictatorships is our tippity-topmost priority.

Holding Abdulmutallab as a military combatant, say Holder’s critics, would have allowed interrogators to get more information out of him before being read his rights and getting legal counsel. But, on Tuesday evening, senior administration officials told reporters that federal agents had contacted Abdulmutallab’s family, who had helped FBI agents approach the suspect. Sometime last week, they said, Abdulmutallab began speaking to agents again.

Sure -- and prancing golden unicorns sang lullabies every evening to the alleged flaming weiner man to help him fall asleep at night, too.

Holder's partners at the law firm of Covington & Burling appear to be pleased. Last week, The American Thinker pointed out the outrageous conflicts-of-interest involved.

It's just insane that a lawyer who defended Osama bin Laden's driver and bodyguard -- and who sought constitutional rights for terrorists -- could be one of the Obama administration's top legal officials.

But there's Neal Katyal, occupying a top perch at the Justice Department as the principal deputy solicitor general.

Then there's Jennifer Daskal -- who just months ago was an anti-Guantanamo activist. Now she's in Justice's National Security Division -- working on detainee issues.

All kinds of rules prohibit government employees from influencing policy to the benefit of their previous employers. If Katyal, Daskal and other conflicted Justice lawyers had worked for corporations, they'd almost certainly be subject to these regulations.

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are hopping mad about the situation -- and rightly so. Months ago, Senate Judiciary Committee member Charles Grassley asked Attorney General Eric Holder to disclose who in the administration had previously represented or agitated for alleged terrorists.

The AG's reply?

"I will consider that request."

In other words, f*** you.

Put simply, the far left ACLU hacks appear to be controlling the Justice Department and the counterterrorism policies of this administration. And the President himself has abdicated his first and primary role: to protect the American people.

The only open question is who will destroy American first: the Soros-controlled Obama Democrats or the terrorist barbarians. The Vegas line has 'em even.


Sunday, January 31, 2010

Noted Counterterrorism Expert David Axelrod Insists Eric Holder's Doing a Bang-Up Job of Botching Terror Investigations, Endangering Public

Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) suggested that Attorney General Eric Holder resign after a series of gaffes, terrorist attacks and bizarre activities that closely resemble dereliction of duty and selective enforcement of the law.

[Alexander said] the embattled Holder likely made the decision to read Miranda rights to accused underpants bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, after 50 minutes of interrogation by the FBI...

"Perhaps he should step down," Alexander said on Sunday morning.

"(Holder's) doing a better job of interrogating CIA employees than he is of interrogating terrorists, and he's not making a distinction between enemy combatants and terrorists flying into Detroit trying to blow up planes and American citizens who are committing a crime. He needs to go to Congress and say I made that decision, and here's why. And based on that perhaps he should step down," Alexander explained.

The Obama administration's foremost counterterrorism, defense and intelligence expert -- Senior Adviser David Axelrod -- rejected that contention.

"Over time they have had additional opporutinties [sic] to question; my sense is that he has given very valuable information. ... We have not lost anything by how his case has been handled," Axelrod said.

Axelrod's expertise in counterterror investigations, interrogations, intelligence-gathering, analysis and warfare is well-known throughout the Beltway.


Swift Justice: KSM Has His Day in Court

Dan from New York:

INT. NYC COURTROOM – DAY (JULY 30, 2014, 9:09 AM)

After three years of procedural delays and another 18 months of jury selection, the trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is set to begin.

Alan Dershowitz: Your honor, the defense would like to enter a motion for dismissal.

Judge Schwartz: On what grounds, counselor?

Alan Dershowitz: The accused was never given his Miranda rights, the arresting authorities entered his domicile without a search warrant, he was denied counsel and held in harsh conditions in an overseas prison for over three years, all his confessions and self-incriminating statements were extracted there under torture rendering them inadmissible and this entire proceeding unconstitutional.

Judge Schwartz: Anything else, Mr. Dershowitz?

Alan Dershowitz: Yes, your honor. My client maintains his innocence.

Judge Schwartz: Motion to dismiss granted. The defendant is free to leave. The jury is dismissed. Court is adjourned.


Thursday, January 14, 2010

Snowstorm at the White House?

The Save Jersey blog stitches together some fascinating detective work that begins with a discussion thread at 4chan.

A photo of a few lines of coke taken on an iPhone?

Here's where it gets interesting. Really interesting. Someone else logged on to the same site and analyzed the coke photo's point of origin. This second individual was able to ascertain the location where the photo was snapped since it was taken with an iphone. As you may or may not know, iphones transmit GPS data of where pics are taken when they're uploaded to the web if the GPS is turned on. You can look at the metadata and see where it came from. It's a brave new world!

Guess what longitude and latitude turned up? 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, D.C. That's the White House for those of you who bombed civics in high school.

I've provided a Google map of the coordinates:

You can also click here to see the basic image photo information, including more evidence pointing to its origination at the White House.

If those coordinates are indeed correct, then somebody on high has an AWFUL LOT of explaining to do. All I know is that you wouldn't have had this problem in the Bush White House!

...An unrelated snort incident from Politico back in October '09 -- Comedian David Cross admits doing coke at the annual White House Correspondents' Association Dinner (click here).

...Then-candidate Obama admits using cocaine, a revelation unearthed from his memoir back in early 2007 (click here).

Y'know, all of this could be fudged -- but I have a funny feeling it's on the level. But don't hold your breath waiting for our beloved Justice Department to investigate.


Hat tip: Linkiest. Also: Jawa is skeptical, but still...

Monday, December 28, 2009

Judicial Watch Announces Most Corrupt Politicians of 2009 Awards (Rangel Quote: 'You Like Me, You Really Like Me!')

Judicial Watch has announced its prestigious Most Corrupt Politicians of 2009 Awards and, disappointingly for Howard Dean, Democrats only batted 90%. The top ten:

1. Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT):  This marks two years in a row for Senator Dodd, who made the 2008 “Ten Most Corrupt” list for his corrupt relationship with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and for accepting preferential treatment and loan terms from Countrywide Financial, a scandal which still dogs him.  In 2009, the scandals kept coming for the Connecticut Democrat.  In 2009, Judicial Watch filed a Senate ethics complaint against Dodd for undervaluing a property he owns in Ireland on his Senate Financial Disclosure forms.  Judicial Watch's complaint forced Dodd to amend the forms.  However, press reports suggest the property to this day remains undervalued.  Judicial Watch also alleges in the complaint that Dodd obtained a sweetheart deal for the property in exchange for his assistance in obtaining a presidential pardon (during the Clinton administration) and other favors for a long-time friend and business associate.  The false financial disclosure forms were part of the cover-up.  Dodd remains the head the Senate Banking Committee.

2. Senator John Ensign (R-NV):  A number of scandals popped up in 2009 involving public officials who conducted illicit affairs, and then attempted to cover them up with hush payments and favors, an obvious abuse of power.  The year’s worst offender might just be Nevada Republican Senator John Ensign.  Ensign admitted in June to an extramarital affair with the wife of one of his staff members, who then allegedly obtained special favors from the Nevada Republican in exchange for his silence.  According to The New York Times:  “The Justice Department and the Senate Ethics Committee are expected to conduct preliminary inquiries into whether Senator John Ensign violated federal law or ethics rules as part of an effort to conceal an affair with the wife of an aide…”  The former staffer, Douglas Hampton, began to lobby Mr. Ensign's office immediately upon leaving his congressional job, despite the fact that he was subject to a one-year lobbying ban.  Ensign seems to have ignored the law and allowed Hampton lobbying access to his office as a payment for his silence about the affair.  (These are potentially criminal offenses.)   It looks as if Ensign misused his public office (and taxpayer resources) to cover up his sexual shenanigans.

3. Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA):  Judicial Watch is investigating a $12 million TARP cash injection provided to the Boston-based OneUnited Bank at the urging of Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank.  As reported in the January 22, 2009, edition of the Wall Street Journal, the Treasury Department indicated it would only provide funds to healthy banks to jump-start lending.  Not only was OneUnited Bank in massive financial turmoil, but it was also "under attack from its regulators for allegations of poor lending practices and executive-pay abuses, including owning a Porsche for its executives' use."  Rep. Frank admitted he spoke to a "federal regulator," and Treasury granted the funds.  (The bank continues to flounder despite Frank’s intervention for federal dollars.)  Moreover, Judicial Watch uncovered documents in 2009 that showed that members of Congress for years were aware that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were playing fast and loose with accounting issues, risk assessment issues and executive compensation issues, even as liberals led by Rep. Frank continued to block attempts to rein in the two Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs).  For example, during a hearing on September 10, 2003, before the House Committee on Financial Services considering a Bush administration proposal to further regulate Fannie and Freddie, Rep. Frank stated:  "I want to begin by saying that I am glad to consider the legislation, but I do not think we are facing any kind of a crisis.  That is, in my view, the two Government Sponsored Enterprises we are talking about here, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, are not in a crisis. We have recently had an accounting problem with Freddie Mac that has led to people being dismissed, as appears to be appropriate.  I do not think at this point there is a problem with a threat to the Treasury."  Frank received $42,350 in campaign contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac between 1989 and 2008.  Frank also engaged in a relationship with a Fannie Mae Executive while serving on the House Banking Committee, which has jurisdiction over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

4. Secretary of Treasury Timothy Geithner:  In 2009, Obama Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner admitted that he failed to pay $34,000 in Social Security and Medicare taxes from 2001-2004 on his lucrative salary at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), an organization with 185 member countries that oversees the global financial system.  (Did we mention Geithner now runs the IRS?)  It wasn’t until President Obama tapped Geithner to head the Treasury Department that he paid back most of the money, although the IRS kindly waived the hefty penalties.  In March 2009, Geithner also came under fire for his handling of the AIG bonus scandal, where the company used $165 million of its bailout funds to pay out executive bonuses, resulting in a massive public backlash.  Of course as head of the New York Federal Reserve, Geithner helped craft the AIG deal in September 2008.  However, when the AIG scandal broke, Geithner claimed he knew nothing of the bonuses until March 10, 2009.  The timing is important.  According to CNN:  “Although Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told congressional leaders on Tuesday that he learned of AIG's impending $160 million bonus payments to members of its troubled financial-products unit on March 10, sources tell TIME that the New York Federal Reserve informed Treasury staff that the payments were imminent on Feb. 28.  That is ten days before Treasury staffers say they first learned ‘full details’ of the bonus plan, and three days before the [Obama] Administration launched a new $30 billion infusion of cash for AIG.”  Throw in another embarrassing disclosure in 2009 that Geithner employed “household help” ineligible to work in the United States, and it becomes clear why the Treasury Secretary has earned a spot on the “Ten Most Corrupt Politicians in Washington” list.

5. Attorney General Eric Holder:  Tim Geithner can be sure he won’t be hounded about his tax-dodging by his colleague Eric Holder, US Attorney General.  Judicial Watch strongly opposed Holder because of his terrible ethics record, which includes:  obstructing an FBI investigation of the theft of nuclear secrets from Los Alamos Nuclear Laboratory; rejecting multiple requests for an independent counsel to investigate alleged fundraising abuses by then-Vice President Al Gore in the Clinton White House; undermining the criminal investigation of President Clinton by Kenneth Starr in the midst of the Lewinsky investigation; and planning the violent raid to seize then-six-year-old Elian Gonzalez at gunpoint in order to return him to Castro’s Cuba.  Moreover, there is his soft record on terrorism.  Holder bypassed Justice Department procedures to push through Bill Clinton’s scandalous presidential pardons and commutations, including for 16 members of FALN, a violent Puerto Rican terrorist group that orchestrated approximately 120 bombings in the United States, killing at least six people and permanently maiming dozens of others, including law enforcement officers.  His record in the current administration is no better.  As he did during the Clinton administration, Holder continues to ignore serious incidents of corruption that could impact his political bosses at the White House.  For example, Holder has refused to investigate charges that the Obama political machine traded VIP access to the White House in exchange for campaign contributions – a scheme eerily similar to one hatched by Holder’s former boss, Bill Clinton in the 1990s.  The Holder Justice Department also came under fire for dropping a voter intimidation case against the New Black Panther Party.  On Election Day 2008, Black Panthers dressed in paramilitary garb threatened voters as they approached polling stations.  Holder has also failed to initiate a comprehensive Justice investigation of the notorious organization ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now), which is closely tied to President Obama.  There were allegedly more than 400,000 fraudulent ACORN voter registrations in the 2008 campaign.  And then there were the journalist videos catching ACORN Housing workers advising undercover reporters on how to evade tax, immigration, and child prostitution laws.  Holder’s controversial decisions on new rights for terrorists and his attacks on previous efforts to combat terrorism remind many of the fact that his former law firm has provided and continues to provide pro bono representation to terrorists at Guantanamo Bay.  Holder’s politicization of the Justice Department makes one long for the days of Alberto Gonzales. 

6. Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL)/ Senator Roland Burris (D-IL):  One of the most serious scandals of 2009 involved a scheme by former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich to sell President Obama’s then-vacant Senate seat to the highest bidder.  Two men caught smack dab in the middle of the scandal:  Senator Roland Burris, who ultimately got the job, and Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr.  According to the Chicago Sun-Times, emissaries for Jesse Jackson Jr., named "Senate Candidate A" in the Blagojevich indictment, reportedly offered $1.5 million to Blagojevich during a fundraiser if he named Jackson Jr. to Obama's seat.  Three days later federal authorities arrested Blagojevich.  Burris, for his part, apparently lied about his contacts with Blagojevich, who was arrested in December 2008 for trying to sell Obama’s Senate seat.  According to Reuters:  “Roland Burris came under fresh scrutiny…after disclosing he tried to raise money for the disgraced former Illinois governor who named him to the U.S. Senate seat once held by President Barack Obama…In the latest of those admissions, Burris said he looked into mounting a fundraiser for Rod Blagojevich -- later charged with trying to sell Obama's Senate seat -- at the same time he was expressing interest to the then-governor's aides about his desire to be appointed.”  Burris changed his story five times regarding his contacts with Blagojevich prior to the Illinois governor appointing him to the U.S. Senate.  Three of those changing explanations came under oath.

7. President Barack Obama:  During his presidential campaign, President Obama promised to run an ethical and transparent administration.  However, in his first year in office, the President has delivered corruption and secrecy, bringing Chicago-style political corruption to the White House.  Consider just a few Obama administration “lowlights” from year one:  Even before President Obama was sworn into office, he was interviewed by the FBI for a criminal investigation of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich’s scheme to sell the President’s former Senate seat to the highest bidder.  (Obama’s Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and slumlord Valerie Jarrett, both from Chicago, are also tangled up in the Blagojevich scandal.)  Moreover, the Obama administration made the startling claim that the Privacy Act does not apply to the White House. The Obama White House believes it can violate the privacy rights of American citizens without any legal consequences or accountability.  President Obama boldly proclaimed that "transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency," but his administration is addicted to secrecy, stonewalling far too many of Judicial Watch's Freedom of Information Act requests and is refusing to make public White House visitor logs as federal law requires.  The Obama administration turned the National Endowment of the Arts (as well as the agency that runs the AmeriCorps program) into propaganda machines, using tax dollars to persuade "artists" to promote the Obama agenda.  According to documents uncovered by Judicial Watch, the idea emerged as a direct result of the Obama campaign and enjoyed White House approval and participation.  President Obama has installed a record number of "czars" in positions of power.  Too many of these individuals are leftist radicals who answer to no one but the president.  And too many of the czars are not subject to Senate confirmation (which raises serious constitutional questions).  Under the President’s bailout schemes, the federal government continues to appropriate or control -- through fiat and threats -- large sectors of the private economy, prompting conservative columnist George Will to write:  “The administration's central activity -- the political allocation of wealth and opportunity -- is not merely susceptible to corruption, it is corruption.”  Government-run healthcare and car companies, White House coercion, uninvestigated ACORN corruption, debasing his office to help Chicago cronies, attacks on conservative media and the private sector, unprecedented and dangerous new rights for terrorists, perks for campaign donors – this is Obama’s “ethics” record -- and we haven't even gotten through the first year of his presidency.

8. Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA):  At the heart of the corruption problem in Washington is a sense of entitlement.  Politicians believe laws and rules (even the U.S. Constitution) apply to the rest of us but not to them.  Case in point:  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her excessive and boorish demands for military travel.  Judicial Watch obtained documents from the Pentagon in 2008 that suggest Pelosi has been treating the Air Force like her own personal airline.  These documents, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, include internal Pentagon email correspondence detailing attempts by Pentagon staff to accommodate Pelosi's numerous requests for military escorts and military aircraft as well as the speaker's 11th hour cancellations and changes.  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also came under fire in April 2009, when she claimed she was never briefed about the CIA's use of the waterboarding technique during terrorism investigations.  The CIA produced a report documenting a briefing with Pelosi on September 4, 2002, that suggests otherwise.  Judicial Watch also obtained documents, including a CIA Inspector General report, which further confirmed that Congress was fully briefed on the enhanced interrogation techniques.  Aside from her own personal transgressions, Nancy Pelosi has ignored serious incidents of corruption within her own party, including many of the individuals on this list.  (See Rangel, Murtha, Jesse Jackson, Jr., etc.) 

9. Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) and the rest of the PMA Seven:  Rep. John Murtha made headlines in 2009 for all the wrong reasons.  The Pennsylvania congressman is under federal investigation for his corrupt relationship with the now-defunct defense lobbyist PMA Group.  PMA, founded by a former Murtha associate, has been the congressman's largest campaign contributor.  Since 2002, Murtha has raised $1.7 million from PMA and its clients.  And what did PMA and its clients receive from Murtha in return for their generosity?  Earmarks -- tens of millions of dollars in earmarks.  In fact, even with all of the attention surrounding his alleged influence peddling, Murtha kept at it.  Following an FBI raid of PMA's offices earlier in 2009, Murtha continued to seek congressional earmarks for PMA clients, while also hitting them up for campaign contributions.  According to The Hill, in April, "Murtha reported receiving contributions from three former PMA clients for whom he requested earmarks in the pending appropriations bills."  When it comes to the PMA scandal, Murtha is not alone.  As many as six other Members of Congress are currently under scrutiny according to The Washington Post.  They include:  Peter J. Visclosky (D-IN.), James P. Moran Jr. (D-VA), Norm Dicks (D-WA.), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), C.W. Bill Young (R-FL.) and Todd Tiahrt (R-KS.).  Of course rather than investigate this serious scandal, according to Roll Call House Democrats circled the wagons, "cobbling together a defense to offer political cover to their rank and file.”  The Washington Post also reported in 2009 that Murtha’s nephew received $4 million in Defense Department no-bid contracts:  "Newly obtained documents…show Robert Murtha mentioning his influential family connection as leverage in his business dealings and holding unusual power with the military.”

10. Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY):  Rangel, the man in charge of writing tax policy for the entire country, has yet to adequately explain how he could possibly "forget" to pay taxes on $75,000 in rental income he earned from his off-shore rental property.  He also faces allegations that he improperly used his influence to maintain ownership of highly coveted rent-controlled apartments in Harlem, and misused his congressional office to fundraise for his private Rangel Center by preserving a tax loophole for an oil drilling company in exchange for funding.  On top of all that, Rangel recently amended his financial disclosure reports, which doubled his reported wealth.  (He somehow “forgot” about $1 million in assets.)  And what did he do when the House Ethics Committee started looking into all of this?  He apparently resorted to making "campaign contributions" to dig his way out of trouble.  According to WCBS TV, a New York CBS affiliate:  “The reigning member of Congress' top tax committee is apparently ‘wrangling’ other politicos to get him out of his own financial and tax troubles...Since ethics probes began last year the 79-year-old congressman has given campaign donations to 119 members of Congress, including three of the five Democrats on the House Ethics Committee who are charged with investigating him.”  Charlie Rangel should not be allowed to remain in Congress, let alone serve as Chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, and he knows it.  That’s why he felt the need to disburse campaign contributions to Ethics Committee members and other congressional colleagues.

Hopefully Judicial Watch won't sue me for copying the entire article. If so, I'll just claim Eric Holder told me to do it.


Wednesday, December 16, 2009

KSM Glamor Shot, Trial Serve as Infomercials for Jihad

Writing at American Thinker, J. R. Dunn poses some fascinating questions.

Is anyone else as puzzled as I am by the new stock photo of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed? It could hardly be more different from the hairy chested view of him taken upon his apprehension.

I'm referring to the photo that appeared at the same time that the New York trial was announced, portraying him in traditional Arab dress. The picture is odd in a number of respects. For one thing, it's extraordinarily ambiguous. While KSM appears to be trying to look ferocious, the robes, wide-eyed expression, and cocked head all work to give him a distinctly feminine air. The picture fairly reeks of the homoeroticism that Christopher Hitchens, among others, has detected in the Jihadi subculture.

But the oddest thing of all is this: it's obviously a recent photo. This individual is several years older than the figure in the well-known "crazed pizzeria worker" photo that introduced KSM to the world. So it had to be taken since he was in custody, and it is alleged that the International Red Cross took it.

The question is: why?

Look at what he's wearing. The white headdress, the turban. This is a sheikh's costume. The clothing of a figure of respect in the Arab world. This photo was designed to impress, to portray KSM not as a prisoner, not as a terrorist, but as a man of distinction within the framework of his home culture.

This picture was apparently taken while KSM was in American custody, processed with American acquiescence, and released with American permission. It's exactly as if we were acting as KSM's PR firm, hired to make him look as imposing as possible.

There is no better example of the Obama administration's skewed priorities than this single photo.

KSM admitted -- and it was independently confirmed through multiple sources include Usama Bin Laden -- arranging the murders of some 3,000 American citizens, easily the greatest single act of terrorism in world history.

Men and women going about their business, reading their emails, answering the phones, cleaning toilets and arranging for babysitters.

Men and women left at the real precipice, clothes melting on their bodies as a hundred stories of air offered the only release.

What kind of administration permits KSM to publish glamor shots that market Jihad around the world? What kind of Attorney General supports these efforts?

The same kind of A.G. that expends enormous effort to cover up voter intimidation by its New Black Panther allies, in a seeming effort to encourage anarchy and violence at polling places.

The Justice Department has ordered its career trial lawyers who have been subpoenaed by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights not to appear to provide testimony or give documents in the investigation of DOJ’s dismissal of the New Black Panther Party voter-intimidation case...

How a personnel guideline can supersede the force of a subpoena issued by the commission remains a mystery...

A source tells me that Adams was “not quite” threatened with the loss of his job, but plainly he and his colleague, Christopher Coates, the voting rights section chief, are being strong-armed to disregard a lawful subpoena. This is abject lawlessness, the sort of executive imperiousness that, if practiced by a Republican administration, would bring howls of protest from Congress, the media, and liberal lawyers’ groups. The Obama Justice Department doesn’t want to respond to a subpoena because they have a personnel rule? Next thing you know they’ll be claiming executive privilege for a social secretary. Oh yes, that’s right...

Any liberal with an ounce of intellectual honesty will receive a full and fair hearing on this blog if they can explain this outrageous behavior.

Mark my words: the trial of KSM will turn into a months-long miniseries as well as an effective infomercial for jihad. And, as was presciently stated in the days of Bill Clinton, Americans will needlessly die as a result of these policies.

In the case of Clinton, however, it was due to simple incompetence, arrogance and corruption. Under the current regime, however, it appears entirely intentional, perhaps step number six in the 12-step program to shred the Constitution.


Hat tip: Larwyn.

Saturday, November 14, 2009

9/11 Families for America are begging citizens to sign their petition


9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed will be tried in New York City? Are you freaking kidding me? If you're even a tenth as outraged as I am, please sign the petition sponsored by 9/11 Families for America.

The signatures will be relayed to President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder.

"If this White House thought Tea Party activists were an 'angry mob,' wait until they see the backlash from 9/11 family members and their supporters nationwide. We’re not going to sit down and shut up about the reckless, security-undermining Obama 9/10 agenda and conflict-of-interest-ridden AG Eric Holder." -- Michelle Malkin

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Eric Holder's Spicy Tuna Roll


What do we got, today, George?

Uhm, first file: those terrorists from Los Macheteros who petitioned for release?

Refresh my memory. What'd they do?

You know, the ones who bombed 130 different locations, robbed a couple of banks, killed six people and injured a couple of hundred others.

Oh, that's right. Stamp that one: PARDON.

Okey doke. Next file: that financier friend of the big-wigs... he's a fugitive living in Switzerland who committed tax evasion, racketeering and trading with the enemy. But his wife looks like she'll pony up a million for various "good causes".

Okay, that's a PARDON.

#3: those Black Panthers who stood at a polling place, dressed in paramilitary garb, swinging billy clubs and screaming racial threats?

Mmmm, that's a tough one. Eenie, meenie, miney, moe, catch a tiger by the toe, if he... just kidding: PARDON.

Finally, we've got the CIA agents who were interrogating the USS Cole and 9/11 terrorists.

What'd they do, again?

Brace yourself, this is some shocking stuff. First, they blew cigar smoke in the USS Cole bomber's face...

Cigar smoke? What the...?

It gets worse. They revved up a power drill to scare the guy. They made lots of scary noises like that.

I've heard enough! Those sons of b***hes! That is just un-f***ing-acceptable! Throw the book at 'em, Georgie! Throw the book at 'em. Let 'em know: We. Mean. Business.

Oh, and George, could you call up my personal physician at Bethesda and book an appointment for me this afternoon? Those spicy tuna rolls gave me a real tummy ache.

Sure thing, boss. Whoa! Criminey... ...uhm, before I take these files over to Barry, I'll have Anne Marie get you some Gas-X.


Monday, August 24, 2009

David Axelrod calls a running play


Give David ("Svengali") Axelrod some credit: when President Obama needs a running play, he calls a running play. ABC News reports:

Obama White House v. CIA; Panetta Threatened to Quit
Tensions Lead to CIA Director's "Screaming Match" at the White House
By MATTHEW COLE, RICHARD ESPOSITO and BRIAN ROSS -- August 24, 2009

A "profanity-laced screaming match" at the White House involving CIA Director Leon Panetta, and the expected release today of another damning internal investigation, has administration officials worrying about the direction of its... intelligence team ....Panetta erupted in a tirade last month during a meeting with a senior White House staff member[, reportedly] upset over plans by [AG] Eric Holder to open a criminal investigation of allegations that CIA officers broke the law in carrying out certain interrogation techniques ...Another source of contention... was today's public release of an investigation by the CIA inspector general on the first two years of the agency's interrogation and detention program. The report has been delayed by ...debate over how much of the report should be kept secret... One CIA official said colleagues ...were preparing for a far-reaching criminal investigation...

Several weeks ago, in a secret bunker at SEIU headquarters near K Street:

I understand you're upset, Leon. Rest assured, this investigation is in the best interest of the country.

What the hell are you talking about? Starting investigations of the CIA officers who kept this country safe after 9/11? What are you thinking??

Leon, how do you expect us to regain credibility with the Arab Street until we adhere to the lawful principles of prisoner detention?

Frankly, Eric, I don't give a damn! Now that I've been in this job a while and seen the results of waterboarding, it's crystal clear we saved scores of innocent American lives. Civilians, dammit, civilians!

I guess we'll just have to agree t--

Dammit, Eric, this is no game! You're a real piece of work, you know that? Freeing the FALN terrorists, freeing Marc Rich, and even defending the Gitmo terrorists --

Hey! That wasn't me, that was my law firm!

No matter, I'm lodging a complaint with the President. You're undermining my authority!

CUT!!

Beautiful, guys, beautiful performance.

Axe is going to leak this tape to the useful idiots at ABC and *voila* ... the health care debate is out of the news and Bush is back!

Mr. President, if you don't mind me asking, how much do you pay Axelrod for this stuff?


Ha! That, my friend, really is classified information!