Holy crap. I want Hastert to lose on this BIG if for no other reason than she's freakin' hot. I can't concentrate on the story with that beautiful face sitting there.

I think we should take all the crooks and liars in Congress down, every one. But as long as we have GOP operatives in charge of every department in Washington, it will be lies, bribery and business as usual in D.C.
As long as money rules the politics of this nation, nobody will be safe from our own crooks and extremists, let alone the other nuts out there.

This sounds huge. If our representatives are being bribed by foreign nationals I would thing Americans would like to know about it.

We need to get this into the MSM. That will be like pulling teeth like with the DSM's. Start out by sending this to other blogs.

We need people like Sibel to take a stand on the corruption, lies, and deceit that plagues every facet of our government's operation and not just in national security-related issues but in science,
contracting, accounting, auditing, and engineering.

For starters, we need to ensure the competence of our government staff and managers by requiring minimal college degree requirements for each related area of responsibility. We also need meaningful whislteblower protection llegislation and stringent penalties for all government officials who abuse their positions of authority. Go Sibel!!!

Face it: we're screwed.

"un-itemized contributions" ? I can't wait. More on this PLEASE.

I've been reading about this for some time and find it unbelievable that not one f'g news agency would run with this? How the hell does the media live with itself knowing they are enabling the criminals in charge with treasonous behaviors! Hell even half of the deep throat team is pussy whiped by the bush boys. Sick....I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired about this crap!
It's time for a citizen's arrest, let's all march to DC and arrest everyone, and put them in jail in Iraq with relatives of the tortured.

It's difficult to maintain the moral highground while objectifying a national security whistleblower, calling her "freakin' hot."

The most shocking allegations Sibel Edmonds has has little to do with illicit contributions or espionage in the F.B.I.'s translation department at the F.B.I.'s D.C Field Office. The most shocking (and the allegation 60 Minutes wouldn't air and Vannity Fair wouldn't publish) has to do with the pre-9/11 intercepts confirming the exact attack scenario that took place on September 11, 2001. These intercepts came to the F.B.I. as of April 2001! How is it possible that the F.B.I. knew nothing about 9/11 before the attack, when the intercepts gave the specific targets, method (commercial airliners originating within the U.S.) and that the attacks would take place late in the summer of '01? Looks to me that the New Pearl Harbor incident that the Project for a New American Century said was nesessary to motivate the American people into sending the U.S. military into the Middle East was accomplised on 9/11. What do you think?

Hahahahahaha....

Sibel Edmonds is finally saying what I, Martin Tom and others have been saying all along.....

Rahm Emanuel, Dennis Hastert, Tom Lantos are seeds planted.

They are bribed blackmailed extortionists.

Especially "elected Democrat" Rahm Emanuel.....

Over $800,000 from Jack Abramoff's funds and AIPAC has gone straight to electing Emanuel, Hastert, Lantos and others over and over again....

EVERY SINGLE ELECTION CYCLE....

This is why the THIRD PARTY is going to rise once and for fucking all....

Somebody forgot to tell these neocon bastards blackmail is actionable by the law.....Or did they ?

From Dickerson, to Abramoff, to Putin, to Agents of Turkey and the American Enterprise Institute....

These foreign traitor spies have been running our pentagon....running our voting machines....and running all our interest groups....

On top of that, they seem to think they are just ABOVE the law....because they are ALL from the nest of neocon "Greater Israel" bastards in the State Department!!!!!

>8-O

Doug E.

Doug....Wayne Madsen is saying if congress won't impeach...impeach congress too. Our AG is before congress answering any question he wants to and lying anytime he wants to. It's time for a grassroots effort to turn 'em all out. NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION. What if a murdererer is being tried and tells the court he's liberating the victim. Lying is his right as an american citizen. Makes just as much sense as lying is the president's right. This country is officially lawless.

Something tells me these guys are scared, or they would have never replied to this article or done a quick dismissal of it rather than waiting six months. Speaking of prolonged waiting, what happened to those hearings that were delayed in the House earlier to hear about problems with whistleblower protection, that Sibel and the NSWBC got them to delay when the witness list wasn't sufficiently representative of truely affected whistleblowers rather than those that would field "softballs"? It's now February. Are they going to "forget" about them like they are doing everything else?

Hope the NSWBC verbally challenges them to follow through on their commitments to have some REAL hearings on this with folks like Sibel and Russ Tice testifying!

Hey Calipendence why would they do that....

Did AIPAC, ATC, Friends of Syria or the Ukraine office of Affairs say they could?

Oh naahh....they didn't say so at all. So Congress doesn't "have" to do a damn thing. We have a duty to turn most of them out with indictments of course, and also dragging them by their hair......

Doug Eldritch

FYI - one of my readers has transcribed the VF letters if anyone wants/needs to copy/paste the text (which you can't do from the scan)

I think a second line of defense for the Bushies is that even though they were warned and knew an attack was coming that the best they could do was to prepare (thus the many different exercises being run on 9/11), but that they didn't have 'actionable intell' which would've allowed them to stop the attack. That the attack happened on the exact day they were running all their exercises was just...exasperatingly frustratingly coincidental.

Uh, yeah.

I wonder if R. Fiengold, B. Boxer, P. Leahy, E. Kennedy or any of the other more progressive Dems, J. Conyers, have seen this article...?Should we try to get their attention...?

WARNING VIRUS ALERT!!!

Go to my other post for details

where's osama? --- the longer we refuse to find osama, the worse it looks for bush --- it's not enough for that faux rancher to send missiles crashing into huts in pakistan --- he's used to getting away with clearing cardboard brush for photo ops at his potemkin ranch, so he thinks nobody notices when the alleged planner of the usscole attack conveniently escapes --- in addition, all the so-called al qaeda bigwigs have left guantanamo: only the bystanders are still in slam

osama was working for us in afghanistan & it seems he's still working for us --- ever wonder why his tapes come out just when bush needs a lifeline? ever wonder why no outside expert has ever accepted osama's tapes as being the real thing?

I still don't understand why Sibel Edmonds is unable to tell us what she knows. I understand why certain people don't want her to talk...but what power do they have over her? If she spoke the truth, what law would she be violating? How has she established credentials as a whistle blower, yet remains mute on the details of what she knows?

It's really bizarre. Is this really about how many Turks gave $200 to Denny Hastert's political campaign? Come on, folks! Why fool around with minutiae? Either there's something big here or there isn't. And if there is, why can't she just go to Canada and call a press conference?

"If she spoke the truth, what law would she be violating? "

Robert: No, absolutely not. This isn't just about that at all......its about foreign blackmail. By the time we've arrested these freaks it will be all very clear...

AIPAC, Israel, Ukraine and of course Kurdistan, Ubekistan, Yugoslavia and other countries have alot to do with this. As does Livingston, ATC and alot of other **very very** big names....

But especially sensitive foreign relations....in other words, read the warnings as a caution. There are people all over being blackmailed who are getting close to be thrown out...talking out loud could "accidentally" destroy certain already in process severe investigatories and other entanglements.....that are all over.

Its not just in the USA either...

Doug E.

Note on Hastert- according to Tom DeLay's biographer, Hastert got his position due to DeLay.

The Hammer: Tom DeLay, God, Money and the United States Congress, September 2004, by Lou Dubose

p. 270 DeLay made Denny Hastert Speaker and Roy Blunt majority whip. Both men were his assistants when he served as whip. "He is the first majority leader in the history of the Congress to decide who holds every position in the leadership, including his own."

Quick Summary of Randy Evans

The attorney who responded for Hastert has a rather high profile background himself.

Randy Evans of Georgia has served on the Georgia State Board of Elections since April 2003. He was the head of the legal team for the Bush-Cheney '04 Reelection in Georgia. He is general counsel of the Georgia Republican Party.

He has served as an attorney who advises the House Republican leadership on government ethics. His clients include the former and current Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) and Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.).

Evans has been Chairman of Gingrich Holdings, Inc. Evans is serving as Special Master for the Georgia Supreme Court.

Randy Evans is chairman of the board of the J.C. Watts Companies (http://www.jcwatts.com/bios/bio5.html). Watts represented Oklahoma’s 4th District in the U.S. House of Representatives for eight years through January 7, 2003. Watts served as Chair of the House Republican Conference and served on a number of key committees during his tenure in Congress, including the Armed Services Committee, the Select Homeland Security Committee, the Military Readiness Subcommittee and the Procurement Subcommittee.

When Democratic Senator Zell Miller of Georgia wanted to release a book quickly, Randy Evans helped Miller negotiate the book contract. A brand new publishing company appeared to do the job. Miller's book, A National Party No More: The Conscience of a Conservative Democrat, was released Nov. 2, 2003. The previous week, Miller told conservative journal The Weekly Standard that he wouldn't "trust" any of the nine Democratic presidential candidates with governing during "that crucial period." Miller said, "This Democrat will vote for President Bush in 2004."

Note - most of this is single-sourced. But, you get the idea --- Randy Evans is deeply involved with Republican leadership.

I remember reading recently (I think at Talking Points Memo, Joshua Micah Marshall) that ex-DeLay aide Michael Scanlon boasted of having dug up dirt on Livingston's extramarital affairs, thus forcing Livingston from assuming the House Speaker position from Gingrich and giving it to Hastert instead. Scanlon recently pleaded guilty in the Indian tribe gambling corruption case involving Abramoff, DeLay, et al. There definitely seem to be some behind-the-scenes intrigues here that may involve some Turkish bribes in the mix.

"... Hastert ... withdrew it just minutes before the full House was to have voted on it, citing a plea from President Bill Clinton who is said to have warned the measure would harm U.S. interests."

Did Rose or anyone else ask Clinton about this?

Liberty Post has more details of Edmond's testaments to Dennyboy "Qaeda" Hastert's front for Turkish Qaeda drug money launderers. And hair-raising details of the infiltration of the enemy into America's 3 government branches. It's worse that it looks.

"Ms Edmonds went on to reveal that the criminal elements are active within all three branches of Government."

Yes there are and I guarantee if anyone looks up what the Talmud is they will find out why....

"Intentionally, and I want to stress this, intentionally they are not going after the people at the middle level and the top."

That would be correct.....until now, and the neocons are scrambling to shut down the web so nobody spreads the truth to the whole world.

Doug E.

I'm not sure I understand this fully.

What I get so far is that a whistleblower for the FBI uncovered Turkish moneymen saying they needed to give Hastert 500,000 in order to have him not support some resolution calling Turkish actions millions of years ago genocide.

And, because Hastert has at least 500,000 in small money contributions, this means Hastert should be convicted of bribery without a trial.

Did I get that right?

Guantanamo prisoners should be afforded the presumption of innocence until proven guilty. But Hastert, because he is a republican.. Oh My Gosh.. the same party as the most hated president the liberal intelligentsia has ever seen... means Hastert should be fired first and then forgotten.. who needs proof after all.

We all know every republican (in liberal speak that means repug) is an enemy of everything America stands for. We all know that the mere accusation is worth more than any hard won concepts of decency. The time honored tradition that the accuser must prove his accusations before we destroy someone's reputation.

Ironically, the same point liberals are saying they support is exactly.. identically.. what they are not doing when it involves their political targets.

Seriously, do you really hate.. I mean detest times 3 to the 400th degree.. people that much that you cannot see the blindness of treating them like you accuse them of treating you?

Seriously?

Jeff,

All I can say is you are a complete fruitcake. As an independent I strongly disagree with Hastert taking bribes at all, or Pelosi, or anybody. And if they have, they need to be convicted and removed just like Delay.

If you were addressing anyone else then that's a different story...

There is pages and pages of ample evidence that Hastert as well as others have taken bribes.(Just some of it is on a blog above, in conversation with Illinois officials) That does need to go to trial and discovery process unlike the "nothing" cases our government uses for torture obviously where no one has even been found guilty.

So basically in and of the decisions made, they will have to be held accountable. And we're going to make certain of it, without any political parties.

Doug

Jeff,

First of all, take care hanging around Armenians. They won't be very friendly dismissing their "million year old history" like you are doing here.

Secondly, unlike some Republicans I know, we are NOT asking for Hastert to be convicted and sentenced without a trial. What we ARE complaining about is that we see that there is so much evidence that normally in a real TWO PARTY system, we'd have someone making an honest attempt at FULLY investigating such allegations, and not accepting useless explanations that are so full of holes that they are useless. We want to see justice being pursued and our NORMAL system of justice being followed. Right now we see a hollow and empty justice system that ignores this very suspicious as well as MANY, MANY, other situations that are begging for investigations, purely because we don't have control enough to force these investigations to happen. So don't start saying we don't want a trial before firing or "outing" someone. We just don't want justice igonred like it has been for so many of those in power right now. Black isn't white, no matter how much you try to rationalize it.

Doug,

Thank you for putting the exclamation point on my argument.

You get a gold star!

RE: ...calipendence said on 2/7/2006 @ 10:01pm PT.

---> Having enlightened friends is a good thing. My Armenian friends aren't controlled by their emotions to the point of distraction. Likewise my very close Cherokee friends and I can view history as history. Not to be repeated, for sure, but not to be fought over and over again.

None of my Irish relatives want the descendants of those business and political scions prosecuted or tortured for those very defamatory "No Irish Allowed" signs.

First problem you have is making an alleged violation of law a political issue.

You don't need an election to have a politician indicted and tried.

Many congressman have been indicted without any need for an election.

So the two party system is unimportant in that regard.

By saying he is guilty before a trial you are saying justice should be ignored.

As the DA in Texas showed, regardless of who is President or who controls Congress, if you have proof you can bring anyone before a jury.

Did you miss that part in my message?

Right, well the way you phrased it made it sound like you were dismissing the whole case.

I was implying quite strongly that there needs to be a trial on Hastert's activities since he also did this with Abramoff. I did not say he was automatically guilty, but it has shown enough suspicion and problematic donations to make a trial neccesary to find whether or not he is.

Doug

Calipendence

Please remember based on the revelations, and most definitely as far as the evidence I'm seeing that others in congress are guilty or may be guilty of this as well, as connected to Abramoff, Livingston and so forth and one of them is Nancy Pelosi who is in effect far closer to these groups than anyone takes notice of. And Rahm Emanuel is a very big one, because I don't know if you know this....but illinois is home to a very strong mafia group and others like Roy Blunt and Republican J.D. Hayworth are very closely involved and possibly guilty as well.

Doug

Visit Sibyl Edmond's site --- sign her petition and read interviews with her and inadequate responses from Democratic Senators, Russell Tice had the same problem with Mikulski.

/">http://www.JustACitizen.com/

Support our Whistleblowers.

If Sibyl left the country, she would be called a coward and she would be swiftboated and her life would be in much more danger. The European countries despite their protests have aided in the extraordinary renditions and whatever country she went to she would be in more danger than staying here. Like Solzhenitsen who thought that the Soviets would say "Well we protected him while he was in Russia, but since he was in Germany and they didn't protect him it shows that the West is much more dangerous than the Soviet Union." He said this in his autobiography The Oak and The Calf.

Visit Sibyl Edmond's site --- sign her petition and read interviews with her and inadequate responses from Democratic Senators, Russell Tice had the same problem with Mikulski.

/">http://www.JustACitizen.com/

Support our Whistleblowers.

If Sibyl left the country, she would be called a coward and she would be swiftboated and her life would be in much more danger. The European countries despite their protests have aided in the extraordinary renditions and whatever country she went to she would be in more danger than staying here. Like Solzhenitsen who thought that the Soviets would say "Well we protected him while he was in Russia, but since he was in Germany and they didn't protect him it shows that the West is much more dangerous than the Soviet Union." He said this in his autobiography The Oak and The Calf.

Robert and Chris Blue

Trust me, if Sibel Edmonds was to come out with what she knew right now ahead of time there would be some real 'unfortunate incidents'

Based on what I've learned happened to a man I knew who was involved with election fraud, and he has blown the whistle.....it would not be good incidents.

Unfortunately there is spies around the 'current government' and would not be the place or proper setting for Sibel Edmonds to talk out loud. What she knows, I do know, and many others now too. And its so explosive that it gets you blacklisted by the very neocons who are 'running inside' the NSA agency...

Yes, you are absolutely correct. There is some criminal elements and they have done some killings, some torture, some well everything. They aren't american.

Doug E.

Doug E #25

I do not have to "look up what the Talmud is", I know what it is.

You made another cheap shot at the Talmud and the respectable Jewish Religion. Please explain what a thousands of years old document has to do with 21st Century American corruption?

Shall we blame the jews for what Hastert is doing? Why not blame the dems for it like Hastert and the other neoCons?

Ridiculous!

Brad, I still have a problem understanding all this. Sibel has a gag order against her, the violation of which would be a felony. OK. But it she went to Vancouver and made a speech telling everything she knows about criminal conduct within the government (no political opinions, just facts), and assuming everything she said turned out to be true, there's no way on God's green earth she could ever be prosecuted, let alone convicted of a crime.

John Peter Zenger went through this sort of thing in 1734. The only difference is he was a newspaper man accused of libel against the Crown (and acquitted, thus establishing freedom of the press in the colonies). Zenger's lawyer (the "other" Alexander Hamilton) argued, "The truth cannot be libelous." The jury agreed.

Sibel would benefit from the same fundamental principle in law. Truth has majesty. Further, any gag order imposed upon her for the purpose of covering up criminal conduct by the same people who are gagging her would itself be a criminal act. Whether this is a huge deal involving massive international corruption, or just garden-variety Republican fund-raising sleaze, it just doesn't make sense to me that Sibel would keep silent. I've never felt as stupid about something as I do now.

Robert,
I am sorry, but what you claim about Sibel going to Vancouver makes no sense at all. Any time one reveals classified information, one takes the risk of prosecution, no matter what country the information is released in. I think Sibel would be willing to take the risk of "telling all" if she were sure that in doing so would lead to real change. However, she fears that even if she tells the whole story, the Bush Administration will just change the subject, and she'll sit in jail for many years for nothing.

It's up to us to demand that Congress take action. Sibel has done her job- it's time for us and our Representatives to do OURS.

How about where Evans says that Hastert keeps records on all his contributions, so they are not "unacccounted for". The point is WHO IS ACCOUNTED FOR THEM!!! Did you catch that? They are NOT "unaccounted for". As if that's the end of the story.

He forgot to add, "they are accounted for...AND they are from Turkish Nationalists." These guys are genius's with the way they carefully write, and say true statements, but have nothing to do with the point or the charges and tell nothing. Sheer genius, but it doesn't work if you're smart.

Evans: "Not $500,000 was donated in October".

Reporter: "What about the rest of the months and years we actually were talking about???"

Evans: "Next question, please". Taking a tip from McLellan's strategy of not answering questions, and saying a bunch of HORSESHIT!!! We're not stupid, you know. You're rightwing followers are, but we're not! Don't insult us!

Evans: "Why, not only was there not $500,000.00 donated in October, but there was ZERO donated on October 17!!! So what's this all about? There was ZERO donated!!!"

"...and there were MILLIONS AND MILLIONS of minutes in that time span, where exactly ZERO dollars were donated to Mr. Hastert! Mr. Hastert was not NOT given no donations by NO Turkish nationalists. Next question?"

It is about time they started on Hastert Isay clean house. The Democrates have nothing to lose by not giving in for achange they are losing now. While their at it get Lieberman out . I like Obabma Ithink Mcain is afraid of him so he pulls a Bush deal on him like he got in 2000. So clean house.

For Miguel: I guess the issue comes down to what qualifies as "classified information," right?

I don't have all the facts. That's why I'm confused and why others seem to have a better handle on this than I do. But bear with me, please.

If Sibel Edmonds reveals "classified information" that turns out to be classified only because it was identified as such to cover up criminal conduct, are you suggesting to me that Sibel could go to jail for that? Or are you saying that in the process of exposing criminal conduct, if she revealed REAL CLASSIFIED INFORMATION that wasn't about criminal activity, that she'd be culpable?

I could see the latter. I wouldn't want important intelligence compromised simply to discover that Denny Hastert took campaign money from Turks. But you seem to be saying, "Whatever the nature of the (so-called) classified information, if it simply has that label on it, Sibel could be prosecuted."

That's impossible. It means that there's no meaningful difference between information that has been marked as classified to cover up a crime, and classified information that protects the country. If there's no difference, then we are a Fascist state.

Please elaborate on your last post. Thanks.

My name is John Laesch and I am the Democrat who is running against Dennis J. Hastert in Illinois' 14th District.

I served as an intelligence analyst for the United States Navy; having spoken to Mrs. Edmonds personally, I see no reason to doubt her statments. Why would she make all of this up - which is what Hastert's spin doctors are saying.

If Mr. Hastert wants to come clean, then he needs to open up his records and prove to the world that he is innocent.

I would be happy to open up my campaign contributions and I would welcome anyone to join that effort by logging on to www.john06.com and making a financial contribution.

I am one of 50 Veteran Democrats running for U.S. Congress with hopes of restoring integrity to Washington. People need a government they can trust.

Respectfully,
John Laesch

RLM asked:

Either there's something big here or there isn't. And if there is, why can't she just go to Canada and call a press conference?

I suppose she could. If she never wanted to return to the United States of America where she would be wanted for a felony in violation of her "gag order", which she has challenged all the way up to the Supreme Court to no avail.

Amazing journey it was along the way, by the way. Read about what happened during the appellate phase and how the DoJ attorneys cleared everyone out of the courtroom --- including press and Sibel herself! --- during their portion of the testimony! She wasn't even allowed to hear it...for "national security reasons".

The day the Supreme Court decided NOT to hear her case, was the day the facade collapsed off of the Supreme Court building. Literally.

There's also a gag order on police & firefighters in NYC, about 9/11. Here's what I learned: whenever there's a gag order, there's something being suppressed.

DUH! That was a stupid statement...of course, gag means to suppress something! But, I've learned that what they are suppressing is the truth of something getting out to the public, so as to not make our government look bad about something. They gag the truthtellers & whistleblowers.

Jeff,

Personally, I agree with the issue of letting the Armenian history not have us try to persecute those in the present. But there are many Armenians out there that still feel that part of their history affects them a lot and needs to be understood, and isn't "millions of years ago". Otherwise, that bill would never have been on the table to start with.

You are missing how even our judiciary is being intimidated by the executive these days into dismissing cases arbitrarily for "state secrets" without even hearing them at all.

Read again what I said! I DIDN'T say Hastert was guilty. I just said that there's plenty of evidence out there that should be pursued or dismissed by official investigations and if pursued he should be charged. It is being ignored, and many feel that THAT is political, not us bringing up that there's evidence is political.

Delay still hasn't been sentenced. Scooter Libby isn't even going on trial until after the 2006 elections, and with the same judge that dismissed Sibel Edmonds' appealS... If we had two parties that shared control of various bodies, there would be more pressure for the one in power to do these investigations, or those other "checks" would do so. Right now there are no "opposition party" checks, and therefore things get continually ignored.

And, no, you can't tell a judge that your case should be dismissed just because someone else did the same thing. He'll tell you the oft said "Two wrongs don't make a right!"

Another thing just occured to me...

I wonder if this response to Vanity Fair was intentionally timed at this time. Perhaps the insiders know that something's in the works with Bush and Cheney where they might resign, be charged with impeachment or something else similar that puts their positions in jeopardy. Perhaps the inner circle is concerned of what would happen if the Hastert controversies are stirred up THEN when that comes to a head as more attention will be focused on Hastert at that point as being the focus of attention with him next in line behind Bush and Cheney.

Perhaps they would rather feel that they can "dismiss" allegations against him now, or get whatever dirty laundry exists hashed out now, so if necessary they can replace him before they have Bush and Cheney make their moves, so that they can have someone else more "bullet proof" in power if Bush and Cheney were to step down to avoid an impeachment of Hastert that might happen in 2007, even if Bush and Cheney step down in 2006.

The way this is being played out, something smells a bit "Rovian"...

John,

I do not know Sibel Edmonds personally, but there are two important sources that vouch for her credibility. One is that Senator Charles Grassley called her "credible" on CBS 60 Minutes in 2002 and went on to say that the FBI had vouched for most of her story. Secondly, read the Justice Department's own Inspector General Report. Although the document is watered down (no mention of Hastert, or even what languages Sibel translates), the Inspector General basically confirms Edmonds core allegations.

But perhaps most important is that the Justice Depts. own actions in quashing all of her civil suits under "state secrets" show that the US government takes her very seriously. And Sibel has gained no money or fame from any of this. She has no possible motive for making any of this up.

I would hope you would call on Mr. Hastert to fully disclose his unitemized contributions. Good luck in your campaign!

Btw, Sibel is a very beautiful woman, and then you scroll down a little, and see Hastert...it's a pretty shocking contrast! Hastert is in full-redneck red-faced suspender-wearin' scowl form in that pic...holy crikies!!!!

Dredd

Trust me, you don't know at all. This has nothing to do with religion....it might partially have to do with religion on some level, but nevertheless, this is not a religious problem and its not the way you want to make it sound.

John

You need to read more carefully, that is all I can say. *Nobody* has or did say he was guilty including myself, they stated quite plainly, that it looks that way and a trial should be had to find out the facts.

In other words, foreign donations of this nature spread out in such a way are far too suspicious and that is a fact which must be investigated in court. It is not an allegation, it is a fact that must be investigated.

Right now, there is a massive investigation in place few really know about(and that I have direct knowledge of.) They can not confirm or deny who is involved, but it is tied straight to Jack Abramoff a number of companies at the top. This is all part of the exact same, identical, criminal network you people seem to not have a grasp of.

Doug E.

Miguel
If you are wondering about this at all, I can confirm Sibel's story and if you want to hear anymore contact me. I can confirm the story, and I know a great deal more about it than I should....

I can also confirm to you that none of them are lying, because I have been and continue to be connected to one of the widest investigations that is going on *through* their department. And finally, I am involved summarily in the prosecution case that is still pending and going on with Diebold (and another voting company) which, when I first contacted their division they were looking into it.

Again I invite your feedback and warn this is a sensitive case to be had.

Doug E

For John Laesch: Good luck in your campaign. Would you be willing to comment on whether a gag order against revealing classified information has any legal weight if the information being protected is evidence of criminal wrongdoing by people inside government, as opposed to genuine secrets that affect national security?

To put the question another way: May government officials be allowed to commit crimes in the course of their duties, then place gag orders, under threat of prosecution, upon anyone who might blow the whistle on their criminal conduct? And does a person is such a position, e.g., Sibel Edmonds, have any responsibility to honor such a gag order?

That seems impossible to me. but I grew up in an era where this sort of question would not have arisen. Thank you.

Brad, can you move Hastert's picture up, to be even with Sibel's picture?

Brad, you pick out the best pictures for Republicans on your blog. You're pullin' an "Al Franken/Lying Liars", with those pics...I'm still laughing at the pictures of Coulter & O'Reilly on his book. Sorry, I digress...Hastert look's like he's in full "OINK" in that picture!

rlm --- this seems like a key question, and not just in the edmonds case. For example, there are NSA whistleblowers at risk, and others as well. Perhaps the key phrase is 'at risk.' Right now, assume a given whistleblower may not know for sure whether the activity about which they are concerned is certainly illegal, but they think it probably is. At the same time, they know for sure that they have adversaries in position of authority who are determined to have their actual or potential future whistleblowing actions prosecuted. Makes for a tough position, with ethics, brains, courage and judgement calls all involved. How it gets litigated is another question, and your raise a good one.

RLM

Some people get dissapeared also and/or tortured by these nice neocon people. (Who are, by the way all insane and come from different countries) So it certainly isn't just about one thing relating to being prosecuted...

They are nervous about what they know and rightfully so, because none of this just has to do with Turkish nationals. It has very little to do with americans. It has to do with, people from more than several countries.....and one country in particular which created the setup for 911...

Doug E.

For BB and Doug E.: I'm not a lawyer, but I know enough about the law to state that a gag order imposed for the SOLE PURPOSE of covering up criminal conduct cannot possibly have legal standing. That's the equivalent of allowing John Gotti to threaten witnesses called to testify against
the Mafia.

As BB points out, it can get hairy in a case like Sibel Edmonds'. 1) Suppose it isn't perfectly clear whether the conduct in question is criminal (e.g., NSA spying). Or, 2) the conduct is clearly criminal, but to expose it would at once reveal tangential information of a more serious nature that would in fact jeopardize national security.

Either one of these possibilities could explain why Sibel feels constrained by the gag order. I suspect it's #2, and that would explain why Sibel seems to be isolating Denny Hastert's fund-raising issues
from F.B.I. security questions.

Could the (isolated) matter of Hastert's having allegedly shaken down some Turks in exchange for killing a House resolution condemning Turkey for its treatment of Armenians be the source of this gag order? I don't believe it. There's much worse stuff behind this, and it's the other stuff that keeps
Sibel from going to Canada and calling a press conference.

I wish she'd do it anyway. Because I think there's plenty of OTHER CRIMINAL CONDUCT behind the national security stuff, and at this point I think it's worth the risk of revealing some secrets in order to get all the mendacious creeps behind bars.

Robert,

It's neither 1 nor 2. Sibel feels no ethical nor moral reason not to reveal everything she knows- she has been very clear that "state secrets" is being used to protect people like Hastert, Perle and Feith and powerful figures in Turkey and other countries.

Sibel has a strong, very rational fear of being locked up in a prison cell for a very long time.

We all want to know the answer, but there is no short cut. We have to start demanding that our Representatives get these answers to us. So far, none of these people- Conyers, Kucinich or Russ Feingold- has decided to take a stand on this issue. And believe me- they are aware of it. They choose to do nothing.

PS- The Supreme Court refused to take Sibel's appeal, so in essence they have said it is perfectly legal for the US government to use classification to protect this kind of criminal behaviour. Sad, but true.

Its like Miguel said, it is neither 1 or 2 Dredd...

It is factually explosive information which involves national security....

She will not reveal it all before its time you can be certain of that...

Miguel- Look up the bank I gave to you(in a good search engine) over email and Congressman Rahm Emanuel. You will find a whole damn stringing mess and see exactly what I meant, hes been tied at the source to this for years....

Doug E.

"equivalent of allowing John Gotti to threaten witnesses called to testify against
the Mafia."

What if John Gotti was so well protected, that even the mention of all that he is involved in brings about a total financial holocaust on the individuals who name them?

What if they get ruined for life RLM? That's what you're dealing with, and I'm afraid its not going to go any other way. If its the most well protected mafia on the block, you don't go out swinging with cinder blocks. You have to keep and stay behind the enemy battle lines, know each and every move, and work in the shadows.....

Doug E.

What if somehow it was "leaked" and noone knew the source. As long as the trail didn't lead back to her she would be fine. If I were her I would be writing down everything I know and put it in a hidden safety deposit box and provide only 1 trustworthy person with it's location in the event that something happened.

Jeff

There's no need...she already has it in 10 safety deposit boxes.....

Actually more like 100 because everyone on the internet including myself, know for a fact pretty much all of it. Enough to know its damn well damaging and so does Rense, and he has created more of us than you can count.

Come to think of it, the enchilada is large and rather common information to some people. Its just a very detailed picture which Sibel or anyone else isn't going to talk about when the criminals are still around....

Doug E

Robert...

"You make it sound as if violating a gag order would mean Sibel Edmonds could be immediately sent to a gulag somewhere,"

I don't make it sound that way to be scary. I am deadly serious. They tried to certainly attack me twice and I have told Miguel of how not only naive; but sadistic these neocons are...

Most of these foreigners care nothing for "american" laws that are in the neocon sphere...and frankly, they tortured a man. I saw evidence and heard of it done. This was a man who has in his hands evidence of election fraud.

I'm not saying it as anything more than a warning Robert, if Edmonds reveals everything it would explode and she knows just what I mean.

Doug E.

Robert,

They fucking wiretapped Fitzgerald and he told us all this....they wiretapped him and tried to screw the CIA, get libby out of the country the works. You just only see one true side of the picture in the end.

Doug

Doug, Sibel is very high-profile right now. Let's try to imagine what would happen if she called a press conference in Vancouver and produced proof (not merely allegations) of serious crimes committed by, or provably sanctioned by, high-ranking people inside the Bush White House (not Denny Hastert).

That has to be what we're talking about here. If Bush and Cheney didn't at least know about these crimes, or if Sibel can't show that they did, then she could be in trouble, because the White House spin would take over ("The president had no knowledge of this," yada yada). In that case Sibel might be prosecuted, though I doubt she would be.

If Sibel had iron-clad proof of serious crimes by Bush and Cheney, or of subornation by Bush and Cheney of serious crimes by others, and she displayed this proof during a speech from outside the country, the only people who would advocate prosecuting her for treason are the same nutcases who applaud Ann Coulter's speeches. The only members of Congress who would endorse prosecution would be the extreme right-wingers like Imhofe, Rohrenbacher, Santorum, Istook, and Jean Schmidt. A resolution for impeachment would already have been introduced, whether Sibel had been arrested or not, on the assumption she had been telling the truth. The media would climb all over it. The presidency would have been weakened beyond repair within a matter of days...assuming, again that Sibel has something really explosive to say, not just campaign shenanigans by Hastert. I think the word "felony" is the dividing line here.

No matter how determined neo-cons are, they can't defy gravity. Nixon went from the penthouse to the outhouse in a quick hurry once it became obvious he'd participated in the Watergate cover-up (Watergate was a burglary, i.e., a felony). Until then, he remained quite popular. Once the truth became known, nobody tried to prosecute Woodward & Bernstein; they became movie heroes.

For Miguel and Doug E.: If Sibel Edmonds violated the gag order today, she could not "go to prison for a very long time" without a public trial, right? And such a trial would give her the opportunity to plead not guilty, right? And the trial would mean her lawyers could cross-examine every government witness, right? And all the crooked stuff would come into the open, right? And it would be the most intensely followed trial since O.J. Simpson's, right?

The country is in horrible shape, but this isn't Stalinist Russia we're talking about. You make it sound as if violating a gag order would mean Sibel Edmonds could be immediately sent to a gulag somewhere, and that public opinion no longer matters. Yes, the Supreme Court ruled the gag order is legal, but that doesn't mean Sibel would forfeit her rights as a defendant were she to violate it. And if, as she has suggested, massive criminal conduct by the leaders of government is involved, I doubt they'd ever put her on trial, and if they did no jury would convict her.

This is sounding very, very scary to me. And I'm not one who scares easily. What I'm hearing here is that due process under the law no longer counts. If that were true, Patrick Fitzgerald would have been fired by now. I know he still could be, but until it happens I'm going to believe the system
works, and that Sibel Edmonds could violate her gag order and not go to jail for even 30 days. In fact she wouldn't even go to trial, provided only that she knows of true felonious conduct by government officials. Is anyone from The New York Times going to trial for revealing the NSA spying?

If, out of gratitude (or as a quid pro quo) for campaign contributions from Turks, Denny Hastert agreed to drop a Congressional condemnation of Turkey for having slaughtered Armenians 90 years ago, that's sleazy as hell. But it isn't the kind of felonious conduct people are hinting at here. To suggest that Sibel Edmonds is at the mercy of powerful people who could use a gag order as if it were a Czarist ukase is unduly pessimistic. I see her being in danger only if there's genuine doubt about the legal aspects, or if the crimes are relatively minor and true national security interests are at stake.

Robert..

Woodward and Bernstein were operation mockingbird. That was a setup.

Sibel Edmonds doesn't have ironclad proof...she has close to ironclad proof that Cheney knew everything. Because she also has it on Michael Chertoff....

Chertoff is the real key here...you have no idea who he is, I've been stalked by these funny farm boys..and I've been turning every document in on Chertoff there is in the meantime.

You have no clue who he is...these people were the lynchpins, the key of the entire operation. Bush's stupidity paid off because he didn't know much about this until the blackmail started and neither did congress....

This is blackmail big-time style, Robert. Its not just a Nixon era. Its foreign sanctioned blackmail in order to create a certain reality and obtain each and every oil drilling landfill for their countries. And why don't you ask yourself why China owns our economy?

There is heavy blackmail involved on a sensitive scale....and it was the same way with Clinton and others.

Doug E.

RLM

Its a worldwide mafia operating in over 6 countries, with three countries specifically at the top. And they get away with it so defiantly, because they run the entire drug trade in the USA.

They're all over and spread out.....Miguel knows who they are if he follows the money. And one, actually two countries in particular manage everything and the USA like a puppet. Blackmail is heavily involved....period.

Doug E.

Doug E #10

Attacking the democrats again, when the republicans are cozy with republican Abramoff.

It is a republican talking point you parrot that democrats got money from Abramoff. Not true.

"When you gonna wake up, and strengthen the things that remain?"

Doug E #69

Clue: the republicans are in the US. They control the prezidency and the congress.

They did this stuff, not phantoms in other countries. Where do you get this stuff?

Robert,
When you write "I doubt they'd ever put her on trial, and if they did no jury would convict her." you are probably right.

However, there is still a risk the government would try and prosecute her. And if they were successful, the consequences could be severe. I believe the government could revoker her citizenship. Then where would she go? Certainly not to her birthplace of Turkey.

but I guess the more important point is to focus on the mountains of info Sibel has already put out there, and try to get some momentum built for demanding the Congress investigate these issues.

Well,

This is a fascinating story. I can't really answer the gag order question. But I must say I found myself in a similar situation once. I worked for a Rehab house that made us sign a gag order for "client's privacy" when we started working there. The real reason I would hypothesize is that human rights abuses were being carried out at the institution and the owner of the house never had any intention nor will to bring the house back up to code with the rest of the "human" world. The house was later shut down by Judge Gary Jacobs in Illinois for "human rights" abuses. The real question is this? At what cost would someone of moral and ethical mind blow the whistle on an ethical train of abuses? There are two kinds of secrets the government keeps. One is kept because if it is revealed it would put someone's life in jeopardy. (Need to know) The other reason our government (and sometimes people of a less than honorable mind) keeps secrets is to hide shame. Lies and secrets are kept to shield shameful acts from the light of day. So where is the shame? Why so many secrets George? Denny? Could you at least please amuse us with a little song and dance about how it would endanger some "made up" "invisible" covert operative into regards as to why you have half a million unaccounted for dollars?

I want to issue an invitation to your readers to support my brothers campaign. Unless all of us "normal" people who make less than 50 thousand a year start donating and supporting "regular" politicians than these corrupt influences will always rule our rulers. I can assure all of your readers that my brother is not a professional politician and is not independantly wealthy. He is just driven and a bit ambitious. Denny Hastert can and will fall this year. The plan was originally hatched in John Laesch's kitchen in Bloomington Normal Illinois in the fall of 2003. Rest assured I feel slightly disappointed not participating in his campaign seeing as I was there at the original moment of hatching. The concept is this: Dennis Hastert can and will be defeated by someone local, with local name recognition, is preferrably a veteran, and can relate to Denny Hastert's voting base. What is his voting base? Republican, Rural, Christian, and pro-military. I can assure your readers that my brother John Laesch will bring the heat to Dennis Hastert this fall. He will bring the heat to where it hurts Dennis Hastert the most-In his backyard. Yorkville, IL. So if you are an American and want to contribute to a grassroots campaign to rid the nation of the incredible fat and not edible yet slightly corrupt and crooked Dennis Hastert feel free to log on and contribute at his website www.john06.com You might be wondering what would happen if John turned into another one of those crooks in Washington who are fat? Rest assured I would be the first one then lining up to call for his removal.
As I sit and write I hear the sound of gunfire as it falls 250 meters to my left. It leaves me wondering just who in the hell are the guards killing this morning? Its time to end this Apocalypse Now scenario going on over here.

Hastert needs to be in prison for the rest of his fetid life.
Along with rest of the The Republicans. I say use the next 70 billion Bush wants to murder people in Iraq to investigate these criminals to the end of their days.

My name is John Laesch and I am the Democrat who is running against Dennis J. Hastert in Illinois' 14th District.

*****************************************

Reality check, John. You are running against Ruben Zamora in the primary, remember?

At what point would Edmonds violate the Republican Secrets Act for the sake of our country?

Its safe to say no prosecution of Edmonds could possibly take place. If there were, all hell would break loose.

So who, beyond the corrupt AG, is involved in her potential prosecution?

At what point would Edmonds violate the Republican Secrets Act for the sake of our country?

Its safe to say no prosecution of Edmonds could possibly take place. If there were, all hell would break loose.

So who, beyond the corrupt AG, is involved in her potential prosecution?

At what point would Edmonds violate the Republican Secrets Act for the sake of our country?

Its safe to say no prosecution of Edmonds could possibly take place. If there were, all hell would break loose.

So who, beyond the corrupt AG, is involved in her potential prosecution?

I spoke with Speaker Hastert about the FBI tapes and the VF article at a Kendall County GOP Fundraising Pork Roast Picnic in August of '05. He told me, "That's bullshit. We called VF before they ran that article and told them they didn't have anything. We're going to sue them for slander."

No law suit yet.

I've lived in Rep. Hastert's district for 31 years. I've been investigating many of his unethical choices. This revelation is just one of many, if you would like to know more just let me know. I've written two articles so far and I'm working on a third.