NYTimes: Justice Opposes Bid To Revive Sibel Edmonds Case

[Hissyspit]

Justice Dept. Opposes Bid to Revive Case Against F.B.I.
By JOHN FILES

Published: February 26, 2005

WASHINGTON, Feb. 25 - The government has told a federal appeals court that a suit by an F.B.I. translator who was fired after accusing the bureau of ineptitude should not be allowed to proceed because it would cause "significant damage to the national security and foreign policy of the United States."

Lawyers for the government said in a brief filed with the court on Thursday that the suit could not continue without disclosing privileged and classified information.

The translator, Sibel Edmonds, was a contract linguist for the bureau for about six months, translating material in Azerbaijani, Farsi and Turkish. Ms. Edmonds was dismissed in 2002 after complaining repeatedly that bureau linguists had produced slipshod and incomplete translations of important terrorism intelligence before and after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Ms. Edmonds also accused a fellow Turkish linguist in the Washington field office of blocking the translation of material involving acquaintances who had come under suspicion and said the bureau had allowed diplomatic sensitivities with other nations to affect the translation of important intelligence. "The effect of the government's posture in this case will be to discourage national security whistle-blowers," said Ben Wizner, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union who is helping Ms. Edmonds. "She is fighting for the right to prove that she was wrongfully terminated."

MORE:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/26/politics/26whistle.html?


This happens after:

Administration Blinks in Sibel Edmonds Case

By WilliamPitt,

Thu Feb 24th, 2005 at 08:09:07 AM EST :: War on Terror :: (6 comments, 6 new, 633 words in story)
Administration Blinks; Admits Retroactively Classified Information Not Harmful to National Security

February 22, 2005

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: [e-mail]

Decision Likely to Have Significant Impact on Sibel Edmonds’ Appeal, Says ACLU

WASHINGTON - The Justice Department admitted today that information it had retroactively classified could be released to the public and did not pose a threat to national security. The American Civil Liberties Union said the revelation could aid government whistleblowers in their efforts to fight unlawful dismissals.

"The Justice Department’s long-overdue admission goes to the core of the ACLU’s allegations that the government is going all out to silence whistleblowers to protect itself from political embarrassment," said ACLU Associate Legal Director Ann Beeson, who is representing former FBI translator Sibel Edmonds in a lawsuit challenging her termination. "This is hardly an isolated case, as numerous national security whistleblowers can attest. The government is taking extreme steps to shield itself while gambling with our safety."

http://forum.truthout.org/blog/main/2

This post also in General Discussion:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=3182843#3183599

[fooj]

1. This is an outrage!

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

[BigBearJohn]

2. Please pinch me. I must be having a nightmare. This F***G government!!

[spanone]

3. God forbid we let the truth slip out.

[Trillo]

4. The Executive Branch attempts to cripple the Judicial Branch...

all in the name of secrets and fighting terrorism. I'd say we're near the bottom of the slippery slope.

Edited to add: 'Justice Department' versus 'Judicial Branch'. Easy to confuse the two terms, but not the same.

[Supersedeas]

15. the Judicial Branch and Executive do seem to be butting heads often, no?

[mwm]

5. Interviewed on This is Hell

She was just interviewed on This is Hell. It was a good interview, if you missed it, it is suppose to be posted on their archives soon after the show ends. She was the first interview. They are now interviewing someone from Aceh. Their is a link to it at the top of the DU page. The show is just ending. Worth catching.

[Generator]

6. Significant damage indeed!

Pointing out the ties to the businesses/indviduals in this country and overseas that benefited from letting 9/11 happen, no that would be a real downer for "relations" with those individuals.

This is almost like proof that everything she has said is TRUE. Everything you know (the majority in this country) about 9/11 is wrong.

[rodeodance]

7. the gov is hiding something--I hope they continue to push this case!

The case touches on potential vulnerabilities for the bureau, including its ability to translate sensitive counterterrorism material, its treatment of whistle-blowers and its classification of sensitive material that critics say could embarrass the bureau.

The Justice Department retroactively classified a 2002 Congressional briefing about the case and some related letters from lawmakers, but this week it decided to permit the information to be released. The inspector general of the department concluded last month that the F.B.I. had failed to aggressively investigate Ms. Edmonds's accusations of espionage and fired her in large part for raising them.

In a report that the department sought for months to keep classified, the inspector general issued a sharp rebuke to the bureau over its handling of Ms. Edmonds's accusations. It reached no conclusions about whether her co-worker had actually engaged in espionage, and it did not give details about the espionage accusations because they remain classified.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/022605Y.shtml

The New York Times

[genieroze]

8. Are you surprised? I'm not. eom

[thecrow]

9. What we need is a "People's Department"

to overlook it all.

[Elidor]

10. They've already admitted they were full of it last time they tried this

Why should the judge believe them?

[Mr_Spock]

11. The truth will come out eventually

The harder you suppress something, the more people want to know what you're hiding. Just try using "just because" as a response to your children - delaying will only make it worse when it comes out. Viva Sibel!

[lovuian]

12. I want to know where the Money came from??? I'm thinking BIG!!!

Major backers of Bush ...Rich Saudis!!!

[Al-CIAda]

13. State Dept. Quashed 9/11 Links To Global Drug Trade

CIA Factbook-
United States
consumer of cocaine shipped from Colombia through Mexico and the Caribbean; consumer of heroin, marijuana, and increasingly methamphetamine from Mexico; consumer of high-quality Southeast Asian heroin; illicit producer of cannabis, marijuana, depressants, stimulants, hallucinogens, and methamphetamine; money-laundering center

http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/fields/2086.html

======

State Dept. Quashed 9/11 Links To Global Drug Trade
 -FBI Whistleblower

Sibel Edmonds- FBI Whistleblower, interview
SE: Everything – from drugs to money laundering to arms sales. And yes, there are certain convergences with all these activities and international terrorism.
CD: So with these organizations we're talking about a lot of money –
SE: Huge, just massive. They don't deal with 1 million or 5 million dollars, but with hundreds of millions.
CD: From your previous testimony and the examples I want to bring up next, it would seem that organized crime with terrorist links is really holding the reins inside powerful governments, even the American one. No?
SE: That may be, but I don't know. I didn't get high enough up on the ladder to find out. With all of this suspicious and unprecedented "state secrets" obstructionism from Ashcroft, it might seem that way, but I don't have any direct information.
CD: But what do think, within departments such as the Pentagon and the State Department. Do you suspect certain high officials may be profiting from terrorist-linked organized crime?
SE: I can't say anything specific with regards to these departments, because I didn't work for them. But as for the politicians, what I can say is that when you start talking about huge amounts of money, certain elected officials become automatically involved. And there are different kinds of campaign contributions – legal and illegal, declared and undeclared.
CD: Could this apparent toleration of dangerous criminal groups in the midst possibly be interpreted to mean that American policy is driven by the "ends justify the means" philosophy?
SE: But how are the ends possibly met by such activities? To this day, I just can't see how. What is happening does not benefit 99.9 percent of Americans – just a very small elite.
I'm no expert, but from what I have personally seen I can say that our national security is being compromised every day, because important investigations are being stopped, and potentially important clues are being overlooked. It's absolutely incredible that even after 9/11, certain individuals, foreign businessmen and others, among others, are still escaping scrutiny.
Okay, perhaps talking about the pre-9/11 world they could get away with saying "we didn't know," but to continue doing so – I mean, what if we are attacked by nuclear or chemical weapons, what will be their next excuse? That "we didn't know" it could happen? Come on! I can prove they are lying, because they know."

http://www.breakfornews.com/Sibel-Edmonds-Story.htm

[nolabels]

17. They try to keep it all hid away.

I am still postulating if the one big reason John Ashcroft got shown the door where all the cases like this, where he missed his mark to shut them down or out.

This lady makes us all better. She is right in their face, and us with her, making sure they know that we know they are lying about it all.

We, the citizens have documented it. Any real cases that could get at the truth will never get to the court of law with a jury. The government that represents law would convict itself if one did.

[G_j]

14. KICK!

[nolabels]

16. Bush should not be allowed to continue (Impeach him immediately ! )

It is not that "He would cause significant damage to the national security and foreign policy of the United States."

The fact of the matter he is at the ROOT CAUSEof this significant damage to the national security and foreign policy to the United States"


http://cjh9999.blog-city.com/