US News & World Report - FBI whistle-blower petitions high court

[cascadiance]

Sibel's finally getting some MSM news attention. Just released an hour ago, they've got an article on her petitioning to be heard by the Supreme Court. Article notes that not only is this important for her case, but could affect many other cases now where the states secret privilege is being used to deflect others' lawsuits as well.

Can't let this one die folks. As this anti-war artlce says here:

http://www.antiwar.com/blog/comments.php?id=2268_0_1_0_C

a lot depends on us forcing the press's hand. Well, with this article we've got at least one to start the ball rolling.

------------------------------------------

National Security Watch: FBI whistle-blower petitions high court


Linda Spillers/Getty Images
Former FBI linguist Sibel Edmonds poses for a portrait at her home in Alexandria, Virginia.

Posted 8/5/05
By Danielle Knight

Lawyers for Sibel Edmonds, the former translator for the FBI, have petitioned the Supreme Court to hear her case. Edmonds claims that she was fired in retaliation for reporting security breaches and possible espionage within the bureau. The FBI hired Edmonds, who is fluent in Turkish, Farsi, and Azerbaijani, shortly after the 9/11 attacks. She was fired in 2002 and filed a lawsuit later that year arguing that her firing was in retaliation for blowing the whistle on other FBI officials.

In its defense, the Justice Department is using the "states secrets privilege," an argument that information related to Edmonds's case is highly classified and cannot be disclosed without endangering the nation's security. The states secrets privilege is an executive power that is not a law, but based on a series of legal precedents. In July 2004, a federal district court ruled in favor of the government's use of this privilege in Edmonds's case. In May 2005 the D.C. appeals court upheld the district court's opinion.

If the Supreme Court agrees to hear the case, the court's decision could influence the fate of several other lawsuits involving national security and intelligence in which the administration has used the states secrets argument. The government has relied on this argument in several high-profile federal cases, including that of Maher Arar, the Canadian citizen who claims the U.S. government interdicted him at JFK Airport in New York in 2002 and sent him to be interrogated in Syria, where he alleges he was tortured.

"We are urging the Supreme Court, which has not directly addressed this issue in 50 years, to rein in the government's misuse of this privilege," says Ann Beeson, associate legal director at the American Civil Liberties Union, who is one of the lawyers representing Edmonds. The states secrets privilege, she says, "should be used as a shield for sensitive evidence, not a sword the government can use at will to cut off argument in a case before the evidence can be presented."

...

[savemefromdumbya]

1. The GOP Hastert link? Is this true?

http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Vanity_Fair_floats_allegations_GOP_chief_Hastert_took_Turkish__0803.html

Vanity Fair floats allegations GOP chief Hastert took Turkish bribes
RAW STORY
Vanity Fair's September edition, now out in New York but yet to hit national newsstands, packs a punch with an article about Sibel Edmonds, the FBI translator who has been gagged by the Bush Administration from revealing information about conversations she translated surrounding a seemingly major corruption scandal involving Turkish nationals and U.S. lawmakers, RAW STORY can reveal.

RAW STORY acquired a copy of the article by David Rose Wednesday evening. The following are some brief excerpts surrounding the meatier allegations Edmonds has made-some of which the FBI has confirmed-about the specifics surrounding her case. According to those briefed on the case, Edmonds says she has heard classified wiretaps which indicate Turkish nationals tried to bribe both Democratic and Republican lawmakers in Chicago and Washington.

Edmonds was fired from the FBI after trying to persuade her bosses to investigate a Turkish family, the Dickersons, she said was trying to trade on her status as an FBI operative. She suspected that the American Turkish Council, which the family tried to persuade her to join, was a front group for criminal activity.


Quote: CBS)
There is little hard evidence to support the explosive allegations. The claim is that Hastert may have accepted tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions in exchange for blocking a Congressional resolution about a bloody Armenian-Turkish Conflict.

As CBS 2 Political Editor Mike Flannery reports, that conflict 80 years ago claimed more than one million Armenian lives.

http://cbs2chicago.com/topstories/local_story_216190603.html
ALso the Vanity Fair article


(© MMV, CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

[libertypirate]

23. Take a different perspective

Look at what she says and don't give the speculation as much weight.

As for is it true, how many times does a person have to be threatened before anyone will take them seriously?

[Kelvin Mace]

2. Completely off topic

But am I the only one who thinks she looks like Marina Sirtis?

[PuraVidaDreamin]

3. Tom Delay must be a very happy man

All the scandals firing up everywhere you look.
Sure does seem to take the hear off of him.

Does someone like Sybil have security/protection?

[Tace]

4. The Face

: )

[rodeodance]

5. bet this is tooo too touchy for the SC to hear. Just my opinion but

"stability' is the word in these 'times of war'.

[electropop]

18. They're both beautiful...

and yeah, I do see it.

You know, the black contacts Sirtis wore in Star Trek really worked on the viewer's psyche. At least mine. ;)

[opusprime]

6. And if the Supremes decline to take the case??

Then what??

When can Sibel just come out and spill the beans?

Would she have to leave the country to avoid prosecution?

[cascadiance]

7. She stars in a "documentary" remake of "The Prisoner"...

[savemefromdumbya]

31. the Supreme will probably decline it nt

nt

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

8. How would a strict constructionist rule?

"The states secrets privilege is an executive power that is not a law, but based on a series of legal precedents. In July 2004, a federal district court ruled in favor of the government's use of this privilege in Edmonds's case. In May 2005 the D.C. appeals court upheld the district court's opinion."

In this case, I assume that suddenly a conservative would no longer be screaming in favor of a literal interpretation of the Constitution or of federal law, but urging that we uphold a legal precedent based on an interpretation of the extent of the executive power.

[Just Me]

12. Oh, you can bet on it!!! *LOL*

However, my understanding is that OLD (1947) legal precedent stated that the states secrets privilege was intended to shield from view documentation which would endanger national security. Whereas, in this case the documentation relates to a BREACH of national security (espionage, treason, etc.) and the USAG invoked the privilege in order to block revelations about those breaches. Hence, the privilege was not only being misapplied but also (it could be argued) the privilege (appears) to have been invoked for purposed of concealing national security breaches. That's bad, very bad.

[cascadiance]

13. The original "states secret" case did not really protect a "states secret"

Another article on the ACLU's statement on Sibel Edmonds pointed out that the original case that lead to the "States Secret" act exclusion was some 50 years ago. Later when the secrets were revealed, they were found not to really be secrets at all, but an attempt by the government to protect poor maintenance records of the B-19 bomber fleet. That should say something about the validity of this act and it's liklihood of being abused. I thought that was an excellent tidbit the ACLU put in to challenge the supremes to make a ruling!

[klyon]

25. good point

but logic never stopped them before

KL

[EST]

26. Wouldn't a strict constructionist view virtually eliminate the

power of precedent, with each case being examined in light only of its relationship to original intent and thus lead to case to case conflict with no resolution possible?
Of course, the simplistic corollary seems to say that too much weight given to precedent would eventually obviate the need for a supreme court, rendering the original construction unnecessary?
This is the dilemma I've been trying to resolve and keep throwing up my hands and wondering if youthful indiscretions have weakened my reasoning beyond repair.

[The Backlash Cometh]

9. Can not wait for the first MSM report on this one.

A week ago I talked to a solid gold Republican and when I told him what she had to say and that she was gagged, he condescendingly began to say, "Well, all this makes for a great suspense novel..." Then I said, "Ashcroft gagged her," which caused a worried brow to appear on his forehead. But he tried to continue to finish his thought anyway and I stopped him cold when I said, "But she's appealed and you'll probably hear about it this coming year." Then he was very concerned.

BTW, this conversation came about because he said that Sheryl Crow was shooed out of the area because she was "talking bad about our President."

I think I clinched his curiosity when I told him that the relatives back east will probably get somewhere between 2-3 million for the loss of their son in the WTC. Money talks for these folks. I think he began to understand that there was something very serious going on that he wasn't aware of before our visit.

[MetaTrope]

15. Still no mention of Hastert's Golden Turkey in the Tribune or Sun-Times

So far as I can tell.

[NewJeffCT]

10. maybe it's why they scheduled early hearings on Roberts?

they want him to decided instead of O'Connor?

[WhiteTara]

11. kick

:kick:

[MadisonProgressive]

14. Now that's one cunning linguist!

[PuraVidaDreamin]

17. stunning linguist!

:evilgrin:
you devil!!!

[MadisonProgressive]

19. You're right!

I'm the cunning linguist! :crazy:

[electropop]

20. That's one of those lines you wait your whole life to use.

I saw "Austin Powers" too. I consider myself to be a "master debater".

[PuraVidaDreamin]

21. our team name, for us old farts

at a 24 hour mountain bike race

The Master Beaters!

[cascadiance]

16. Woops... Here's the link the article above...

I added the link for the anti-war article, but not this one at the top...

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/050805/5natsec.htm

[HootieMcBoob]

22. Sibel's story is the key

It's very very important that she and her story get out there.
When Americans start to hear what she has to say I'm convinced it will bring the whole house of cards crumbling down.

[lyonn]

24. I don't think we are dealing with a house of cards

This house were dealing with was made with Big Money and we are learning how hard it will be to topple it.

[EVDebs]

30. And don't forget Indira Singh, the Ptech whistleblower

check madcowprod.com's web archive for the Ptech articles.

[EST]

27. Can it possibly be that the thousands of communications and

hours of effort by the progressive world may have any effect? This constant living on the nervous edge is wearing. Sibel us a hero in so many ways it puts the average wingnut to shame (again.)

[BamaBecky]

28. kick

[EVDebs]

29. States Secrets Privelege ... Ollie Ollie Oxen Free Free Free

This is Bushco's license to kill the truth.

The DOJ's use of the ""states secrets privilege," an argument that information related to Edmonds's case is highly classified and cannot be disclosed without endangering the nation's security. The states secrets privilege is an executive power that is not a law, but based on a series of legal precedents"

shows us that DOJ has confused Bush's personal political security with national security ! Hopefully Sibel's lawyers can show the facts to a packed court and still prevail.

[The Doctor.]

32. By God I hope she stays safe...

A lot of truly evil people would love for her to disappear.