Gonzales and Ashcroft BLOCKED the FBI from investigating Foley.

[shance]

They blocked the investigation??

Does anyone have more information on this?

[proud2BlibKansan]

1. Where did you hear this?

[Bluebear]

8. Larry King Live

FBI had the info in July, I believe the guest said.

[Cha]

20. Is this going to explode into

an fbi scandal, too, or is bush gonna pin a medal on the latest head of the fbiers?

[NOLADEM]

2. Link?

[chaplainM]

23. Link!

http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061003/REPOSITORY/610030384/1013/48HOURS

[shance]

26. Thank you Chaplain.

n/t

[onenote]

32. not exactly -- in fact, link rebuts part of the OP assertion

Its a link to the FBI having been told about the 2005 emails in July 2006. It doesn't mention the Attorney General and it certainly doesn't implicate Ashcroft who was long gone before July 2006.

Push this story and you help the repubs by giving them a strawman to knock down. This story is good enough for us (and bad enough for the repubs) to not have to embellish with weak, if not absurd, claims.

[Emit]

42. Link to CREW has some details here

CREW URGES DOJ I.G. TO PROBE WHY FBI FAILED TO INVESTIGATE FOLEY EMAILS SENT BY CREW THIS SUMMER
Administration Officials Must Explain Lack of Action
Washington, DC – Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) wrote to the Department of Justice Inspector General’s office today to ask for an investigation into why the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) failed to begin investigating Rep. Mark Foley’s emails to a former House page as soon as the Bureau learned about the emails in July 2006.

On July 21, 2006 CREW received a set of emails, allegedly from Rep. Foley to a former House page, which it sent to the FBI later that day. The emails, posted at www.citizensforethics.org, asked the page, who had recently left the Hill, his age, how school was going and what he wanted for his birthday. Rep. Foley also requested the boy’s photograph.

“As a former prosecutor who handled sex crimes in the District of Columbia, the emails set off alarm bells. Grown men simply do not send emails requesting photographs to teenagers over whom they have had some degree of authority,” Melanie Sloan, executive director of CREW wrote today.

It appears only now, at the instigation of the House of Representatives leadership’s request, that the FBI has begun a preliminary investigation into former Rep. Foley’s conduct. Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert sent a letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales requesting an investigation into Rep. Foley’s actions as well as who knew about Rep. Foley’s conduct, when they knew it and why they did not forward that information to law enforcement authorities.

~snip~

CREW’s letters and Rep. Foley’s e-mails are available at www.citizensforethics.org.

http://www.citizensforethics.org/press/newsrelease.php?view=163

[Rockstone]

3. I heard it too

how could Ashcroft AND Gonzales block the investigation?

[Pirate Smile]

16. Ashcroft has been gone for a long time. Were they saying this

has been blocked all the way back to when Ashcroft was AG?

Who said it on LK?

edit to add - I googled and Ashcroft resigned soon after the dreaded black Tuesday in November 2004.

Was it a pundit/hack or an actual journalist who said this?

Answering my own question - if it was a journalist then this would be all over everything as huge news, evidence of a cover-up by the Administration, not just the Republican House Leadership.

[never_get_over_it]

38. FBI works for Justice

Gonzalez AG - head of Justice Department - if he says don't investigate they don't investigate. The guy on Randi's show today - said that it was career FBI guys who leaked this because they were disgusted that it wasn't being investigated - whether this is true or not - I don't know - but I sure could believe it -

I personally think Gonzales had a lot to do with Rove not being indicted for the Plame thing - but of course can't prove it - but wouldn't surpise me in the least.

[Garbo 2004]

43. The 2005 emails were being sent to media as early as Nov 2005

when St Petersburg Times received them. Note, these emails (the nonsexual "over friendly" creepy ones) were being sent to news outlets shortly after Alexander's office received them from the kid involved. The leaked emails even included the kid's email to Alexander's office.

No media outlet would publish since the emails were strange, not sexual, the kid when contacted by SPT refused to be identified and said he didn't want any publicity. And Foley played it off.

CREW received these emails in July and turned them over to the FBI. This was months after they had been sent to various news outlets who didn't carry the story. I think it may have been WaPo or NYT that said a source for the emails was someone on the Hill (Capitol). The ABC producer in an appearance on Democracy Now with Amy Goodman also said the source of the emails they received was someone on the Hill.

ABC didn't start receiving the graphic IM's from former pages who had received them until they ran the email story.

Madsen spins an interesting story but actual facts don't seem to support it.

[AlCzervik]

4. did you hear that on the teevee, the radio, where?

[MadMaddie]

5. Whoooooo.....and it gets more intriguing....if true now you

have Gonzalez and Ashcroft impeding an investigation for political purpose....ooooooh........this is getting better and better.....

Even at this point if it's not confirmed....it's highly probable....

:popcorn:

[Redstone]

6. Well, THERE's a hell of a suprise.

Redstone

[shance]

7. I heard it on Randi Rhodes this afternoon.

n/t

[bunny planet]

9. I heard Wayne Madsen say it on Randi Rhodes program today.

Not sure where he was getting it from or how reliable it was. It certainly sounds plausible though doesn't it.

[Kagemusha]

12. Oh good lord not Madsen.

Not this. Again.

[shance]

24. Madsen is ex NSA and intelligence.

Are you?

[Kagemusha]

28. He has a track record for bull that doesn't pan out once facts are out

And with apologies to people like Valerie Plame and Larry Johnson, I don't regard having been a spook as being a mark of trustworthiness.

[karlrschneider]

31. Exactly. He's still looking for the 15 minutes of fame he used up

years ago.
An idiot, to call a spade a spade.

[onenote]

35. wayne masden and plausible don't belong in the same sentence

And we risk looking like idiots claiming that Ashcroft stopped an investigation of this when he was gone from the DOJ a year before CREW provided the emails to the FBI.

Why do people feel the need to embellish what, on the facts at hand, is a windfall for our side. If we start tossing up accusations for which we have no evidence and that are implausible on their face (such as the Ashcroft allegation) we hurt our own cause. This is playing out just fine without having to stretch it...

[buff2]

10. I don't have any faith in the justice system

especially when it's ran by all REPUKES! If we think they will investigate and indict their own,think again. KKKarl Rove is a prime example. Isn't it strange how Plamegate faded into the sunset? :grr:

[originalpckelly]

11. Ashcroft resigned a long time ago...

so unless they have known about this for a long time, it isn't likely Ashcroft was involved. (And I believe he is too religious to let a pedophile do this.)

[ClintonTyree]

14. Could be one of the reasons he resigned........

he wouldn't have a cover-up like that on his hands. Of course, being the good little nazi he is, he wouldn't blow the whistle on Foley either. He'd just play dumb (that's not a stretch) and sing, "let the eagle soar". :puke:

[proud2BlibKansan]

18. This sure gives a different meaning to that eagle song

[ClintonTyree]

22. Yeah, something's "sore".....

but I'm not sure it's an eagle. ;)

[karlrschneider]

15. I don't believe this story, but we DO know Ashcroft covered up titties

on a statue...
hmmmm

[Rainscents]

They knew about Foley WAAAAAAAAY back in 2003 and Ashcroft

was still AG.

[shance]

27. It's speculated some knew back in 2001.

We'll see.

[LeftCoast]

44. Now they've got a page who claims as early as 1995!

He claimed the pages were warned away from Foley even back then. And just a reminder, this was the first year that the pubbies controlled the House. Coverup from the very beginning.

[onenote]

33. who knew? Link?

And what did they know? That he was gay? Big deal. That he was making overtures to pages? I haven't seen anything to support the claim that was known back in 2003, so please provide citation.

[karlrschneider]

13. No, nobody has any information on this stupid claim.

...

[ClintonTyree]

17. "Some people say".......

that line has always worked for the GOP. It doesn't have to be the truth, it merely has to be floated out there. We're in a war with these scumbags for the very survival of our country. As far as I'm concerned, anything goes.

[karlrschneider]

25. I share your frustration. I really do. I guess my question is this:

If we descend to their level, how do we claim the high ground? If all political discourse seeks a 'common level' like puddles of water, what good is a Democratic Republic? If everyone is equally bad, and there aren't any 'good guys' left, it's not worth preserving...?

[Name removed]

19. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

21. A LOT of people knew about this - wouldn't surprise me at all.....

[cynatnite]

29. CREW gave the FBI evidence concerning this in July...

no investigation until now when it became public.

[Vanje]

30. Citation please

give us a reference on this hot-as-a-pistol assertion.

[never_get_over_it]

36. The woman from CREW who is a regular on Al Franken

was on today and said she had gone to the FBI on this in July and they did nothing!!! No link but I heard her with my own two ears....

[Pachamama]

34. Randi Rhodes was talking about this with Wayne Madsen today too!

Wow...wow...wow.... This is just getting messier, uglier and more outrageous by the moment.

Think about this folks...everyone, all Americans, wrap your brain around this:

Your children go to work as a page on Capitol Hill. They are supposed to be in their care living in dormitories - they are between the ages of 15-17. Then, they are sexually preyed upon by one (or more) of their caregivers. They can't do anything and even if they tell their parents or complain to higher ups (like their supervisors) its just swept under the carpet. They fear for their families names. They fear for their "reccommendations" for College or future jobs. They try to warn eachother. Meanwhile, the caregivers who are supposed to be watching out for them, don't do anything. They simply tell the sexual predator to back off. They don't want any attention bringing brought to the matter, so they don't investigate thoroughly. A watch group and others report it to authorities in law enforcement. But those law enforcement agencies are told to "stand down" by the Attorney General of the United States.

Is this the America you want to live in? Does this sound like a government looking out for you and following the law? Is this the way the GOP and Bush Co. run this country? Like their own private fiefdom where they can do whatever they want and establish and pursue those laws they choose to? So the FBI and Justice Dept are their own little security force, only enforcing what they tell them to and not to?

[robinlynne]

37. I heard the interview with the woman from crew who told the fbi personally

There was never ANY mention of gonzales or ashcroft. at all. She said the fbi did not investigate it. The officer who took down the info wanted to, but his superiors did not tell him to. She was interviewed today on the young turks. NO emntion of anyone hngihger up than a lone unnamed fbi agent.
Careful not to spread untrue gossip. the story is doing just fine on its own. We don't need to add anything.

[KAZ]

39. You're right about the "rumors" thing...

...but where have I heard the "The officer who took down the info wanted to, but his superiors did not tell him to" before. It sounds so familiar!

[AtomicKitten]

40. and so how can the FBI possibly investigate this further?

who is going to investigate the FBI?

the plot thickens

[Canuckistanian]

41. Ashcroft? So this has been happening since early 2005?

Because Ashcroft resigned as USAG on Feb. 3rd, 2005. After that, he would have no authority to block FBI investigations.

[Broken_Hero]

45. Locking

Madsen is not reliable as a source for discussions on the main forums.

petersond
DU Moderator