AP: ACCUSED SPY IS COUSIN OF BUSH STAFFER

AP ^ | 3/11/04

[11th Earl of Mar]

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Today: March 11, 2004 at 16:15:43 PST

Accused Spy Is Cousin of Bush Staffer

By MATTHEW DALY
ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON (AP) -

The woman charged with working for the Iraqi spy agency is a distant cousin of President Bush's chief of staff, Andrew Card, and has held a variety of jobs in journalism and on Capitol Hill.

Susan Lindauer, 41, worked in the press offices of four Democratic members of Congress. She also worked for Fortune magazine, U.S. News & World Report, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and Fox News.

Her father, John Lindauer, was the Republican nominee for governor in Alaska in 1998. His campaign unraveled because of charges of campaign finance violations to which he pleaded no contest.

Susan Lindauer is a 1985 Smith College graduate who describes herself as an anti-war activist.

Gary Gambill, editor of the Middle East Intelligence Bulletin, an online publication dealing with Arab politics, said Lindauer sent him a copy of her 1998 deposition in litigation related to the December 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.

In the deposition, she said Libyan officials had been wrongly accused of orchestrating the bombing and that Libya was entitled to "financial compensation for the economic harassment her people have endured because of these blatantly false accusations."

He said her arrest "raises questions about the validity of her deposition and its apparent attempt to exonerate Libya."

Lindauer started her congressional career in 1993 when she took a job with Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore. The next year she went to work for a second Oregon Democrat in the House - Ron Wyden. Two years later she joined the staff of Sen. Carol Moseley Braun, D-Ill.

After a brief stint at Fox News, she worked for Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., for a few months in 2002.

Lofgren said in a statement she was shocked by the arrest.

"To my knowledge, this former employee had no access to sensitive information," she said. "Obviously, I had no reason to think that she was involved in this alleged activity. I have had no further contact with her since she left my employ."

DeFazio said he has not spoken to Lindauer in more than 10 years. "We didn't part on the best of terms," he said.

Lindauer's neighbors in Takoma Park, Md., recalled her as friendly. Joao Luiz Vieire de Castro, 39, described Lindauer as "a regular American who walks her dog in the mornings and the afternoon."

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[11th Earl of Mar]

This woman is a dyed in the wool Democrat, but the AP chooses to ties Bush to her because she is a DISTANT cousin of one of his employees.

[John W]

Count Tom Brokaw and NBC Nightly News in as well.

[Blue Scourge]

Watch for round the clock coverage now that the media has even the slimmest of slim ties to someone within earshot of President Bush.

[hellinahandcart]

It's not like any of us can pick our relatives. We can pick our employees.

I am disgusted.

[deport]

Lindauer's father, John Lindauer, owned newspapers in Alaska and was the Republican nominee for governor there in 1998. He was defeated and later pleaded no contest to two charges stemming from campaign finance problems related to the campaign. He received a one-year suspended sentence, two years of probation and a $15,000 fine.

Susan Lindauer also is a distant cousin of White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card, said White House press secretary Scott McClellan.

Lindauer worked at Fortune, U.S. News & World Report and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer before beginning her career as a political publicist.

She worked for Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., in 1993 and Rep. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., in 1994, before joining the office of former Illinois Sen. Carol Moseley Braun as press secretary in 1996. From March to May 2002, she worked for Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif.

[end snips]

[pamlet]

And they didn't even say what the relationship was. Amazing the way the press can put anything out there that they want. And MOST of the general republic accepts it as fact...

I found it funny that Shep Smith on Fox acknowledged that she was a former employee, but she was "terminated".. laugh

[doug from upland]

This was so predictable.

[Cboldt]

There was a report that she attempted to drop some papers at Card's house, that he was the "government offical." Maybe Card dimed her out.

[Neets]

Didn't take them long to find out this scoop now did it?

[whereasandsoforth]

She's my cousin too...and your's...and your's...ans your's...She's a cousin to John Kerry, too.

[GraceCoolidge]

This angle is really unbelievable. I mean, I have first cousins I have never even met! And how "distant" a cousin is she? It must have been a tough call, whether to put in the headline that she is a cousin of Mr. Card or the fact that she worked at Fox.

[pete anderson]

Wait until Monday's news cycle when the media uses Familyforrest.com to trace her relationship to President Bush.

[Sacajaweau]

Amazing.....just an amazing twist.

[TC Rider]

Well this calls for a full investigation of Andrew Card. He must make himself immediately available for Teddy Kennedy to grill.

Even the prospect of a eminence of penumbra of a distant relation must be fully investigated.

/sarcasm

[Guillermo]

You have got to be kidding...

You could not possibly be so stupid...

[Robert_Paulson2]

hellinabagobull...
half the country is a distant cousin to bush...
what ain't cousin's to cousins in this country, ain't likely american.

absolute bull-own-knee sticks.

[hellinahandcart]

?

[Cboldt]

There was a report that she attempted to drop some papers at Card's house, that he was the "government offical." Maybe Card dimed her out.

CNN.com - American charged in Iraqi conspiracy - Mar 11, 2004 <-- Link

McClellan said Lindauer made "various attempts" to contact Card and said she was in contact with the Iraqi regime.

Card "brought that to the attention of the appropriate officials" at the Justice Department, McClellan said.

A government source told CNN that Card was not home when Lindauer delivered the letter to his house.

The source said Card immediately notified the Justice Department and turned the letter over to authorities. Card also informed President Bush of the investigation, the source said.

[fuquadukie]

Keekeerist. Everyone of us has a cousin, or two, that received too many of the wrong genes, or not enough of the right ones.

Remember, Rule #1. You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your relatives. (Rule #2. You can pick your nose. You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your friend's nose.)

Go ahead. Admit this axiom of life. You'll feel better.

[dalebert]

Just how did the media do her geneology so fast?