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Theft of FBI files 'has makings of Kerry Watergate' [in major UK paper]
Electronic Telegraph ^ | 11/04/2004 | Julian Coman in Washington

Posted on 04/10/2004 8:54:11 PM PDT by aculeus

It has, according to the victim of a burglary in California, all the makings of a "west coast Watergate".

When Gerald Nicosia, a respected author and historian, returned to his home in the town of Corte Madera on March 25, it became clear that he had been the victim of an unusual break-in. Doors were ajar and there was evidence of a hurried departure, but no valuables had been taken: a Canon camera was still lying on the kitchen table.

The only items missing, Mr Nicosia realised, were three box files of politically-charged documents. They looked unexceptional but were filled with FBI surveillance records on a Vietnam veteran and anti-war activist by the name of John Kerry.

Mr Nicosia believes that the burglars were seeking papers that link Senator Kerry - the Democratic presidential candidate - to a controversial meeting of anti-Vietnam War activists in the early 1970s, at which a proposal to assassinate US congressmen was discussed.

"I think this was a political burglary," said Mr Nicosia, whose archives on Mr Kerry have been featured on national television. "It could have been a souvenir-hunter, but I think that's implausible. Whoever did this wanted to know something about John Kerry."

Although Senator Kerry has always denied attending the meeting in Kansas City, the FBI records stated otherwise. As a Democrat himself, Mr Nicosia felt that he should warn the Kerry campaign about his discovery. "I told the Kerry campaign that they could not continue to deny that Kerry was there," he said.

The senator's distinguished Vietnam record had become a prime focus of the presidential campaign. While supporters compared it to President Bush's unheroic stint in the National Guard, critics also pointed to the anti-war protests he led on returning from action in the Mekong Delta.

Within days of the tip-off, Kerry aides arrived in Corte Madera, just north of San Franciso, to collect photocopies of the 1971 document. Mr Nicosia believes that his discovery was also what later lured burglars to his home. "My hunch is that Republicans did this," he said last week. "I was co-operating with the Democrats. I warned them about what I had found and opened it up to them."

For their part, Republicans believe that the documents may have been stolen by Democrats anxious to avoid a scandal over the assassination meeting. Pat Buchanan, the former Republican presidential candidate, said: "What I smell is that John Kerry has not told the whole truth about his relationship with the Vietnam Veterans Against the War [VVAW]. I think he's not been forthcoming about that Kansas City meeting."

The FBI's monitoring reports on Mr Kerry from the early 1970s, which were studied in the Nixon White House, are a severe embarrassment for a would-be president. Mr Nicosia's papers seem set to spark the latest controversy in an increasingly bitter presidential campaign: so far, more than 300 journalists have requested access to his files.

The author had requested the FBI records under the US Freedom of Information Act while researching Home to War, a book about the Vietnam anti-movement. For 11 years, the FBI dragged its feet; by the time 20,000 pages arrived from the organisation in 1998, Mr Nicosia had finished most of his work on the book. "They put all kinds of obstacles in my way," he said last week. "They said they hadn't got the manpower to collect them, that they weren't properly categorised and so on."

He stored the 14 box files in his garage, not bothering to examine them in detail until earlier this year, when Mr Kerry's Vietnam record suddenly came under renewed scrutiny.

Combing through the papers, Mr Nicosia found the startling document, dating from November 1971. It said that Mr Kerry took part in the VVAW meeting in Kansas, at which the assassination of pro-war senators was openly discussed before being rejected as a tactic.

Campaign aides have repeatedly denied that Mr Kerry attended the Kansas meeting, claiming that the senator left the VVAW in July 1971. Other VVAW members have offered conflicting accounts. Randy Barnes, the organiser of the Kansas City chapter, initially said that Mr Kerry did attend, but later claimed that he may have confused the Kansas meeting with one in St Louis.

"Senator Kerry does not remember attending the Kansas City meeting," said a Kerry campaign spokesman. Yet aides now acknowledge that the FBI records indicate that he was, indeed, present.

Mr Nicosia, it appears, had stumbled on the truth - which is more than the burglars managed to do. Despite rifling through most of the historian's papers, and removing three box files, they failed to find the Kansas documents.

"They were still up by the photocopier," Mr Nicosia said, "away from the rest of the boxes. The three files that were taken were from 1976 to 1977, and the burglars also took bookmarked sheaves of files which were lying on the kitchen table. But I think they were disturbed as they were looking through the material. There is a dobermann next door with a very loud bark."

Local police officers are still investigating the break-in, which they are treating as a burglary, and have refused to comment on the case. The Kerry campaign has also refused to comment. "I think they are afraid of stirring up the whole Kansas debate," Mr Nicosia said.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Front Page News
KEYWORDS: 2004; barnes; conspriacy; darkplot; fbifiles; geraldnicosia; kerry; kerry2004; kerryfbiburglary; kerryfbifiles; nicosia; phoenixproject; randybarnes; theft; vvaw
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1 posted on 04/10/2004 8:54:12 PM PDT by aculeus
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To: aculeus
It also has the markings of a hoax, or he misplaced them (it would seem he had an odd filing system). When the police investigated they found no sign of a break in and Nicosia refused to have them do a detailed investigation of the crime scene. It would also seem that the Kerry campaign dispatched a messenger to the home of author Gerald Nicosia to pick up copies of the FBI files a week before the alleged theft of the documents. I wonder if he filed some kind of insurance claim??
2 posted on 04/10/2004 9:03:11 PM PDT by gilliam
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To: gilliam
Saw a report that the police believe this was a hoax! That figures! The RATs wanted it turned into Watergate IMHO!
3 posted on 04/10/2004 9:06:24 PM PDT by PhiKapMom (AOII Mom -- Support Bush-Cheney '04 -- Losing is not an Option!)
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To: Sabertooth; onyx
Ping.
4 posted on 04/10/2004 9:13:29 PM PDT by Fedora
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To: aculeus
If it was a Watergate-style break-in, you can bet Kerry used more capable people than "the plumbers". I wonder if Terry Lenzner is on Kerry's payroll?
5 posted on 04/10/2004 9:14:11 PM PDT by Clintonfatigued
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To: PhiKapMom
While it is true that Republicans, in some places, and in some times have been known to be incredibly stupid even the stupidest knows that these files are easily available under the FOI Act. Hence the probability that this was committed by Republicans is < 0.000001% but the probability that the RATmedia will produce >35% who believe the GOP did it is 100% if anything is.

This media must be confronted by the GOP in campaign ads or it will destroy Bush. Outright, unabashed Lies on a 24/7 basis and in every story must not stand.
6 posted on 04/10/2004 9:23:59 PM PDT by justshutupandtakeit (America's Enemies foreign and domestic RATmedia agree: Bush must be destroyed.)
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To: aculeus
This is just dumb. I'm sure Bush, being the president, could get access to Kerry's FBI file with out having to burglarize some flake out in California.
7 posted on 04/10/2004 9:29:02 PM PDT by elmer fudd
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To: aculeus
Why doesn't someone just ask the FBI to re-release the whole group of documents they FOIA'd in the first place?

That could be done within a couple of weeks, I would think.
8 posted on 04/10/2004 9:32:53 PM PDT by rogueleader
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To: gilliam
Boy they just keep grabbing at straws, those rats. The rats just keep lookin', Bush is just too honorable. That kind of man with his outstanding record as President will never get beat by the rats. Especially by Kerry, the most liberal senator in the senate. HA HA what a joke.
9 posted on 04/10/2004 9:34:03 PM PDT by shield (The Greatest Scientific Discoveries of the Century Reveal God!!!! by Dr. H. Ross, Astrophysicist)
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To: gilliam
It also has the markings of a hoax

I'm surprised he wasn't found in a marsh with duct tape and register receipts from the Home Depot.

10 posted on 04/10/2004 9:36:48 PM PDT by Stentor
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To: aculeus
Nicosia found some stuff thats really bad on Kerry and he is doing all of this to cover up the fact that he HID or DESTROYED them.

Remember, he is cooperating with the Kerry campaign.

11 posted on 04/10/2004 9:41:23 PM PDT by GeronL (Hey, I am on the internet. I have a right (cough, cough) to write stupid things.)
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To: aculeus; Stentor; shield; rogueleader; elmer fudd; justshutupandtakeit; Clintonfatigued; Fedora; ...
History shows the Kerry camp is capable of such a caper:
John Kerry's Watergate (from Insight on the News): http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1065034/posts
Kerry Clan's Watergate (NY Post): http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1071819/posts
Boston Globe, 1996 (scroll down for picture of Cameron Kerry arrest)http://www.boston.com/globe/nation/packages/kerry/061803.shtml
12 posted on 04/10/2004 9:50:03 PM PDT by ntnychik
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To: aculeus
Trying to clarke up his career it seems...
13 posted on 04/10/2004 9:56:16 PM PDT by kenth (Polls show Dennis Kucinich with 1% of the vote. With a 3% margin of error, he may owe us votes.)
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To: gilliam
So Nicosia finally got copies from FBI in 1998. Also his publishers balking because his book was going to be too critical of the government.

This was in 1998; it was the Clinton Administration that held him up in getting the records to begin with. It was the Clinton and perhaps earlier administrations he would have been going after.

14 posted on 04/10/2004 9:59:43 PM PDT by uvular (I'm uvular, and I have approved this tagline)
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To: uvular
I can't figure out why anyone would bother stealing them???? If they were released under FOIA....can't anyoneget copies of them???? Why steal them?
15 posted on 04/10/2004 10:05:34 PM PDT by NeonKnight
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To: justshutupandtakeit
This media must be confronted by the GOP in campaign ads or it will destroy Bush. Outright, unabashed Lies on a 24/7 basis and in every story must not stand.

Agree. One of the reasons we all loved Reagan so much was that he stood up to the media. They seemed to back off too, just like bullies.

Media eggheads think they can get away with it, but their not as pathologically insane as some Dem politicians like Schumer. If you pound on them, expecially during a live news conference where it can't be spun, they will be afraid to imply lies.

At the very least, more "Clymer" comments need to come from Bush. He is trusted and likable. Weasily media folks aren't. If Bush called out the media, the public would side with him and stop regarding media stories as fact. Bush can take away the media's power, by single-handedly discrediting them.

16 posted on 04/10/2004 10:11:00 PM PDT by bluefish (Disclaimer for Pukin: I do not believe Freepers should die for arguing with me.)
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To: aculeus
Throw enough mud, something's bound to stick...

If Nicosia's behind it, it's worse than a hoax, and he should be investigated---he and the people encouraging him.

17 posted on 04/10/2004 10:16:55 PM PDT by Graymatter
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To: ntnychik; onyx; potlatch; devolve; Grampa Dave; BOBTHENAILER; MeekOneGOP

I am not a crook.
That is, I was a crook,
before I was not a crook.

18 posted on 04/10/2004 10:30:19 PM PDT by PhilDragoo (Hitlery: das Butch von Buchenvald)
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To: aculeus
bump for later read
19 posted on 04/10/2004 10:33:55 PM PDT by TEXOKIE (Hold fast what thou hast received!)
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To: aculeus
It may be a hoax, or more likely, Kerry's people stole the files. This guy is a real idiot, thinking that "cooperating" with the Kerry campaign by telling them what lies and scandals he is about to expose would mean they wouldn't want to steal the files to keep him from exposing the rest of the lies and scandals that haven't yet come out.

The fact is if the Republicans want the FBI files on Kerry, they'll just ask John Ashcroft. The only reason anyone would want to steal this man's collection of copies is to supress further information from getting out.
20 posted on 04/10/2004 10:45:40 PM PDT by counterpunch (<-CLICK HERE for my CARTOONS)
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