Gorelick's Wall: The Commissioner belongs in the witness chair.

The Wall Street Journal Opinion Journal ^ | April 15, 2004 | Editorial

[quidnunc]

We predicted Democrats would use the 9/11 Commission for partisan purposes, and that much of the press would oblige. But color us astonished that barely anyone appreciates the significance of the bombshell Attorney General John Ashcroft dropped on the hearings Tuesday. If Jamie Gorelick were a Republican, you can be sure our colleagues in the Fourth Estate would be leading the chorus of complaint that the Commission's objectivity has been fatally compromised by a member who was also one of the key personalities behind the failed antiterror policy that the Commission has under scrutiny. Where's the outrage?

At issue is the pre-Patriot Act "wall" that prevented communication between intelligence agents and criminal investigators — a wall, Mr. Ashcroft said, that meant "the old national intelligence system in place on September 11 was destined to fail." The Attorney General explained:

"In the days before September 11, the wall specifically impeded the investigation into Zacarias Moussaoui, Khalid al-Midhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi. After the FBI arrested Moussaoui, agents became suspicious of his interest in commercial aircraft and sought approval for a criminal warrant to search his computer. The warrant was rejected because FBI officials feared breaching the wall.

"When the CIA finally told the FBI that al-Midhar and al-Hazmi were in the country in late August, agents in New York searched for the suspects. But because of the wall, FBI headquarters refused to allow criminal investigators who knew the most about the most recent al Qaeda attack to join the hunt for the suspected terrorists.

"At that time, a frustrated FBI investigator wrote headquarters, quote, 'Whatever has happened to this — someday someone will die — and wall or not — the public will not understand why we were not more effective and throwing every resource we had at certain 'problems.' "

-snip-

[MinuteGal]

Thanks for the link, Hoosiermama. More emails are always sent when a live link is provided.

I just sent off my third email. Since we've been told this hearing is "none of our business" WE HAVE TO MAKE IT OUR BUSINESS, FREEPERS!

Leni

[hoosiermama]

"since it is she who is the guilty party."

IMO Gorelick is only part of the party! She certainly isn't the host(ess). Lots of party goers involved.....SO what else has Ms Jamie neglected to tell the commission?

[hoosiermama]

Same here....Just passing the information along ....copied from other threads.

[Condor51]

Hey people, let's not forget all the pieces of this pie.

Yes 'Gore-Lick' (he-he) put up 'The Wall', BUT this non-sharing bidness all started with the Church Committee (Sen Frank Church D-Idaho) back in 1975 & 76 and implemented in a 1978 EO by... drum-roll ... Jimmah Carter! Then to add fuel to the fire we have the Torricelli Amendment which Prohibited By LAW, federal agents from using 'criminals' for informants/paid agents.

So it's not just 'Gore-Lick', it's the DEMOCRATS in general who've once again been proven as enemies of America. (but we already know that)

---

In other commission news, Commissioner Richard Ben-Veniste is looking into a 'report' that President Bush once drove down the same street as Lee Harvey Oswald and were both stopped at the same red light. It's reported that he thinks this is very damaging to the President in that it's feasible that at the time, he could have stopped the assassination of JFK - yet he did NOTHING!

[Travis McGee]

I'm never surprised to see jelly-spined RINOs like Kean roll over and play dead. They'd rather play nice with the 'rats and win their smiles than stand on principle anytime.

[iceskater]

Recall, too, that during the time of Ms. Gorelick's 1995 memo, the issue causing the most tension between the Reno-Gorelick Justice Department and Director Freeh's FBI was not counterterrorism but widely reported allegations of contributions to the Clinton-Gore campaign from foreign sources, involving the likes of John Huang and Charlie Trie. Mr. Trie later told investigators that between 1994 and 1996 he raised some $1.2 million, much of it from foreign sources, whose identities were hidden by straw donors. Ms. Gorelick resigned as deputy attorney general in 1997 to become vice chairman of Fannie Mae.

Thank you for posting this quidnunc.

It occurs to me after reading all of this damning evidence of the shenanigans going on during the Clinton administration that had Clinton not been so concerned with covering up his illegal activities, i.e., fundraising, Monica, etc. and legacy-building, this "wall" would never have been so disasterously implemented, and 3,000 people would still be alive today.

The thought of that makes me weep for this country. Their goals were never to make this country safer, better, stronger, but to make themselves richer and more powerful.

[iceskater]

Richmond ping.

More Gorelick stuff for your consideration.

It will take your mind off the massive tax increases our stupid General Assembly is about to pass.

[OESY]

Isn't this use of a commission to strike at Bush in an election year (and, incidentally, weaken national security to satisfy the ALCU and hate-filled Democrats) exactly what the Rockefeller memo called for?

[ironman]

Ask Mr.Kean whether he or his staff had uncovered the Gorelick order by themselves, or why hadn't they? If so why didn't they think it should have been in the public record.

[Corin Stormhands]

Thanks fer the ping. I've already fired off one email to the commission. So many spineless idiots to be pi$$ed at these days.

I thought for a while that the RATS had forgotten what happened on 9-11. They haven't. They've capitalized on it. It's the GOP who has forgotten.

[maica]

YES

[calcowgirl]

Related:
http://www.dailyrepublican.com/clintontried.html

[jackbill]

From the above linked WSJ article:

In case anyone was in doubt, Janet Reno herself affirmed the policy several months later in a July 19, 1995, memo that we have unearthed. In it, the then-Attorney General instructs all U.S. Attorneys about avoiding "the appearance" of overlap between intelligence-related activities and law-enforcement operations.

And here is how Walter Pincus and the Washington Post call it:

The Sept. 11 commission has also determined that sometime after Gorelick's memo was written, then-Attorney General Janet Reno updated the older guidelines with the intention of forcing better information sharing among criminal investigators.

Sounds like Pincus was fed some BS from the "commssion" - probably from Gore-lick of Ben-Veniste?

I'll put my money on the WSJ. They have the memo.

Sounds like it's time for another e-mail to the WP's Ombudsman.

[jmstein7]

BUMP!

[Travis McGee]

info@9-11commission.gov

This was my email; please write your own and send it along. Let's bury them in mail!

Subject: Consider Your Reputations

It's an absolute disgrace that you are not asking the 100% compromised Ms. Gorelick to resign from your panel, and instead to sit as a witness under oath for her part in the 9-11 disaster.

Your commission is becoming a national laughingstock. All of your personal reputations will wind up in the sewer with Ms. Gorelick's if you cannot bring yourselves to demand that she step down.

America is watching this travesty!

Signed

My Real Name,
San Diego

[Liz]

Gorelick is a lawyer and she puts damaging info in writing?

Musta been absent from law school when they taught, "Elementary Law Number One: Never Put Anything in Writing."

[hoosiermama]

BINGO!

[VadeRetro]

Don't worry! We've been assured by Ms. Gorelick herself that such concerns are "silly."

There! Does that make it all go away?

[Txslady]

ping!

Read this myself in the WSJ this morning at work. VERY interesting read.

Have a good one guys! See you on the flip side. :o)

[ConservativeStLouisGuy]

Thanks for posting the article in full....appreciate it greatly!!

ConservativeStLouisGuy