1. In an effort to justify Clinton's new anti-terrorism legislation, Gorelick complains here that Posse Comitatus limits their use of military resources. Yet just one week earlier, the FBI requested and received 10 Arabic translators, something Gorelick is claiming here to be forbidden..
2. Read the last paragraph where she says "the greatest possible coordination in the sharing of information and intelligence" would help in future situations. I think she forgot about her March 4th 'Make-a-Wall' Memo. LOL!
APRIL 26, 1995, WEDNESDAY
WHITE HOUSE BRIEFING
JAMIE GORELICK, DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL
BRUCE REED, DEPUTY ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT FOR DOMESTIC POLICY
RON NOBLE, UNDERSECRETARY OF THE TREASURY FOR ENFORCEMENT
TOPIC: ANTI-TERRORISM LEGISLATION
MS. GORELICK: I am going to brief you on the President's announcement today, on the remainder of the legislative package. The President announced, as you know, several elements of the legislative package on Sunday. We have been working, the Justice Department and the Treasury Department, with the White House on the development of additional legislative proposals, reflecting cooperation throughout the administration, and with the leadership.The steps that we are taking are: One, to hire, and seek the funding to hire, approximately a thousand new agents, prosecutors, and other federal law enforcement and support personnel to investigate, deter, and prosecute terrorist activity. That, combined with the establishment of a domestic terrorism center, coordinated by the FBI, coordinated with other law enforcement agencies, including the ATF and state and local law enforcement, and working collaboratively with our intelligence agencies, are the two most significant things that we can do to address the kind of tragic event that we had in Oklahoma City, and to prevent similar occurrences in the future.
The remainder of the legislation is programmatic. [snip - elaborates about the proposals in the new legislation]
Q And on the Posse Comitatus, could you talk about specifically what would the power be to do what?
MS. GORELICK: Well, right now we can go to the military service for advice with respect to chemical weapons or biological weapons. But if we had someone who had a cache of chemical weapons, and we were trying to take those away, we were trying to disarm that person, we could only get advice from the military. We could not use their considerable expertise, their talent, their equipment, their personnel, to help take those chemical weapons safely. And that is the precise kind of assistance that we would want to have in a circumstance like that. [Like asking the military to send down 10 Arabic translators? That kind of "personnel?") We do not have that expertise helping to seize, helping to protect an area, helping to protect personnel -- law enforcement personnel who are involved in an operation -- that kind of thing.
Yes?Q Which of these proposals might have prevented the Oklahoma incident?
MS. GORELICK: Well, it's very hard to say, because of the early stage of this investigation. And I might say, though, that the things that clearly would help us in future similar situations would be more resources and the greatest possible coordination in the sharing of information and intelligence.
What a hypocrite!