Posted on 09/30/2005 2:35:36 PM PDT by pabianice
An officer who has claimed that a classified military unit identified four Sept. 11 hijackers before the 2001 attacks is facing Pentagon accusations of breaking numerous rules, charges his lawyer suggests are aimed at undermining his credibility.
The alleged infractions by Army Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer, 42, include obtaining a service medal under false pretenses, improperly flashing military identification while drunk and stealing pens, according to military paperwork shown by his attorney to The Associated Press.
Shaffer was one of the first to publicly link Sept. 11 leader Mohamed Atta to the unit code-named Able Danger. Shaffer was one of five witnesses the Pentagon ordered not to appear Sept. 21 before the Senate Judiciary Committee to discuss the unit’s findings.
The military revoked Shaffer’s top security clearance this month, a day before he was supposed to testify to a congressional committee.
Mark Zaid, Shaffer’s attorney, said the Pentagon started looking into Shaffer’s security clearance about the time in 2003 he met in Afghanistan with staff members of the bipartisan commission that studied the Sept. 11 attacks and told them about Able Danger.
Zaid said he can’t prove the Pentagon went after Shaffer because he’s a whistleblower, but “all the timing associated with the clearance issue has been suspiciously coincidental.”
Citing concerns with the privacy act, Cmdr. Terry Sutherland, a Defense Intelligence Agency spokesman, declined to release any information on Shaffer.
According to papers provided by Zaid, the Defense Intelligence Agency is questioning whether Shaffer deserved a Defense Meritorious Service Medal he was awarded. Shaffer, who is supported by a retired colonel who has praised his work, says those challenging the medal do not have firsthand knowledge of his actions.
Shaffer says he showed his government credentials during two incidents in 1990, when he was drunk, and 1996, when he was pulled over by police. The military says he misused his credentials, but Shaffer says he was not told he should not have used them. He also said he has joined Alcoholics Anonymous and has been sober for 13 years.
As for the pens and other office supplies taken, he blamed that on “youthful indiscretions” more than 20 years ago.
According to the paperwork, the alleged infractions against Shaffer also include:
• Falsely claiming $341.80 in mileage and tolls fees. He said he filed travel expenses based on what he was told by human resources staff.
• Obtaining $67.79 in personal cell phone charges. He said the amount was a legitimate expense accrued so he could forward calls.
• Going over his chain of command to do briefings. Shaffer said he was providing briefings to higher-ups on projects even his direct superiors did not know about, and he received superior review ratings for that time.
• Showing irresponsibility with $2,012 in credit card debt. He said he paid off the debt, and Zaid said DIA dropped the issue.
Shaffer, now a member of the Army Reserves, has been on administrative leave since March 2004. During the same time, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel on Oct. 1, 2004.
Shaffer has said he tried three times to meet with the FBI to convey the Able Danger unit’s findings before Sept. 11, but was ordered not to by military attorneys.
Shaffer’s assertions on Able Danger have been supported by Rep. Curt Weldon, R-Pa. If correct, they would change the timeline as to when authorities first learned of some of the Sept. 11 hijackers.
The Sept. 11 commission has dismissed the claims. The Pentagon has acknowledged some employees recall seeing an intelligence chart identifying Atta as a terrorist before the attacks, but said none have been able to find a copy of it.
Cover up. Deserting the person who told the truth.
Military has to learn the lesson that being patriotic is not the responsibility of the elites in charge.
Smell and looks like chicken-sh*t to me. They cannot make chicken salad out of this, but they are gonna try.
I hate the smell of betrayal anytime--it smells like something is rotten.
Where is Rumsfeld on this? If the Republicans cant protect this guy who can we protect, Obviously no one. The Clintonites in the Pentagon are still running things and Bush is standing there with his thumb up his butt. He let Bubb a go with no prosecutions he let Gorelick off the hook and now he turns his back on this man.
It's been five years since Clinton was in office. We have nobody to blame but the losers that we worked so hard to hand the entire government over to.
"My old man was dumb too. He worked in a bank. They caught him stealing pens." - Rodney Dangerfield
Mr. Zaid said that Colonel Shaffer’s security clearance had been suspended last year because of what the lawyer said were a series of “petty allegations” involving $67 in personal charges on a military cellphone. He noted that despite the disciplinary action, Colonel Shaffer had been promoted this year from the rank of major.
WHY DID HE GET A PROMOTION? WHO GOT LEFT "OUT OF THE LOOP?"
MANY A GOOD MAN HAS NOT BEEN PROMOTED FOR LESSER REASONS
Let's compare what we KNOW former IMPEACHED President Clinton did against what Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer was ACCUSED of doing!
What, no charge of adultery, or conduct unbecoming an officer, the two most common catchalls in the military justice system? Someone in the smear department must be slipping. Oh by the way, where is the usual MSM defense of the "fearless whistle blowers"? The silence is deafening.
I smell major cover-up. This is getting uglier and uglier. The big guys do not want this guy to have any credibility or why else would this come out now? I just wonder which big guy is going to look really bad due to the information that this guy has?
The problem is, all those things happened years ago, why are they bringing this up now?
No comment on the man just a comment of the BG.
If the person is truly innocent and it has gotten to this point he is probably facing trumped up charges.
Looks like Col Shaffer finds himself in exactly that position.
It's a cover-up, plain and simple. Revenge on the whistleblower.
I expected better from this administration.
welcome to the freerepublic
Umm... Sure. God forbid anyone ever get drunk and bring home pens.
I mean, the very thought! Next thing you know, people will filch lighters and stare into space.
On the one hand, you have the fact that the government *knew* terrorists were operating on American soil. On the other? Well, you have someone who's supposed to be a moral reprobate because he got drunk once and brought home a few office pens.
This is what the Washington swine do to people when they've been caught. And there more than enough moral nitwits who go right along with the charade.
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