Dear John: Fake Facts from a Clinton Pro

NewsMax ^ | October 19, 2005 | Charles R. Smith

[Jim Robinson]

Former Clinton Chief of Staff John Podesta recently wrote a scathing article about former FBI Director Louis J. Freeh. Freeh made some harsh comments about his life at the FBI during the Clinton scandal years, and Podesta simply could not resist the knee-jerk urge to defend his ex-boss.

Those who know me well also know that I have little love for the former FBI Director. His tenure at the helm of the bureau was a disaster. Freeh can best be described as a "Luddite" in terms of his understanding of modern technology. I am almost certain that his new book was hand-written with a sharp quill and a bottle of ink.

However, my opinion of John Podesta and his former boss sinks to depths well below that of the former FBI Director. Thus, when John Podesta accused Freeh of playing fast and loose with the facts, I simply could not resist the urge to test his skill with the truth.

Podesta's article may be written on a modern word processor, but it is inaccurate on one critical issue. Podesta claims, "Freeh's account of the unfolding of the Khobar Towers investigation is also riddled with distortions and inaccuracies. For example, Freeh writes as if no acknowledgment of Iranian involvement in the bombing was made until after George W. Bush came into office," noted Podesta in his Washington Post op-ed.

"This is false: The Clinton administration publicly and unequivocally placed blame on senior Iranian officials. Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder made this point at a press conference on October 4, 1999," said Podesta.

Unfortunately for Podesta, his assertion that Eric Holder placed the blame on Iran on October 4, 1999, just does not hold water. According to the official release from the Department of Justice for October 4, 1999, Holder avoided any accusations directed at Tehran: "The U.S. investigation of the attack at Khobar is ongoing. We are investigating information concerning the involvement of Saudi nationals, Iranian government officials and others. And we have not reached a conclusion regarding whether the attack was directed by the government of Iran."

Just to make sure that I was not the only one to pick up on this little point, Fox News reported on October 17, 1999, that "U.S. Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder said earlier this month that his department was investigating a possible Iranian role, but had not reached a conclusion."

And to cover the issue from the Saudi perspective, the Arabian-based Gulf Wire reported the same thing: "Meanwhile, the issue of Iranian involvement in the case was addressed by U.S. Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder last week. ‘We are investigating information concerning the involvement of Saudi nationals, Iranian government officials and others.' He added, ‘We have not reached a conclusion regarding whether the attack was directed by the government of Iran.'"

Brother John

Of course, this is not the first time I have written about Mr. Podesta and his fantastic ability to obscure reality. I have had dealings with Mr. Podesta before over his conflict of interest with his brother Tony Podesta.

While writing an article on supercomputer exports, I found that John had given a donation to the DNC that he said occurred while employed by his brother Tony, a powerful D.C. lobbyist. However, this donation took place when John was actually employed at the White House for Bill Clinton.

John took great pains to quickly change the donation record at the FEC to reflect the fact that he was indeed employed at the White House. It is the only such donation he made while working for Clinton.

Yet, the donation record opened a whole new world of documentation hidden inside the Clinton White House. John Podesta ran the Clinton policy for high-tech computer exports at the same time his brother - and former employer - ran the lobby effort for high-tech U.S. computer companies.

Supercomputers for China and Russia

In the early 1990s, several U.S. computer CEOs formed a joint lobby organization called the CSPP, or Computer Systems Policy Project. By 1994 Tony Podesta, the brother of John Podesta, ran the multimillion-dollar corporate lobby effort through his firm, Podesta Associates, using an employee, Ken Kay, as the CSPP executive director.

In 1994, the CSPP association with Tony Podesta quickly paid off. Several CSPP members won exclusive trade deals through Clinton and Ron Brown. CEO James Treybig of Tandem went with Ron Brown on a trade trip to China in August 1994. Treybig concluded an exclusive $150 million export of mission-control computers for the Chinese Army Long March space rocket.

In June 1995, Ken Kay led the delegation of CSPP CEOs into a closed meeting inside the White House. In this closed meeting, the CEOs from AT&T, Apple, Compaq, Digital, HP, Unisys, Cray, Silicon Graphics, Tandem and others were sworn to secrecy. The CEOs could not talk under penalty of law.

The Clinton administration made top-secret designs and top-secret contracts available to the CSPP computer companies. In exchange for their cooperation and silence, the companies would be given lucrative export deals and access to even more advanced technology left over from the cold war.

Yet, while it is true that CSPP members thrived on high-tech exports authorized by the Clinton administration, it is also true that Clinton and Gore thrived on the millions of dollars in donations and soft money made available from CSPP members such as Apple, AT&T, Digital and Silicon Graphics.

For example, once inside the White House the CSPP CEOs were given a detailed briefing by a State Department expert on supercomputers and nuclear weapons. Shortly after the meeting, CSPP member Silicon Graphics sold several supercomputers to a Russian nuclear weapons lab under the pretense of "civilian" uses.

Waiver or Pardon?

Nor is the Clinton cronyism hard to find. In response to a request for an interview, White House lawyers acknowledged that John Podesta did indeed have a conflict of interest problem with his brother Tony and the CSPP. According to White House counsel, in 1997 President Clinton solved the Podesta problem by signing a legal waiver absolving John Podesta of any conflict of interest. Clinton has to date refused to show the legal waiver obtained by John Podesta. Nor did Clinton's attorneys explain why John Podesta felt it necessary to obtain a waiver in 1997 for actions he took in 1994 and 1995.

Of course, a legal waiver for possible criminal actions committed in the past is not a waiver but a pardon.

It is just this kind of activity that FBI Director Freeh missed inside the White House. Freeh had so many scandals coming at him on a daily basis, it was hard to decide which to investigate - so he elected to investigate none.

As a reward for his inept leadership, Clinton took space in his book to blame Freeh for the China-Gate scandal.

Of course, the Clinton pardon or waiver - whichever you prefer to call it - removed any fear of prosecution or investigation. Thus, John Podesta can rest easy with a fat bank account and a cushy job heading a fake think-tank inside Washington, D.C.

Dear John - I know you have no conscience but next time - check your facts

[scott7278]

According to White House counsel, in 1997 President Clinton solved the Podesta problem by signing a legal waiver absolving John Podesta of any conflict of interest.

How convenient. "Stroke of the pen. Law of the land. Kinda cool."

[Cenobite]

I wonder how many soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen are going to have to pay in blood in the future because of the Clintons. Traitorous scum

[gaijin]

amazing! I never thought the Clinton administration could sink even lower AFTER they'd gone away. But they did it...!

[gaijin]

amazing! I never thought the Clinton administration could sink even lower AFTER they'd gone away. But they did it...!

[ncountylee]

And the Republicans sat and did nothing. This weakness is why the Earle's feel free to attack whenever they please.

[scott7278]

amazing! I never thought the Clinton administration could sink even lower AFTER they'd gone away. But they did it...!

It's only just begun, my FRiend.

[Sgt_Schultze]

There have been a couple of Nightline's naming the dead soldiers. Unfortunately, Nightline was trying to blame Bush and help to elect Kerry.

[nopardons]

The Clinton legacy........lies, lies, lies, and death.

[Starve The Beast]

I never thought the Clinton administration could sink even lower AFTER they'd gone away.

Bubba sets yet another standard: The first man ever unfit to be ex-president.

[Rembrandt]

Jom Rob's commentary basks light on Ron Brown's death. Why would he be killed? Because he knew too much or, perhaps, because he had threatened to talk. Sort of like the guy who committed suicide by shooting himself in the head without any powder burns; is that curious? Not if you're a looney toon. Never, ever put any dastardly act beyond the Klintonista gang.

[I_be_tc]

bump for later

[I_be_tc]

bump for later

[The Spirit Of Allegiance]

www.DiscoverTheNetwork.org Date: 10/19/2005 11:25:49 PM

JOHN PODESTA
Podesta



* President and CEO of the Shadow Party’s main think tank and spin machine, the Center for American Progress (CAP).
* Former Clinton Chief of Staff.
* Former antiwar activist of the New Left. Worked on Eugene McCarthy and George McGovern campaigns.
* Met Bill Clinton in 1970 through the antiwar movement.





John David Podesta was appointed president and CEO of the Center for American Progress (CAP) at its founding on July 7, 2003. He was hand-picked for the job by CAP founders George Soros and Morton H. Halperin, according to a March 1, 2004 report in The Nation by Robert Dreyfuss.

Inside sources have described CAP as “the official Hillary Clinton think tank” – a media spin machine and policy generator designed to serve as a springboard for Hillary’s presidential ambitions.

During his years in the Clinton White House, Podesta played a uniquely unsavory role. He helped suppress numerous federal investigations into Clinton wrongdoing, and helped short-circuit the Clinton impeachment proceedings through shady backroom deals.

The Clintons recognized Podesta’s talent for scandal suppression early. While still a mere staff secretary at the White House in 1993, Podesta found himself swamped with so many scandal clean-up assignments that he nicknamed himself, “Secretary of [Expletive].”

“He’s good at it,” James Carville remarked to the Washington Post.


Project Podesta

Podesta’s most lasting contribution to the leftist cause came through his promotion of a strategy that White House aides dubbed “Project Podesta.” This was a system that enabled the Clintons to push through unpopular policies that neither Congress nor the American people wanted. Its implementation marked a dramatic tilt in the balance of power, giving the executive branch an unprecedented ability to force its will on the legislative branch.

Project Podesta enabled the president to bypass Congress through the use of executive orders; presidential decision directives; White-House-sponsored lawsuits; vacancy appointments to high federal office; selective regulatory actions against targeted corporations; as well as a host of other extra-constitutional tactics....

FULL BIO AT:

http://www.discoverthenetwork.org/printindividualProfile.asp?indid=1626

[magslinger]

Clinton is the most unfit to be ex-president, but Carter was first.

[Starve The Beast]

Clinton is the most unfit to be ex-president, but Carter was first.

Here's the thing: Carter wasn't unfit to be Ex-POTUS until after Clinton pioneered the territory.

Think about it: Carter was building homes and not bothering anybody until Bill showed the world just how undignified an Ex could be. Jimmy's unsavory behavior came after that. Search your memory and you'll agree with me.

[PGalt]

Great post. Details on one of the bagmen for the anti-freedom, anti-life Democratic Crime Syndicate. The jack of diamonds in the deck of domestic enemies playing cards.

[lentulusgracchus]

I wonder how many soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen are going to have to pay in blood in the future because of the Clintons. Traitorous scum

Bill Clinton -- the emetic that keeps on giving. Take a dose of Bill when you need to throw up, and you'll keep throwing up unexpectedly for years. And years. And years.

One of these days, a dispassionate historian is going to draw a complete portrait of the Clinton years, and nobody is going to look good except the House impeachment managers and the senators who voted for conviction. Everyone else will be seen in retrospect to have been a traitor, a stooge, an accomplice, or in some cases like Arlen Specter's, just a complete idiot.

[lentulusgracchus]

Never, ever put any dastardly act beyond the Klintonista gang.

I wouldn't, but I still don't believe Ron Brown's death was anything but an aviation accident in a thunderstorm on a badly-equipped foreign airport's approaches. It wasn't an easy place to land in good weather -- and they were in a hurry and forced the landing in very bad conditions because of Brown's schedule. This was an airport in Yugoslavia, after all, and not a very big one.

As for Brown's mysterious wounds, hey, you can get all kinds of wounds in an air crash.

But that whole Administration was still rotten, rotten, rotten -- and we've never yet heard the truth about Vince Foster or the trail of "Arkancides", an amazing proportion of whom were newspapermen, gumshoes, or other investigators.

[magslinger]

My trip to the Middle East in the spring of 1987 provided valuable new insights into regional political dynamics. There have been important improvements on the Arab side since my last visit to the region four years ago, especially in terms of an emerging consensus in support of an international peace conference. There is a growing realization that the negotiations between Egypt and Israel have produced some benefits for the region, thus bolstering the perception that negotiations with Israel can work. Although the recent Iran-contra scandal has cut deeply, damaging the United States' prestige and influence in the Middle East, Washington is still accepted as a player that can provide the key to progress. Influential Israeli leaders appear willing to embrace some of the opportunities posed by changing Arab attitudes.

You can see it Here.

Carter was wandering off the construction site and acting stupid before Clinton was elected. He wasn't covered much when Slick Willie was in office.