Posted on 08/18/2008 9:30:23 AM PDT by Doctor Raoul
Feds indict 'whistleblower'
By MICHAEL P. RELLAHAN, Staff Writer
PHILADELPHIA — A former U.S. State Department diplomat and so-called "whistleblower" of a plot to assassinate President Bill Clinton has been charged with possession of classified documents that stem from his time in government.
A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Philadelphia said the man, Samuel Peter Karmilowicz, had the documents in his possession June 2007, when he visited a relative in Tredyffrin.
Acting United States Attorney Laurie Magid on Thursday announced the unsealing of an indictment against Karmilowicz, charging him with one count of unauthorized possession of, and control over, documents relating to the national defense of the United States.
The indictment charges that on
or about June 6, 2007, in Wayne, Karmilowicz, a former employee of the United States Department of State, had possession of ten documents marked "secret," relating to national defense, which he was no longer authorized to possess.
In 2006, Karmilowicz gave an exclusive interview to the Web site "Counterpunch," in which he described his questions about the official reaction to his reports of a planned attempt on Clinton's life during a trip to Manila, Philippines, that the former president took in 1994. He alleges that those involved had ties to al-Qaida.
In an article written on the Web site, investigative journalist Alexander Cockburn wrote of Karmilowicz's allegations that "a Pakistani linked to that Manila plot may still be at large." He wrote that Karmilowicz also charges a U.S. cover-up of possible involvement by the Pakistani security forces in the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the New York World Trade Center.
According to the federal indictment, in December 2005, Karmilowicz resigned from the State Department. His authorization was immediately revoked. But he kept in his possession multiple documents he was not authorized to retain, the indictment states.
Karmilowicz failed to deliver those documents to an officer or employee of the United States who was authorized and entitled to receive them, a press release from the U.S. Attorney Office in Philadelphia states.
Neither the press release nor the indictment state what the nature of those documents was, or if they relate to his accusations about the Clinton plot. It simply lists them as secret cables labeled as coming from Quinto, Ecuador; Manila, Philippines; Tel Aviv, Israel; and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The dates of he documents run from 1994 to 2005.
The indictment does not specify what Karmilowicz was doing in Wayne or how his alleged possession of the secret documents there came to light.
But, a Karl P. Karmilowicz II is listed as living on Anthony Wayne Drive in Tredyffrin. Calls to that location were not returned.
In 2002, Karmilowicz, while working at the U.S. embassy in Ecuador, was investigated for the Dec. 5 killing of an Ecuadoran in Quito, the capital city. Initial reports said Karmilowicz shot the man after his car collided with a taxi in which the man was riding.
Although Ecuadoran police said Karmilowicz had acted without provocation and was likely under the influence of alcohol at the time, he was apparently later exonerated by U.S. officials.
If convicted in the documents case, the defendant faces a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, three years of supervised release and a $100 special assessment. The FBI and the U. S. Department of State Diplomatic Security Service investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas M. Zaleski, who could not be reached for comment, is prosecuting the case.
To contact Michael P. Rellahan, send an e-mail to mrellahan@dailylocal.com.
Treat him just like Burgler Berger.
Burger got a pass...
Levanworth badly needs sweeping and mopping as only can do it.
Thanks,
DrMike
Not in the article.
Well!
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