Posted on 01/13/2002 8:38:23 AM PST by callisto
MODERATOR: We are pleased to welcome Gary Aldrich to the townhall chatroom. In his book, Unlimited Access: an FBI Agent Inside the Clinton White House, Mr. Aldrich exposed the questionable behavior and serious breaches of security he witnessed while performing background checks on White House personnel. In January 1998 Mr. Aldrich founded The Patrick Henry Center for Individual Liberty, a nonprofit foundation dedicated to the Bill of Rights. Let's get started...
RadioHead: Mr. Aldrich, do you think that the bias in the media is responsible for Clinton getting away with so much during his presidency?
GARY ALDRICH: No question about it. I just finished Bernie Goldberg's book. It's an excellent way to get a feel for just how bad it is. Have any read it?
bobbr: Mr, Aldrich, what do you think of the current "profiling" charges made by the left in light of airport security?
GARY ALDRICH: It's a very troubling situation for all of us.We need to be fair, but the suspects in the current terrorism are all one kind, type, age, gender. I would suggest that we are going through a transition and nobody knows quite yet how bad it is going to get.
fiftycal: Mr Aldrich, did the Clinton Administration ever try to use the tremendous power of the IRS or other goverment agency(ies) to try and intimidate you?
GARY ALDRICH: We never had an audit by the IRS, and yet I would have welcomed it. We were just a few more incidents away from filing a lawsuit, and maybe we should have.
Whitty1210: Why did so many staff members leave the Clinton administration? Even though they may have been unhappy, why do you think they gave up instead of trying to make a difference?
GARY ALDRICH: I don't know of so many who gave up. Do you mean permanent staff? If you mean permanent staff, I found most government workers took those jobs because they did not want to fight with anybody, especially the President.
Whitty1210: Yes, I did mean permanent staff. Sorry I didn't specify.
GARY ALDRICH: OK, well, same answer: because they were not used to activism. The U.S. government drills it out of them, and punishes when they get out of line.
Alifelonglefty: Are you aware that we may have a Nazi-style Homeland Security that will trample on our Bill of Rights, Gary?
GARY ALDRICH: Nazi means national socialist party, so if you are a "life long lefty" you must be happy about this?
waynewilkins2: Mr. Aldrich, at what point does one vacate a position or break a code of silence, once one realizes that the person they ultimately report to is corrupt? Or does one stay on in the hopes of helping mitigate the damage?
GARY ALDRICH: The oath is to the Constitution, remember, so when you realize there is corruption that cannot be handled, I guess you stay and live with it, fight it. Or you take the next step which is to expose it, usually to the proper authority. But it's tough. They have so many ways to get at you.
Laur: In light of Goldberg's book, do you laugh to yourself about all the TV shows that couldn't find time for your appearance after you wrote your book?
GARY ALDRICH: I knew they didn't like me. But, Goldberg has a fancy way of saying that. His book is important because he is/was one of them. Would that more would come forward, but once they do, then they have severed all ties, just as I did, and they must find a whole new life for themselves. I knew I was finished in law enforcement, security work, etc, so I had to get a whole new life for myself.
RadioHead: Mr. Aldrich, in a nutshell, how would you sum up Hillary Clinton's personality? What makes her tick??
GARY ALDRICH: I'm not a doctor, but in my book you are looking at a kind of sickness there. She seems to have some childhood "darkness" there that has caused her to become cold, bitter... Could it be Bill's conduct that finally drove her over the edge?
hapysoul1: Mr. Aldrich: why do you think the President and Attorney General are afraid to tackle the injustices done by the Clinton administration? Do you think they are hiding something?
GARY ALDRICH: No, I don't think they think in those terms. If they thought the general population wanted them to do that, they would do that. They have advisors who tell them to stay away from that past, and in a way I think they have something. How refreshing to have a new villain to kick around. Tom Daschle is a twerp who I think we can do more with than we could do with Clinton, who was just too slick. Having said that, I want justice, maybe more than the next guy, but I have to be realistic and trust that down the road there is justice coming in one form or another. Remember, they finally got Edwards because he just could not stop stealing, and the clock ran out on the public's patience.
nacalif: Can you tell us more about the Patrick Henry Center? I hadn't known about it but saw it on townhall.
GARY ALDRICH: Terrific! I am grateful for Townhall to have this forum. In a nutshell, if you study Patrick Henry, you find that he was our first whistleblower. He also was really the father of the First Amendment, and the Second as well. He was the commander of the first militia in Virginia and 5 times governor, and the first one, too. We protect the rights of whistleblowers and promote free speech, right to bear arms, self-protection, and the memory of Patrick Henry.
RadioHead: Mr. Aldrich, have you noticed a greater acceptance of your book Unlimited Access now that Clinton is no longer president and more of the truth has been made public?
GARY ALDRICH: No doubt. But if we are waiting for the mainstream media to come and apologize, don't hold your breath. In private they are kind and respectful to me now when I see them at events.
Whitty1210: Do you believe that the Clinton administration played a part in making our country so vulnerable to terrorist attacks?
GARY ALDRICH: Don't get me started on that!!!! Seriously, we have a duty to our country to make sure nobody ever forgets how we got here. Yes, Clinton and his strange zoo parade waltzed us right into this. Sorry that I mixed my metaphor there. There will be many books written to document this - stand by, they are coming.
hartwell: Gary Aldrich, many thanks for the courage and character to do the right thing and make this information readily available. I read and loved your book. I was hooting as I read it.
Ice Flyer: Mr. Aldrich. In your first book you were restrained by your departure agreements dealing with security issues from bringing to light some information. While I apologize for not getting your second release of the book since then, can you tell us here what the worst of that information was?
GARY ALDRICH: Good, and you know when I wrote it, sitting right here in this same chair, it was - in a way - fun to write. The worst of the information was the documented proof of an attempt by your favorite federal agencies to lie for Bill and Hillary. It should scare the heck out of people that the FBI can become the Ministry of Misinformation.
RadioHead: Mr. Aldrich, just to speculate, how do you think the 9/11 tragedy would have been handled if Bill Clinton were still president?
GARY ALDRICH: I have no real clue. All I can do is shudder at the possibility of that. "Lord," I kept thinking, "please do not give Clinton a chance to surrender to anybody...he will take it for sure." That is what I truly believed. If the Chinese had bombed NY, he would have hauled up the white flag and told us it was for our own good.
bobbr: Mr. Aldrich, do you think there was anything more sinister, for want of a better term, behind the Vince Foster suicide?
GARY ALDRICH: Sure I do. He did not die at Marcy Park, I am fairly convinced. Somebody moved him, but why.
serfer: Why did the FBI rebuff the Sudan when they tried to turn over bin Laden to the U.S.? Was it a snafu, or did that decision come from higher up in the Clinton Administration?
GARY ALDRICH: Higher up. The FBI does not have authority to do much of anything like that. But everyone still wants to believe, I guess, that the FBI has the power to do these things. Too much FBI in the movies and TV I guess, doing the impossible and people want to believe, you know?
Pruyn: Mr. Aldrich, do you think the FBI will treat this President and his wife differently? Doesn't that imply a political bias? I have never met a liberal FBI agent and I am surprised.
GARY ALDRICH: Oh shoot, there are many liberal agents, and more than I ever knew. But they control their urges most of the time. Liberalism did not cause the FBI's problems. Weenie-ism is the cause of too many of the FBI's problems. Too many Alan Aldas and not enough John Waynes.
Alifelonglefty: U.S. is helping the Chinese scoop up our dollars, Gary. Why don't we stop this?
GARY ALDRICH: WE? You mean you and me? This administration will move any way you want them to, as long as you have the numbers. Don't expect politicans to do the right thing all the time. They will, if they know they will have the support. Remember, liberals know that you cannot do anything at all, if you are outside the White House, looking in. You have to be in that White House, and you have to stay there if you want to make any real, long lasting change.
hexxed: Was it true that a substantial number of Clinton's White House staff did not have full security clearance? Was that unusual? Were the reasons for that, if true, known to you?
GARY ALDRICH: Yes, that is true. The number was LARGE. The reason they did not have clearance is because they could not GET clearance in any government I know of. They were that flawed, believe me. I would know, right? Not unusual for a liberal White House, from what I have learned.
RadioHead: Mr. Aldrich, after the Sept. 11 tragedy I heard that Clinton gave a speech to Georgetown University, saying that America was paying its dues for the past slave trade and the treatment of natives. Why is he saying this? Does he really believe this, do you think? Or is there something else involved?
GARY ALDRICH: Who can really say why he says what he says. Remember who his audience is. They eat that kind of "hate America first" stuff up. They live for it. Send your kid to college, spend $100K, and turn him/her into a Socialist or worse. That's the sorry state of education after 35 years of the Liberals. We must pull them out by the roots.
Marge: Mr. Aldrich, was Janet Reno inept, dishonest or doing what Clinton told her to do?
GARY ALDRICH: All of the above.
hexxed: Mr. Aldrich, do you believe that Bush has the people and the expertise to turn the FBI and CIA around and re-establish their reputation for efficacy?
GARY ALDRICH: Not sure he does. Not sure yet that he understands the level of incompetency yet. I am hopeful, but it may be an impossible task, because agencies like the FBI and CIA have been allowed to breed an arrogance that may be too great to overcome. They feel it's the right thing to do to lie and to cover up abuse. What can you do with that kind of attitude?
benja123: Do you feel the FBI has taken unwarranted flack for not having foreseen the events that occurred on 9/11?
GARY ALDRICH: Picture is still emerging. Late reports of a New York FBI official trying to warn the FBI and White House are very disturbing. See the latest New Yorker magazine. The story is about an agent who was killed in the attack named O'Neill. It may be New York Magazine.
waynewilkins2: Aside from the silencing tactics, do you truly think either Bill or Hillary were Marxist, or just welfare-state socialists?
GARY ALDRICH: Marxist, no doubt in my mind. The harshest kind of Communism. They worshipped Fidel Castro for example, and he is no Socialist. They just use that word to soften.
serfer: Will the Enron collapse prove to be "worse than Whitewater" to Bush? What is the worst that will be disclosed on that mess?
GARY ALDRICH: No, Enron gave to both parties equal. But the problem is that it's about BIG OIL, which the Libs have already demonized and associated with GOP. So people have to be smart about this, but will they be? Enron is no Whitewater.
cjean: Mr. Aldrich, why do you think nothing ever became of the Clinton White House pulling and possibly cataloging all the FBI files?
GARY ALDRICH: Kenneth Starr is a nice guy. Nice guys do not make good prosecutors. It's that simple. Plus Starr loved the FBI and the case would have brought out the worst information about the Bureau. You would be surprised to know how many people worship at the altar of our agencies. It's scary!
MODERATOR: Gary, this will be the last question and since so many have sent this question to me I will go ahead and ask it. Many would like to know if you will seek political office or write another book. What is next for you?
GARY ALDRICH: I am having a very good time, and have great success doing what I am doing. And yes there are more books coming, when I can get a breath to write them. I hope for another bestseller, but there can only be one Unlimited Access!
MODERATOR: Thank you Gary for joining us tonight.
GARY ALDRICH: It's my pleasure. Thank you for inviting me, and see all of you at CPAC!
MODERATOR: If you aren't the lucky one to win Mr. Aldrich's book, you can find info at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0895264064/townhallcom/. If you would like an autographed copy however, buy it at http://www.garyaldrich.com.
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