Has someone been sitting on the FBI? (FBI Ordered Not To Investigate Saudis)

The CIA and Saudi Arabia, the Bushes and the Bin Ladens. Did their connections cause America to turn a blind eye to terrorism?

How can it be that the former President of the US and the current President of the US have business dealings with characters that need to be investigated?

In the eight weeks since the attacks, over 1,000 suspects and potential witnesses have been detained. Yet, just days after the hijackers took off from Boston aiming for the Twin Towers, a special charter flight out of the same airport whisked 11 members of Osama Bin Laden's family off to Saudi Arabia. That did not concern the White House.

Their official line is that the Bin Ladens are above suspicion - apart from Osama, the black sheep, who they say hijacked the family name. That's fortunate for the Bush family and the Saudi royal household, whose links with the Bin Ladens could otherwise prove embarrassing. But Newsnight has obtained evidence that the FBI was on the trail of other members of the] Bin Laden family for links to terrorist organisations before and after September 11th.

This document is marked "Secret". Case ID - 199-Eye WF 213 589. 199 is FBI code for case type. 9 would be murder. 65 would be espionage. 199 means national security. WF indicates Washington field office special agents were investigating ABL - because of it's relationship with the World Assembly of Muslim Youth, WAMY - a suspected terrorist organisation. ABL is Abdullah Bin Laden, president and treasurer of WAMY.

This is the sleepy Washington suburb of Falls Church, Virginia where almost every home displays the Stars and Stripes. On this unremarkable street, at 3411 Silver Maple Place, we located the former home of Abdullah and another brother, Omar, also an FBI suspect. It's conveniently close to WAMY. The World Assembly of Muslim Youth is in this building, in a little room in the basement at 5613 Leesburg Pike. And here, just a couple blocks down the road at 5913 Leesburg, is where four of the hijackers that attacked New York and Washington are listed as having lived.

The US Treasury has not frozen WAMY's assets, and when we talked to them, they insisted they are a charity. Yet, just weeks ago, Pakistan expelled WAMY operatives. And India claimed that WAMY was funding an organisation linked to bombings in Kashmir. And the Philippines military has accused WAMY of funding Muslim insurgency. The FBI did look into WAMY, but, for some reason, agents were pulled off the trail.

The FBI wanted to investigate these guys. This is not something that they didn't want to do - they wanted to, they weren't permitted to.

The secret file fell into the hands of national security expert, Joe Trento. The Washington spook-tracker has been looking into the FBI's allegations about WAMY. TRENTO:

They've had connections to Osama Bin Laden's people. They've had connections to Muslim cultural and financial aid groups that have terrorist connections. They fit the pattern of groups that the Saudi royal family and Saudi community of princes - the 20,000 princes - have funded who've engaged in terrorist activity.

Now, do I know that WAMY has done anything that's illegal? No, I don't know that. Do I know that as far back as 1996 the FBI was very concerned about this organisation? I do.

Newsnight has uncovered a long history of shadowy connections between the State Department, the CIA and the Saudis. The former head of the American visa bureau in Jeddah is Michael Springman. MICHAEL SPRINGMAN:

In Saudi Arabia I was repeatedly ordered by high level State Dept officials to issue visas to unqualified applicants. These were, essentially, people who had no ties either to Saudi Arabia or to their own country. I complained bitterly at the time there. I returned to the US, I complained to the State Dept here, to the General Accounting Office, to the Bureau of Diplomatic Security and to the Inspector General's office. I was met with silence.

By now, Bush Sr, once CIA director, was in the White House. Springman was shocked to find this wasn't visa fraud. Rather, State and CIA were playing "the Great Game".

What I was protesting was, in reality, an effort to bring recruits, rounded up by Osama Bin Laden, to the US for terrorist training by the CIA. They would then be returned to Afghanistan to fight against the then-Soviets.

The attack on the World Trade Center in 1993 did not shake the State Department's faith in the Saudis, nor did the attack on American barracks at Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia three years later, in which 19 Americans died. FBI agents began to feel their investigation was being obstructed. Would you be surprised to find out that FBI agents are a bit frustrated that they can't be looking into some Saudi connections?

I would never be surprised with that. They're cut off at the hip sometimes by supervisors or given shots that are being called from Washington at the highest levels.

I showed lawyer Michael Wildes our FBI documents. One of the Khobar Towers bombers was represented by Wildes, who thought he had useful intelligence for the US. He also represents a Saudi diplomat who defected to the USA with 14,000 documents which Wildes claims implicates Saudi citizens in financing terrorism and more. Wildes met with FBI men who told him they were not permitted to read all the documents. Nevertheless, he tried to give them to the agents.

"Take these with you. We're not going to charge for the copies. Keep them. Do something with them. Get some bad guys with them." They refused.

In the hall of mirrors that is the US intelligence community, Wildes, a former US federal attorney, said the FBI field agents wanted the documents, but they were told to "see no evil."

You see a difference between the rank-and-file counter-intelligence agents, who are regarded by some as the motor pool of the FBI, who drive following diplomats, and the people who are getting the shots called at the highest level of our government, who have a different agenda - it's unconscionable.

State wanted to keep the pro-American Saudi royal family in control of the world's biggest oil spigot, even at the price of turning a blind eye to any terrorist connection so long as America was safe. In recent years, CIA operatives had other reasons for not exposing Saudi-backed suspects.

If you recruited somebody who is a member of a terrorist organisation, who happens to make his way here to the US, and even though you're not in touch with that person anymore but you have used him in the past, it would be unseemly if he were arrested by the FBI and word got back that he'd once been on the payroll of the CIA. What we're talking about is blow-back. What we're talking about is embarrassing, career-destroying blow-back for intelligence officials.

Does the Bush family also have to worry about political blow-back? The younger Bush made his first million 20 years ago with an oil company partly funded by Salem Bin Laden's chief US representative. Young George also received fees as director of a subsidiary of Carlyle Corporation, a little known private company which has, in just a few years of its founding, become one of Americas biggest defence contractors. His father, Bush Senior, is also a paid advisor. And what became embarrassing was the revelation that the Bin Ladens held a stake in Carlyle, sold just after September 11.

You have a key relationship between the Saudis and the former President of the US who happens to be the father of the current President of the US. And you have all sorts of questions about where does policy begin and where does good business and good profits for the company, Carlyle, end?

I received a phone call from a high-placed member of a US intelligence agency. He tells me that while there's always been constraints on investigating Saudis, under George Bush it's gotten much worse. After the elections, the agencies were told to "back off" investigating the Bin Ladens and Saudi royals, and that angered agents. I'm told that since September 11th the policy has been reversed. FBI headquarters told us they could not comment on our findings. A spokesman said: "There are lots of things that only the intelligence community knows and that no-one else ought to know.

This transcript provides interviews with author Joe Trento and other sources who are knowledgeable about the FBI documents and policies of the FBI being ordered off the investigations of Saudis described in the article.

I recall being told that Trento is well known to and spoken highly of by a former terror advisor who worked for the State Department, the Pentagon and with FBI and CIA agents associated with Afghanistan, Bin Laden and the OKC bombing. The terror official worked tirelessly to expose the truth in the OKC bombing after he retired in December 1995. And the terror official briefed the legal counsels for the Senate Judicary and Senate Intelligence committee about FBI misconduct.

The terror official, like the CIA, was not happy with the way the FBI was being run. The terror official approved my letter to the editor for the New American MAgazine in 1998 (posted on FR) which describes the officials remarks about FBI misconduct to the Senate Judiciary legal counsel in my presence.

I suspect (but do not know) that Joe Trento (an expert on the CIA) got the FBI documents from someone displeased (either CIA or FBI sources or both) with the way the FBI is being run.

FBI agents Coleen Rowley and Ken Williams went to the CIA after being stonewalled by the FBI in Washington about the FBI agents' informattion on Bin Laden hijacker pilot (Phoenix and Minneapois)training missions prior to 9/11/01. These FBI agents' actions also show their concern about how the FBI is being run and was an obvious effort to enlist the help of the CIA since it is well known that the CIA is still not happy with the way the FBI is being run.

Congress in 1997, determined that the FBI shared most of the blame for the Aldrich Ames debacle rather than the CIA becasue the FBI deliberately sat on important information for years that could have been used by the CIA and others to uncover Ames. There are those in the CIA and FBI who have never forgotten how badly the FBI treated the CIA over Ames.

I strongly recommend that people read the following article "Saudis helped 'sustain" al-Qaida?" from WorldNetDaily posted on FR on March 8, 2002. The link is http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/642487/posts.

The artricle describes how evidence collected by the US Mission in Saudi Arabia showing Saudi support for Al-Qaeda was deliberately not sent by the CIA station to Washington. THe article also has ex-diplomats alleging corruption between US officials and Saudi Government officials.

This article also raises questions about the way the CIA, not just the FBI, was being run to keep Saudi support for AlQeda from reaching Washington. Was it because of a renegade CIA station chief or CIA director, or was it because someone in the White House ordered the CIA not to send the reports to Washignton?

The FBI, the CIA and the present and past administrations (Bush and CLinton) should be asked about and to explain these matters to Congress. The cause of these problems must be identified and corrected to ensure a sucessful war on terrorism.

Were Presidents being sandbagged by their own FBI and CIA or were the Presidents asking that certain investigatory actions not be taken by the FBI and CIA for political reasons, actions that in retrospect may have helped make 9/11 less likely?

I am raising these questions in light of these articles because these are some of the questions which I believe COngress should try to have answered to improve security against terrorism and to maintain the confidence of the American people that they are being adequately protected by the FBI, CIA and their elected leaders in the White House, past and present. We need accoutability in order to correct any problems which could still be on going.

FBI director RobertMueller is in effect a holdover from the Clinton adminstration (appointed by Clinton as a US attorney in California) as is George Tenet at CIA. Are these men repeating any mistakes that may have been made under CLinton, now that they are serving under Bush? Are they getting the same instructions from Bush as they got from Clinton or are they sandbagging Bush? Something is wrong and needs to be investigated and corrected fast in my opinion.

Speaking of Mueller......Did you know that Boxer backed his nomination to head the FBI?

Did you know that the Judiciary Commitee and the Senate acted on his nomination and confirmation faster than most and confirmed him within a couple of weeks?

Did you know it took over a month to swear him in as FBI director?

Did you know he was Acting Deputy Director of the DOJ from January through May, was gone for 1 month and then nominated to head FBI?

Liberal Senators Back Mueller for FBI; Privacy Advocates Wary

Wes Vernon Friday, July 6, 2001

WASHINGTON - Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., a rival to Sen. Edward Kennedy as the Senate's most reliable leftist, has given a fulsome endorsement to Robert Mueller, President Bush's pick for FBI director. Privacy advocates are withholding judgment.

In a statement faxed by her office to NewsMax.com, Boxer praises Mueller, U.S. attorney for Northern California, as having "all the qualities needed to become an outstanding Director of the FBI." "He has extensive law enforcement experience at every level, from line prosecutor to U.S. Attorney to high level positions in the Justice Department," she added.

"His courage and devotion to his country are unquestioned and were demonstrated early in his career when he become a highly decorated Marine officer."

Speaking of Kennedy, his reaction was to recall that Mueller had "demonstrated considerable skill in the U.S. Attorney's office in Boston and San Francisco, and as head of the Criminal Division in the Department of Justice." Boxer's enthusiasm contrasts with a more "wait and see" approach by privacy advocates.

Noting that Mueller was familiar with technical issues involving the FBI, Lisa Dean, vice president of technology policy for the Free Congress Foundation, expressed the hope that the nominee would have a sense of "balance" between high-technology methods of catching criminals and the privacy rights of Americans.

"I don't know how he comes down on" that "balance," said David Sobel, general counsel of the Electronic Privacy Information Center. He said he had met the nominee in a meeting hosted by Attorney General John Ashcroft. That meeting with law enforcement officials and privacy advocates was to discuss computer crime and related privacy concerns.

Sobel said he did not know Mueller's views on those matters, but "he is certainly knowledgeable about them." Accuracy in Media President Reed Irvine, who has frequently clashed with the FBI over investigations which he believes were either botched or covered up, referred NewsMax.com to a June 11 column by New York Times columnist William Safire.

Recalling that Mueller led the Justice Department's Criminal Division in the senior Bush's administration, the columnist describes him as an "intelligent apparatchik." Apparently, the FBI pick is a survivor of the bureaucratic wars who has managed to avoid rocking boats in the administrations of both Bushes and Clinton. The following are examples:

1 - Mueller "showed a marked lack of interest in the Iraqgate investigation." The accusation in that case was that the Bush administration, having received near-universal acclaim for victory over Iraq in the Gulf War, had stumbled into that conflict in the first place through diplomatic blunders that emboldened Saddam Hussein.

2 - "As Democrat [Eric] Holder moved up the ladder at [Clinton-Reno] Justice, so too did his friend Mueller, and — with strong support from Senator Barbara Boxer - was rewarded with a Clinton appointment as U.S. Attorney in San Francisco."

3 - When Bush the younger arrived, Mueller "spun about and made his bureaucratic expertise known to the knocked about [Attorney General] John Ashcroft." He saw that his old associates in the public integrity section remained secure.

Republican lawmakers are reluctant to publicly criticize their president. But GOP staffers who are up to speed on the thinking inside FBI and Justice Department circles will express their concerns off the record.

'Too Clever'

"This guy's just a little too clever by half," said one, "How can we trust somebody who walks both sides of the street? Didn't we have enough of that with [recently departed FBI Director Louis] Freeh?"

While former FBI directors William Sessions and William Webster were often criticized for naiveté on bureaucratic intrigue, Mueller, as some Washingtonians see it, may have the kind of bureaucratic smarts that are good for him, but not necessarily for the country. On the other hand, another Republican staffer said there was reason to believe that Mueller will be an improvement over Freeh, about whom this source had no enthusiasm.

"You have to remember," he said, "he has the backing of both the president and John Ashcroft. And they're both good guys. If he wants to please them, he'll do the right thing [on privacy]."

Although some may regard that kind of comment as a form of "whistling past the graveyard," rare is the Republican on the Hill ready to go to war over this nomination, at least at this early stage. Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., issued a noncommittal statement noting his panel's planned "oversight hearings" on the FBI, and adding it "will be the committee's job to determine if Mr. Mueller is the right person for the job." The committee's ranking Republican and former chairman, Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, R-Utah, lauded Bush for his "excellent choice" in picking Mueller.

"I am confident that Mr. Mueller's distinguished history of public service and as a federal prosecutor" will provide "dynamic leadership," the Utah Republican declared.

California's other liberal Democrat senator, Dianne Feinstein, praised the selection of Mueller, Fox News Channel reported Thursday evening.

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Congressional Record: August 2, 2001 (Senate) Page S8680-S8691 robert s. mueller, iii, to be director of the federal bureau of investigation Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, I have moved swiftly in the Judiciary Committee to consider and move forward the nomination of Robert S. Mueller, III, to be Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

His nomination was sent to the Senate on July 18 but his paperwork was not completed until July 24. Less than one week later, we held 2 days of hearings, on July 30 and 31, and made sure that the committee considered his nomination the same week, on August 2, in order to ensure committee and Senate consideration of this important nomination before the August recess. The committee unanimously and favorably reported this nomination. I thank the Democratic and Republican members of the committee for their cooperation and attention in allowing this nomination to move forward on an expedited basis. Mr. Mueller has had an outstanding career in law enforcement, serving as a Federal prosecutor in three different United States Attorneys' Offices and in Main Justice under both Republican and Democratic administrations. As he testified at his confirmation hearing, he has ``either personally prosecuted or supervised the prosecution of just about every type of Federal Criminal offense, including homicide, drug trafficking, organized crime, cyber crime, major frauds, civil rights and environmental crime.´´

Mr. Mueller was the only witness at his hearings. The committee did not call other witnesses we are in the midst of intensive and ongoing FBI oversight hearings. These FBI oversight hearings were an integral part of the committee's preparation to consider the nomination of a new FBI Director, and Mr. Mueller's opening statement at his confirmation hearings specifically addressed significant issues raised in the prior hearings.

At the oversight hearing on June 20, 2001, the committee examined both outside oversight mechanisms and methods to restore confidence in the FBI.

Witnesses included former Senator John C. Danforth, who investigated the events at Waco as Special Counsel to the Attorney General; the Honorable William H. Webster, former FBI and CIA Director, currently heading a review of FBI security in the aftermath of the Hanssen espionage case; Glenn A. Fine, current Inspector General of the Department of Justice; Michael R. Bromwich, former Inspector General of the Department of Justice; and Norman J. Rabkin, Managing Director, Tax Administration and Justice Issues, General Accounting Office.

At the oversight hearing on July 18, 2001, the committee considered the reform of FBI management with views from inside and outside the FBI. Witnesses included Raymond W. Kelly, former New York City Police Commissioner and Commissioner of the U.S. Customs Service; Bob E. Dies, FBI Assistant Director for Information Resources; Kenneth H. Senser, Acting FBI Deputy Assistant Director for Security Programs and Countermeasures; John E. Roberts, Unit Chief, FBI Office of Professional Responsibility; John Werner, former Supervisory Special Agent, FBI Office of Professional Responsibility; Frank L. Perry, Supervisory Senior Resident Agent, Raleigh, North Carolina, and former head of the Office of Law Enforcement Ethics at the FBI

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WASHINGTON (CNN) Mueller confirmed as FBI chief

August 2, 2001 Posted: 9:15 PM EDT (0115 GMT)

-- The Senate voted unanimously Thursday to confirm Robert Mueller as FBI director.

The Senate vote was 98-0 to approve Mueller for a 10-year term, the same day the Senate Judiciary Committee recommended his confirmation. The 56-year-old veteran prosecutor was President Bush's pick to lead the bureau. He told the Judiciary Committee during a two-day confirmation hearing that his top priority would be to "restore the public's confidence in the FBI, to re-earn the faith and trust of the American people."

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, the Judiciary Committee's chairman, said Mueller should be prepared to "clean house if necessary."

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Mueller assumes the helm of FBI September 5, 2001 Posted: 10:52 AM EDT (1452 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Robert Mueller took charge of the FBI Tuesday, becoming the sixth director of the United States' top law enforcement agency, which has been plagued by a recent series of blunders. Justice Department and FBI officials said Mueller was sworn in during an early-morning, private ceremony in Attorney General John Ashcroft's office across the street from FBI headquarters. Bush nominates Robert Mueller as head of FBI

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Washington, July 5 US PRESIDENT George W Bush on Friday nominated Justice Department veteran Robert Mueller as head of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), an administration official said.

His task is to restore prestige of FBI, which has suffered from a string of embarrassments ranging from bungled documents to the discovery of a spy for the Russians in its midst, the official said. The news follows intense speculation about whom Bush would pick to replace Louis Freeh, who announced his resignation on May 1, well in advance of the end of his term set for 2003.

Mueller, who served as acting deputy attorney general from January to May, serves as US Attorney in San Francisco. He had previously headed homicide division of the US Attorney's office here.

If confirmed by the Senate, Mueller gets a ten-year t

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