Firm says stolen software helped bin Laden plot 9/11 (PROMIS CHARGES APPARENTLY CORROBORATED)

The Washington Times ^ | January 6, 2003 | Jerry Seper

[aristeides]

Looking a bit more at the cases, I see I have to correct one thing I said in that last post: the D.C. Circuit's reversal was not on a mandamus motion.

[aristeides]

I have taken a look at the D.C. Circuit's opinion reversing the lower courts, U.S. v. Inslaw, 932 F.2d 1467 (D.C. 1991). In reversing, the D.C. Circuit made no holding on whether the federal government had committed fraud, as the courts below had held, and used language suggesting that in fact it had. 932 F.2d at 1474-75. However, the court reversed, holding that the courts below had not had jurisdiction under the Bankruptcy Code. I do not care to try to reach an opinion on whether the D.C. Circuit was right on this technical legal matter, as I am not a bankruptcy lawyer and thus am not really competent to judge the issue. But it is interesting to note that the D.C. Circuit's reversal had nothing to do with whether the federal government had in fact been guilty of fraud.

[Uncle Bill]

"Federal Bankruptcy judge George F Bateson found in 1987 that the DoJ "stole INSLAW's software by trickery, deceit, and fraud." A 1992 investigation by the Congressional Committee on the Judiciary recommended that the DoJ "remunerate INSLAW for the harm the Department has egregiously caused the company." Despite those rulings, the DoJ continues to maintain that it has an "unlimited use" license for PROMIS."

Full text of Inslaw's Rebuttal to the Bua Report

"Chairman of the US House Judiciary Committee, Jack Brooks, released his investigative report on the Inslaw affair in August 1992. The report, sharply critical of the US Justice Department, found that the DoJ "acted wilfully and fraudulently," and "took, converted and stole," Inslaw's PROMIS software by "trickery, fraud and deceit." The committee received corroborating evidence confirming PROMIS was "stolen and distributed internationally in order to provide financial gain to associates of the Justice department and to further the intelligence and foreign policy objectives of the United States." The report complained that two Attorney General's refused to appoint Independent Counsel to investigate the affair.

From here:
"The House Judiciary Committee lists these crimes as among the possible violations perpetrated by "high-level Justice officials and private individuals":

`18 U.S.C. Sec. 371--Conspiracy to commit an offense.
`18 U.S.C. Sec. 654--Officer or employee of the United
States converting the property of another.
`18 U.S.C. Sec. 1341--Fraud.
`18 U.S.C. Sec. 1343--Wire fraud.
`18 U.S.C. Sec. 1505--Obstruction of proceedings before
departments, agencies and committees.
`18 U.S.C. Sec. 1512--Tampering with a witness.
`18 U.S.C. Sec. 1513--Retaliation against a witness.
`18 U.S.C. Sec. 1621--Perjury.
`18 U.S.C. Sec. 1951--Interference with commerce by threats
or violence (RICO).
`18 U.S.C. Sec. 1961 et seq: Racketeer Influenced and
Corrupt Organizations.
`18 U.S.C. Sec. 2314--Transportation of stolen goods,
securities, moneys.
`18 U.S.C. Sec. 2315--Receiving stolen goods.

INSLAW Case Info

THE INSLAW AFFAIR - INVESTIGATIVE REPORT BY THE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY

The following information has been given to each member of the House Judicary Committee and was placed on the Internet in electronic form by Bill Hamilton of Inslaw Corporation.

"On July 20, 1993 Vince Foster was found dead in Fort Marcy Park. Three days later, attorney Paul Wilcher, allegedly investigating "The Octopus" was found dead."

"Paul Rodriguez, the editor of Washington-based Insight magazine, has told me he received a visit from a military intelligence guy from the Pentagon who told him bluntly to "Lay off this story. You don't know what you're dealing with."

[aristeides]

"Lay off this story. You don't know what you're dealing with."

Hmmm, if I were a D.C. Circuit judge, and an intel guy came to me and told me that, I might be tempted to find some technical legal ground to avoid deciding whether the government had committed fraud.

[Uncle Bill]

You bet, if he wanted to live and bounce his kids on his knee.

[aristeides]

But circuit courts decide by three-judge panels. So at least two out of three of the judges on the panel would have had to be intimidated. In this case, the decision for the government was unanimous, by all three. (And one of the three is Jim Buckley, the former senator who is Bill's brother.)

[Uncle Bill]

I would have to study the backgrounds, but I'm sure, like most of America, it looks like this.

[visualops]

enough reason to execute Hanssen for treason

They had enough already, IMHO.

[archy]

But that begs the question by presuming that "such things" exist in the first place - IOW, you're assuming the existance of the thing you're ostensibly supposed to be proving the existance of.

Not at all. I have firsthand knowledge of some *such things,* sometimes as a newspaperman, other times as a participant myself, or as a family member of those involved. Accordingly, I can sometimes spot similarities between those events and others with the same modus operandi or dramatis personae.

Such extrapolation doesn't always offer a look in the right direction, of course, but it does offer some idea of which dots to consider connecting, if a game of connect-the-dots is to be played.

That's not to say that every governmental attempt at coverup or obfuscation is a follow-on phase of a planned conspiracy; most of those we see are the results of hasty attempts to conceal potentially career-ending evidence of routine foulups gone off the rails farther than expected, or with cascading results.

But sometimes, too often, it's the same old game and the usual cast of players.

[MattAMiller]

Thank you Nick. I was somehow under the impression that this was some sort of data-mining software and that it was of much, much more recent vintage. That made some of this sound plauible.

[Nick Danger]

I was somehow under the impression that this was some sort of data-mining software and that it was of much, much more recent vintage.

I met with Hamilton, at Inslaw, to help arrange a PROMIS port to DG minis. That was in '78 or '79. It was a very clever thing for its day, but its "day" was about 25 years ago. If you remember Clipper, it was sort of like a precursor to that.

[Stefan Stackhouse]

So are none of these databases password protected? Or are these just the type of passwords that are never changed and are written on a yellow post-it note stuck by the monitor?

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the heads up!

[Poohbah]

PROMIS, which was in development and real-world use for over 10 years by 1982, and has presumably been upgraded since, could very well be the most useful intelligence management software in existence.

Small problem: INSLAW wasn't doing any upgrades, they were going bankrupt!

[Poohbah]

The DoJ had the source code.

You really expect me to believe that?