Feds obtain sealed case of Ritter's arrest

AP | 1/25/03

[kattracks]

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- Federal authorities have obtained the sealed records in the alleged Internet sex sting of former U.N. chief weapons inspector Scott Ritter to review for possible federal charges.

State Supreme Court Justice Joseph Teresi signed an order Thursday requiring police and Albany County prosecutors to provide records and any evidence to the FBI and the U.S. attorney's office.

Federal authorities filed a motion earlier in the week to obtain the records to determine whether federal laws were violated, the Daily Gazette of Schenectady and the Times Union of Albany reported in Saturday editions.

Assistant U.S. Attorney William Pericak refused to comment to the newspapers. A message to his office by The Associated Press was not immediately returned Saturday.

Ritter, 41, a critic of the Bush administration's push toward war with Iraq, acknowledged his June 2001 arrest this week in national television appearances but said he was prohibited from discussing details because the charges had been dismissed and the records sealed.

Ritter has suggested recent news reports about the arrest were an attempt to silence him. He said the publicity has forced him to cancel a recent trip to Baghdad, where he said he would have offered an alternative to military action.

Broadcast reports when he was arrested and recent newspaper reports have indicated Ritter was caught in an Internet sex sting, something he did not admit.

At the time of the arrest, NBC station WNYT-TV of Albany reported that William Scott Ritter Jr. -- Ritter's full name -- was charged with trying to lure an undercover police officer posing as a 16-year-old girl to a restaurant.

WNYT broadcast Ritter's mug shot but did not make the connection to his role as the chief U.N. weapons inspector in Iraq during most of the 1990s.

He was charged with attempted endangerment of a child, a misdemeanor that carries up to 90 days in jail, reports said. The case was adjourned in contemplation of dismissal, meaning that if he stayed out of trouble for six months, the charges would disappear and the file would be sealed.

[cake_crumb]

"Is it true he said 'I'm gonna get me some of those scarfed lil muslim girls'...'I'll show her some weapon inspections!!'???....thats what CNN is reporting"

LOL!

[IncPen]

I hope talk radio picks this up.

Informational Ping...

[TLBSHOW]

Blackmail I have heard.

[xm177e2]

Betcha that the Iraqis have plenty of film, movie and stills of little Scottie with lots of Saddam supplied children for Ritter to "enjoy".

The one problem with that theory is that Ritter was a very good inspector up until the UN team was called home. If Saddam had that info on him, he would probably have used it at the time.

Ritter also doesn't seem like the personality type who could be blackmailed, he's much to independent. He probably just hates his bosses because they wouldn't let him go after Saddam's weapons aggressively enough, and the pedophile stuff is completely unrelated.

[nicmarlo]

It's about time the AP started telling at least a BIT of the truth and stopped blaming Scuddie's self inflicted problems on the VRWC.

But, cake_crumb, they're only following Scuddy's orders:

"Do you think this was an attempt to silence you?"

Ritter: "Again, I don't want to get into that, I think that is a question that maybe you journalists should be delving into more."

Ritter Speaks Out About the Right Wing Smear

[nicmarlo]

I hope talk radio picks this up.

Informational Ping...

Musn't forget Sean! : )

[byteback]

According to Webster bald-faced came in around 1943 as a synonym for barefaced lie. If one is barefaced, or shaven, their face is exposed. A bald-faced lie is lying when all the facts are on the table such as as "I did not have sex with that woman", when there are stains on the dress.

[TLBSHOW]

I still want this answered by Scott.

Question:
You've spoke about having seen the children's prisons in Iraq. Can you describe what you saw there?


Scott Ritter:
The prison in question is at the General Security Services headquarters, which was inspected by my team in Jan. 1998. It appeared to be a prison for children — toddlers up to pre-adolescents — whose only crime was to be the offspring of those who have spoken out politically against the regime of Saddam Hussein. It was a horrific scene. Actually I'm not going to describe what I saw there because what I saw was so horrible that it can be used by those who would want to promote war with Iraq, and right now I'm waging peace.

Time Magazine
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,351165,00.html

[ErnBatavia]

Never underestimate the utter cluelessness of the average local TV station's producers and reporters.

I'd amend that to read, "Never underestimate the AGENDA...."

[cake_crumb]

"Is this the first sighting of the judge involved?"

I think so...in the press anyway. This must be our shadowy "Bush appointee", ordered by the EEEVEEEEL Bush administration to SILENCE Ritter for speaking out against the EEEEVEEEEL Bush administration's EEEEVEEEL war for oil against innocent little Saddam..

(Seriously) Ritter says "The timing does stink. I was supposed to be on an airplane yesterday to Baghdad. Let's not forget, we're on the verge of a major conflict in which thousands of American lives may be lost, and I was a leading voice of opposition to this."

There were a total of 240 American casulties as a result of battle in Iraq. That number includes the wounded who lived. He was there. He knows. Where does Scott get THOUSANDS from now?? ESPECIALLY if Saddam had no WMD, as Ritter NOW claims?

Ritter stinks.

[nicmarlo]

Actually I'm not going to describe what I saw there because what I saw was so horrible that it can be used by those who would want to promote war with Iraq, and right now I'm waging peace.

OMG; He's as demented as Saddam.

[cake_crumb]

kitty ritter"

ROFLOL!! Scott "Kitty" Ritter BUMP!!

[Brandybux]

FYI

BALD-FACE/FACED (for this sense: 1940s according to Merriam-Webster, ~1650 according to Random House) as used in ‘bald-faced lie’ means undisguised or ‘barefaced.’ And ‘barefaced’ (late 16th century) means having no covering over one’s face (originally, beardless), undisguised, wearing no mask, unconcealed, open, transparent. And not hiding behind a disguise (e.g. like anonymity or a pseudonym on a website) implies some boldness (however, anonymity on a website more often then not is probably just a matter of pure sloth, or sloth disguised – often a.k.a. personal freedom). Extend boldness a bit and you go from brazen, to impudent, to shameless – all of which ‘bald-faced’ has come to mean.< a plain, bald-faced case of highhanded graft—F.B. Gipson> (sources include Merriam-Webster’s Random House Unabridged Dictionaries and The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary)

[Dog]

Thanks Kat...

This gets better every day..

[TLBSHOW]

Thanks for high lighting this.

SCOTT RITTER:

Actually I'm not going to describe what I saw there because what I saw was so horrible that it can be used by those who would want to promote war with Iraq, and right now I'm waging peace.

[NYer]

For those of you who are following the Scott Ritter case, and have satellite TV, he will appear in a taped interview Sunday morning at 8:30am on the CBS affiliate in Albany, WRGB, Channel 6. The interview will be conducted by local tv journalist, Liz Bishop. Scott Ritter is a local resident in the town of Delmar, NY, a fairly lucrative suburb of Albany.

[cyncooper]

Ritter also doesn't seem like the personality type who could be blackmailed, he's much to independent.

!

I don't think he's independent. I think he's an egomaniac

[cake_crumb]

Thanks for the link.

[Allan]

Bump

[Lauratealeaf]

If you click on this link and scroll down you will see an article about the local traffic court judge who approved the sealing of the case.

Colonie Town Justice Peter Crummey