Posted on 01/15/2002 7:22:51 PM PST by nunya bidness
While the country was riveted to the Enron mess, few noticed that President Bush in a recess appointment placed John Magaw as his pick for Under Secretary of Transportation Security at the Department of Transportation created in the wake of 9-11. As undersecretary he will set standards for hiring and training airport screeners, supervise employees, and develop plans to deal with threats to transportation. He also is given the power to bypass normal rule-making procedures if he "determines that a regulation or security directive must be issued immediately in order to protect transportation security". In addition the agency, taking shape following the aviation security bill, will oversee airport security screeners and air marshals, as well as security efforts at U.S. rail, bus and seaport operations.
Of course I took a look at the guy and what I found wasn't good. So rather than throw insults and innuendo at the guy I'll just let his record speak on his behalf.
John Magaw started his career as a trooper with the Ohio State Patrol in 1959. He made the jump to the Fed meal ticket in 1967 as a special agent with the U.S. Secret Service. He eventually ended up becoming then- Vice-President Bush's security detail head during the Reagan years. And when Bush Sr. was elected president he was given the nod to head the presidential detail.
Magaw was appointed director of the BATF by Clinton after the Waco massacre in 1993. In a Washington Times article in November of that year he stated that he was determined that other religious "cults" not develop into "armed compounds". He said, "They're out there. They don't yet have the kind of weaponry that we saw in Waco. . .but they will develop if society allows them to." Magaw said BATF is keeping tabs on "cult-like organizations" in "three or four places around the country. . .We're trying to monitor way early in the game."
During the investigation it was discovered that prior to the 51 day siege the BATF had ample time to incarcerate David Koresh, but for reasons unknown chose to confront him at the home in Waco - the result of which were dead agents and a protracted engagement that ended with dead women and children who were roasted to death at the hands of federal agents. Magaw had certainly jumped into the hot seat but he did well in protecting the government party line.
Not that Magaw wasn't used to holding the bag. He was just getting started. During the Ruby Ridge assault and the aftermath, under the lights of Congressional hearings and following statements by BATF agent Herbert Byerly, Magaw, when confronted with allegations that the agency had made mistakes in the murder of Vicky Weaver, defended the false information his agents provided other government officials as attempts "to ensure caution". Magaw was called out on his testimony more than once as "not correct". In 1995 a redneck from Alabama shot video of a traditional gathering known as the "Good Ol' Boys Roundup" which included racist signs and slogans and skits that included simulated sex acts and torture between white and black-faced participants. The problem was the participants were for the most part agents of the BATF, FBI, DEA, Secret Service, U.S. Marshals Service and other federal agencies. The media got a hold of the story and Congress had a hearing and in July of that year Magaw was once again in the hot seat. And eventually the story died.
During his tenure at the BATF John Magaw was in charge of the following activities by his agency:
The aftermath of Waco and Ruby Ridge.
The 1994 investigation of David Scott and his neighbors who were grilled about his political views, weapons ownership, habits, etc., all because he had discharged a "spudgun."
The 1995 crackdown on Colorado FFL dealers and in particular the owner of a small dealership who dealt locally. Apparently the dealership owner had not checked the form when a customer made the mistake of using the current date on the birthdate line. When the BATF questioned him about the mistake they asked him about the error. He offered to have the customer come in to answer but the agents shifted tactics and informed him that he was operating his business in violation of local zoning laws. He was given the choice to give up his license or fight it in court. He gave up his license.
In 1994 Monique Montgomery was awakened at 4:30 a.m. to the sounds of a no-knock search warrant. She did what anyone else would do and armed herself and for her trouble she was granted four shots. She survived and the facts surrounding the warrant were explained as "drug related".
In 1993 Janice Hart came home from grocery shopping to find her home being ransacked by Federal agents looking for Janice Harrell. The only problem was they had the wrong house. Ms. Hart was taken to her basement and questioned for hours while her daughter Nina, 12, had her knee injured by an agent who slammed the car door when she tried to get out. Janice eventually proved her innocence but still has nightmares to this day.
75 federal agents from the BATF stormed an Atlanta car parts store to recover and investigate some allegedly stolen tires. When questioned about the excessive use of force one of the agents responded, "Better safe than sorry."
In a Congressional inquiry John Magaw claimed, "In the past decade, ATF agents have served over 10,000 search warrants. Not one of them has led to any finding of Constitutional violations by an employee acting outside the scope or his or her authority."
During the aftermath of the April 19, 1995 bombing of the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City, Edye Smith remembers the day like few will. She had dropped her two children off at the daycare on the second floor. And at 9:02 a.m. she was blowing out the candles on her birthday cake at work a few blocks away when the building exploded. She ran to the destruction but as she came close to the building she knew "our babies were gone".
She began to notice that no ATF agents were named on the casualty list from the bombing. And she looked in to it. She asked U.S Attorney Pat Ryan about where the ATF agents were on the 19th. He brushed her off by saying they were playing golf in a tournament in Shawnee. On May 23rd, the same day the building was demolished, she was on CNN and asked, "Where the hell was the ATF, I want to know? All fifteen or seventeen of their employees survived, and they were on the ninth floor. They were the target of the explosion, and where were they? Did they have a warning sign? Did they think it might be a bad day to go in to the office?"
No ATF agents were harmed in the bombing - just two clerical staff.
Lester Martz of the ATF Dallas office said in a press interview, "We were there and we were heroes." He went on to describe how Alex McCauley was trapped in an elevator at the time of the bombing. The problem? Edye checked up and found that Midwestern Elevator was involved in the search effort and they said that when they searched, the elevators were all empty.
Edye was left wondering why the ATF was not harmed in the bombing and why they would lie about heroics that didn't exist, but she wasn't prepared for John Magaw during a live television interview saying, "I was very concerned about that day (April 19) and issued memos to all our field offices. They were put on alert."
Another aftermath of the OKC bombing was the passage of Clinton's Anti-Terrorism bill in April of 1996.
The "Gun Free Zones Act" of 1996 was passed and the ATF was given the authority to enforce it. The act didn't stop the Columbine massacre in April 1999, but the bill did prevent home schooling parents from owning firearms as the home was now a school.
Magaw moved up from ATF to FEMA in 1999. He was appointed as the Senior Advisor to the Director of Terrorism Preparedness. In that role, he planned and coordinated FEMA's domestic terrorism preparedness efforts. He was scrutinized by many as the person to deal with possible unpleasantness in the 2000 rollover. He's also the one who was in charge of domestic terrorism when we were attacked on 9-11. So what does he get for his hard work? A promotion.
He was appointed by President Bush to the newly-created position of Under Secretary of Transportation Security at the Department of Transportation. The appointment lasts longer than the term of the president, and not only will he have daily access to the top U.S. intelligence, he will also be empowered to issue emergency government regulations at will. His responsibilities will include the nation's skies, airports, highways, trains, buses, ports and waterways.
"I cannot think of anybody other than the president of the United States who has this much executive or rule-making ability on their own," said Representative John Mica, a Florida Republican who helped draft the "Aviation and Transportation Security Act" (PL 107-71). The law sets deadlines for improving aviation security: Jan. 18, 2002 for inspecting all checked baggage for explosives, and Feb. 17, 2002 for shifting responsibility for airport security checkpoints from the airlines to the Federal government. The new office has until Nov. 19, 2002, to deploy 28,000 checkpoint screeners it has trained.
Among Magaw's responsibilities are appointing officers who can carry guns, seeking and carrying out arrest and seizure warrants, appointing security managers at each US airport, deploying security officers at airports, setting standards for cockpit security, and assigning armed air marshals to flights.
The law goes on to say, "If the undersecretary determines that a regulation or security directive must be issued immediately in order to protect transportation security, the undersecretary shall issue the regulation or security directive without providing notice or an opportunity for comment and without prior approval of the secretary."
Not bad for a guy who has been left holding the bag most of his career. President Bush, who it's rumored likes to give his gang nicknames, might want to call Magaw "Rainbow." He only shows up after the storm. But in this case I think he might be ahead of the storm. Pay attention.
In his new capacity Magaw will have dominion over all manner of transportation, but specifically the manner in which identification is accepted. Specifically, Congress has delegated Transportation to develop a set of standards of its own. And since the National I.D. didn't go well they came up with driver's license standards for the states. More specifically, the department was told by Congress to develop "model guidelines for encoded data on driver's licenses."
And what did the states have to say about this? The American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators only asked for $70 million in funding to build the system. Jason King, a spokesman for the group, said, "There's no need to create a second national ID card. You already have one. We're just talking about making it better and more secure." Among the improvements are fingerprints and facial photo scans to get a license to drive.
King went on to say that state identification cards ought to come with biometric barcodes that contain various data and should be able to be linked to Federal agencies such as the FBI, IRS, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, and others. National ID cards "are of little use unless they're connected with a centralized database," said Bob Levy, senior fellow in constitutional studies at the Washington D.C.-based Cato Institute.
So there you have it. President Bush has put a guy who has dodged more bullets than Reagan and came out smelling like a rose - all the while protecting the reputations of four presidents, and now he's in charge of one of the most mysterious agencies ever created with more power than can be imagined. Who would have thought that when Dubya was elected that he would appoint a Clinton bag man with blood on his hands to a position that will outlast his current term with a pay scale higher than a cabinet position and a 30% bonus if he does a "good job"?
I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around
Pick up my guitar and play Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We won't get fooled againNo, no
The Who, "Won't Get Fooled Again"
January 14, 2002
A technician for the movie industry, Sean Finnegan is a contributor to Sierra Times and harbors malcontent intentions to spread whatever contains the truth. He currently resides in a row home in the city that breeds otherwise known as Baltimore which is in a state that is always forgotten.
Mercurial Times exclusive commentary. Reprints must credit the author and Mercurial Times.
Copyright 2001 - Mercurial Press
I appreciate you calling it to everyone's attention along with the fellow's history. Damn good work!
I'm humbled by your prowess. You are a brilliant journalist and researcher.
Regards,
Callahan
He was placed in a position to prevent domestic terrorism at FEMA and that is exactly what happened on his watch.
His reward? A promotion.
Do you see the problem?
Do you know what GS number went with his various jobs, which transfers came with promotions?
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