Gorelick Caught In Lie - Gorelick Says She Did Not Author or Sign the "WALL" Memo

World Net Daily ^ | April 14, 2004 | By Joe Kovacs

[joinedafterattack]

Gorelick Caught In Lie - Gorelick Claims She Did Not Author or Sign the Memo That Bears Her Name and Initials.
When asked specifically by CNN's Wolf Blitzer if she wrote the "memorandum in '95 that helped establish the so-called walls between the FBI and CIA," Gorelick distanced herself from the matter:
"No, and again, I would refer you back to what others on the commission have said. The wall was a creature of statute. It's existed since the mid 1980s. And while it's too lengthy to go into, basically the policy that was put out in the mid-nineties, which I didn't sign, wasn't my policy by the way, it was the attorney general's policy, was ratified by Attorney General Ashcroft's deputy as well in August of 2001. So we are just going to move on from this. This is not a basis for resignation."

[joinedafterattack]

She just lied about it. The pdf pictures of the "wall" memo show that it is from her and she initialled it.

[MNJohnnie]

So we are just going to move on from this. This is not a basis for resignation."

That is what you think Gorlick. You either resign, or the whole Comittee is revealed as a farce.

[FlyVet]

"Given Ms. Gorelick's work as the deputy attorney general under Janet Reno, Ms. Gorelick can be quite valuable to the commission's work preparing 'a full and complete account of the circumstances surrounding the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.' However, that contribution should come as a witness before the commission – not as a member."

Oh REALLY. They been using FR for show prep again?

[Delta 21]

"Given Ms. Gorelick's work as the deputy attorney general under Janet Reno, Ms. Gorelick can be quite valuable to the commission's work preparing 'a full and complete account of the circumstances surrounding the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.' However, that contribution should come as a witness before the commission – not as a member."

mmmmmmm.....yep !

[AlienCrossfirePlayer]

Yes! Yes! Her initials are on the memo!! I love it when liberals get caught in a firestorm of their own making.

[UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide]

It depends on what the meaning of "sign" is.
(She initialed it.)

[kayak]

That is what you think Gorlick. You either resign, or the whole Comittee is revealed as a farce.

My vote is for 'all of the above.'

[Delta 21]

Within ten days after the Sept. 11 attack, Gorelick herself was critical of the Clinton administration's lack of persistence in the pursuit of terrorists and concluded there were intelligence breakdowns that led to the onslaught of violence in New York.

...something about the forest....a bunch of trees....and the nose on her face.....

[Outraged]

[Outraged]

[Mo1]

"All of the commission members have some government experience," Gorelick responded. "Everyone is subject to the same recusal policies. You could have had a commission with nobody who knew anything about government. And I don't think it would have been a very helpful commission."

True .. but not everyone on the commission signed a memo that blocked the intell departments from doing their job properly

[tonyinv]

She will resign and the calls for her to be a witness will prevail.

Let's keep up the pressure.

[Prince Charles]

You would think that after 8 years of being schooled in the art of the lie at the knees of Rodham & Gommorrah that Gorelick would be able to lie better....

[Mo1]

"She concealed the existence of her own memo issued in 1995," Limbaugh said. "She concealed her own memo from this fact-finding commission. She concealed her own memo to protect herself and Bill Clinton, pure and simple. ...

[radiohead]

My vote is for 'all of the above.'

Seconded.

Lying friggin' lawyer. (I hate to say this about my people, sometimes you have to call 'em as you see'em.)

On what planet is she not responsible for that memo???

[kitkat]

BUMP

[DustyMoment]

Gee, before their anti-Bush smearing . . . er . . . "work" is completed, it seems that too many members of this investigatory "committee" have too many "issues".

Sounds like the committee is going to be the basis for discrediting their report BEFORE the report is completed.

[Nita Nupress]

I still want to know if this memo was initiated because of OKC, among other things.

[An.American.Expatriate]

While I agree that she needs to be questioned, what she said on CNN is not entirely incorrect (although VERY misleading).

The policies which created the wall betweeen Intelligence gathering and Law Enforcement go WAY back. The first formalization was the FISA act and thereafter the wall simply grew.

FISA made it extremely difficult to collect Intelligence data on "US Persons" (basically any person or organization legally present in the US). There were two tracks for investigations - criminal or intelligence - and the two were kept apart.

This memo again formalized the wall within the FBI and made clear how investigations were to be carried out. Gorelcik did NOT initiate this policy.

She is being very disingenious though when she states that she didn't "sign" it / author it. As with most documents of this type, the DAG probably DIDN'T write it. Instead she would have had her staff do it. She is still responsible for the content and any policy memos originating from her office.

[meadsjn]

I believe the memo was issued in March or early April 1995, slightly before the OKC attack. If so, it opens a whole 'nother can of old worms.

[Paleo Conservative]

Sounds like the committee is going to be
the basis for discrediting their report
BEFORE the report is completed.

[meadsjn]

From this thread:

Mr. Ashcroft pointed out that the wall was raised even higher in the mid-1990s, in the midst of what was then one of the most important antiterror investigations in American history--into the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. On Tuesday the Attorney General declassified and read from a March 4, 1995, memo in which Jamie Gorelick--then Deputy Attorney General and now 9/11 Commissioner--instructed then-FBI Director Louis Freeh and United States Attorney Mary Jo White that for the sake of "appearances" they would be required to adhere to an interpretation of the wall far stricter than the law required.

[backhoe]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1117579/posts
GORELICK GATE: Developing...
various FR links | 04-14-04 | The Heavy Equipment Guy

[TexKat]

Interview With Ted Olson; Interview With Richard Ben-Veniste, Slade Gorton - CNN Larry King

Senator Gorton, what do you make about of what Ted Olson said about you and your fellow commissioners doing to much television, going on the media. He's surprised at that.

SLADE GORTON (R) 9/11 COMMISSION: I would divide Ted's comments into two. First, his the description of the wall and the fact that it came into existence in the 1970s and 1980s, through several administration, both Republicans and Democrat was entirely correct. It was created by a statute, it was created by court decisions, not by the desire of the people in the Department of Justice.

And as a consequence, it lasted a year into the current administration, until 9/11 persuaded Congress to pass the PATRIOT Act and the courts to change their minds. So he's right about that.

So, it was wrong to attack individuals, especially a member of the commission, for creating something that was not their creation, but was required by an outside force.

JAMES THOMPSON, 9/11 COMMISSIONER - Aaron Brown CNN

One of the commissioners asking questions today was Jim Thompson, the former Republican Governor of Illinois and we are pleased that he joins us tonight from Chicago. Governor, good evening to you.

JAMES THOMPSON, 9/11 COMMISSIONER: Good evening, Aaron.

BROWN: I saw you sitting next to Commissioner Lehman when he said some very real changes are coming down the track. Can you give us a sense of at least your own view of how extensive those changes have to be and I suppose the money question here is do we need, in your mind at least, do we need a domestic intelligence gathering agency?

THOMPSON: Well, here's the dilemma and it's a real one for all of us on the commission and I think a real one for the president and his administration, for the Congress and for the American people.

In my view and I suspect some of my fellow commissioners share this view, George Tenet at the CIA and Robert Mueller at the FBI are two of the best people that have happened to the federal government in a long, long time, and if we could be assured that they would be in charge of those agencies forever no changes because both men are instituting real reforms at their institutions.

But they won't be there forever and we don't know who the next director of the CIA will be or the next director of the FBI will be and so we have to look at structural changes.

But if we do that and if, for example, we recommended the creation of a new domestic intelligence agency that would probably take five years to get up and running and where would the people come from who would be employed?

From the FBI probably, from the CIA, and so we'd start all over again with the same people in a different bureaucracy with a different committee of Congress overseeing it and with a track record yet to be established, so this is far from an easy question and I don't think we're through considering the issue yet.

BROWN: But it obviously has to be considered.

THOMPSON: It has to be considered because there's no question there were failures at the FBI and failures at the CIA before 9/11. Now that doesn't mean that we could have prevented 9/11 had there been no failures.

We'll never know, I suspect, the answer to the question of whether 9/11 could be prevented and we need to avoid the blame game. We need to at least focus on what lessons we can learn from the death of these 3,000 people or they will have died in vain.

BROWN: And I wanted to ask you about the blame game stuff and whether we're past that in these hearings, not so much today but certainly yesterday. For those of us who really want this commission to do it great, it was an uncomfortable day I thought of finger pointing and it's their fault, no it's theirs, no I didn't say that, yes, he did.

First of all how do you square some of that and, secondly, are we past that point?

THOMPSON: Well, you know, I think as much blame came from the witnesses pointing at each other as came from the commission.

BROWN: Yes, absolutely.

THOMPSON: That's the first answer and, secondly, I think sometimes when you tune into the hearings you're probably mistaking the personality and the witness questioning techniques or the cross- examination techniques, if you like, of various members of the commission, some of whom are lawyers, some of whom are former prosecutors or defense lawyers.

It doesn't necessarily indicate what we're thinking or where we're going to end up with our conclusions. My guess is, my best hope is that when this is all over the commission will have a unanimous report, five Democrats, five Republicans agreeing unanimously on what happened on September 11 and where we go from here, what the future holds for the intelligence services of this nation and how we can lessen the odds of having 9/11 happen again. And, if we have a unanimous report, it won't be a partisan one.

BROWN: Just one more quick one here.

THOMPSON: Sure.

BROWN: And, actually it was the witnesses and not the commissioners that made me uncomfortable yesterday. Up the road in Wisconsin, Congressman Sensenbrenner today strongly suggested that one of the commission members resign over a conflict of interest. Do you have a feeling on the appropriateness of that? THOMPSON: Yes, you know, I like Congressman Sensenbrenner but I think he's wrong on this one. Jamie Gorelick recused herself from having anything to do with this issue of the wall that's created between prosecutors and intelligence services.

In point of fact, that wall grew up 20 years ago in the Reagan administration. It continued under the first Bush administration. It continued under the Clinton administration and it continued into this Bush administration where it was finally torn down by the Patriot Act, which President Bush and John Ashcroft pushed.

So, she's not taking part in these things that are at issue, just like a number of us are not taking part in matters where we have a conflict. My law firm represents American Airlines, so I recused myself a year ago on the issue of airline security. I won't take part in that part of the report.

And so, I think Commission Gorelick who is a person of great integrity and has been a valuable member of this commission should stay on the commission and participate in our final report.

BROWN: Governor, we know you've had a long day. It included some travel. We appreciate you time as always. Thank you, sir.

[meadsjn]

The Middle Eastern (Iraq) Connection to Oklahoma City (1995 Official Congressional Prior Warning) from (February 17, 2002 | Jim Crogan)

On Feb. 27, 1995, the task force had issued its first confidential warning to federal agencies that Islamic terrorists "may soon strike Washington D.C., specifically the Capitol and the White House." This confidential alert, which he said was quietly distributed to federal intelligence agencies and law enforcement, claimed the attacks were to begin after March 21, 1995.

"Striking inside the U.S. is presently a high priority for Iran," stated the warning. The alert also stated that upcoming terrorist strikes might be directed against "airports, airlines and telephone systems." In light of Sept. 11, it was a telling note.

On March 3, 1995, the task force issued an update. This "super-sensitive" alert stated there was a "greater likelihood the terrorists would strike at the heart of the U.S." Bodansky also told Davis that after the truck bombing, he reviewed intelligence data that confirmed, "Oklahoma City was on the list of potential targets."

Bodansky gave Davis copies of the task force's original alert and some of his confidential notes detailing the update and Oklahoma City's target status. His material notes an independent warning from Israeli intelligence a month before the bombing. The warning indicated a terrorist attack was impending and that "lilly whites" would be activated. Lilly whites, Bodansky writes, were people without any background or police records who would not be suspected members of a terrorist group.

[truth_seeker]

"I didn't sign it."

"I initialled it."

[CyberAnt]

And .. while she's claiming this came from the AG's office, we all know Reno was too ignorant to have done this. This was JG's work - and like Rush said today - this is that same bunch from the 60's who thought the police were PIGS - so they devised a statute to tie their hands.

[backhoe]

Thanks- copied & saved.

[jmstein7]

BUMP!

[fly_so_free]

The nerve . She was one of the most obnoxious of all the inquisitors or panelists or whatever they call their totally one sided, biased, time wasting, joke of commission, or Soviet Show trial.

The whole time this is the woman who is responsible for the hangups that contributed to the Intelligence Failure of 9/11 that each person testifying , kept alluding to over and over.

It is unbelievable how stupid the 'Rats think we are, that we're just going to "overlook " this " so-called minor detail". Shheeeesh!

[Truth29]

"She will resign ..."

I hope you are correct, but the Commission members, Republican and Democrat, are defending her and the pubbie leadership, Hastert and Frist, are silent. The major media is downplaying the memo and controversy, etc. Once again, the inability of the GOP to fight like the dems and the connivance of the media work against us. The GOP helped to build the gun and load the bullets that will now be fired against us. The party needs a major reform and the go along to get along RINO's must be purged.

[CatoRenasci]

Well, she didn't lie, it all depends on what signed means, and to a lawyer, initialed is not the same thing as signed.

[zip]

ping

[Diogenesis]

The Utterly Absolutely Disgraced 911 Commission [by their own choice]

---

"You think you are gonna ask me why I dared refuse repeat DOJ requests for investigations of dangerous illegal aliens.
Do you really think you are gonna get to ask me why I arranged to stovepipe intelligence to make intraagency effective communication useless.
Do you really think you are gonna get to ask me why illegal aliens who were felons became voters for our Democratic party.
Do you really think you are gonna get to ask me why I OK'd the use of stolen FBI files on DNC computers.
Not a chance. Following LBJ, your gonads are in my fist.
Your FBI files are in my computer. Now go away. "

---

"Some wonder whether [Clinton] was distracted by the legal and
political quagmire of the Monica Lewinsky case.
And even former Clinton aides now regret that the
battle with bin Laden and his Al-Qaida organization was never fully joined.
'Clearly, not enough was done,' said Jamie Gorelick,
a former deputy attorney general in the Clinton administration.
'We should have caught this. Why this happened, I don't know.
Responsibilities were given out. Resources were given. Authorities existed.
We should have prevented this.'

[kcvl]

NATIONAL DISGRACE, CONT'D



April 15, 2004 -- House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner has demanded the resignation of Jamie Gorelick as a member of the federal 9/11 Commission.

Frankly, given her blatant conflicts of interest, she should never have been appointed in the first place.

One stunning Gorelick conflict emerged at Tuesday's public commission hearing: Attorney General John Ashcroft disclosed that in 1995, Gorelick - while deputy attorney general under Bill Clinton - wrote a memo ordering the FBI to separate counterintelligence work from criminal investigations.

As Ashcroft put it, this memo - which went beyond what federal law required - erected a legal wall between the FBI and CIA, creating "the single greatest structural cause for September 11."

So. How can someone who played a key role in the events under investigation possibly sit as one of the investigators?

Indeed, Gorelick has a proper role to play with the commission - as a witness, grilled under oath about her own actions.

And what was Commission Chairman Tom Kean's response to calls for Gorelick's dismissal or resignation?



"People ought to stay out of our business," he huffed.

Funny, but isn't the commission meant to be conducting the people's business?

As it turns out, the memo is just the tip of the iceberg concerning Gorelick's questionable fitness as a member of the panel.

That's because she's a litigation partner in one of Washington's most high-powered Democratic law firms - Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering.

And that firm represents Prince Mohammed al-Faisal al-Saud, a member of the Saudi royal family and director of a key Saudi financial agency, against a lawsuit filed by a coalition of 600 Sept. 11 families.

The lawsuit, filed by Families United to Bankrupt Terrorism, seeks "to cut off the pipeline that fueled the al Qaeda terrorists" - a pipeline in which the high-paying client represented by Gorelick's law firm reportedly played a central part.

The prince is chairman of Dar al-Maal al-Islami (DMI), which boasts $1 billion in assets.

One of its subsidiaries is the Al-Shamil Islamic Bank, whose directors include Osama bin Laden's half-brother and his brother-in-law.

According to congressional testimony last October by Jean-Charles Brisard, an international expert on terrorism financing, the Swiss-based DMI "is one of the central structures in Saudi Arabia's financing of international Islam," and is rooted in the House of Saud's "support for the radical Islamic cause."

DMI, according to published reports, was a major shareholder of a Bahamian Islamic bank that was shut down after Washington tabbed it a centerpiece of Osama bin Laden's financial network.

Though Gorelick may not be litigating the lawsuit, as a partner she profits from her firm's work for the Saudi prince.

Gorelick, who might have become attorney general in an Al Gore administration, could get that same job if John Kerry wins in November.

If all of this is not intolerable for a 9/11 commissioner, then there's no such thing as conflict of interest.

The blatant anti-Bush partisanship demonstrated by Richard Ben-Veniste and Bob Kerrey long ago brought disgrace upon the commission.

Now this.

What a sick, sad joke.

[samtheman]

"All of the commission members have some government experience," Gorelick responded. "Everyone is subject to the same recusal policies. You could have had a commission with nobody who knew anything about government. And I don't think it would have been a very helpful commission."

What an artless job of willfully mis-stating the facts.

No one is saying commission members shouldn't have government experience.

All we are saying, is you should be a witness. You did something that affected 9/11. In a big way. You should be under oath.

By the standards of this commission, Julius Streiker should have been a judge at the Nuremberg trials, not a defendent.

[Puddleglum]

1. And while it's too lengthy to go into, basically the policy that was put out in the mid-nineties, which I didn't sign, wasn't my policy by the way,

2. it was the attorney general's policy, was ratified by Attorney General Ashcroft's deputy as well in August of 2001.

About point one - time to call Janet Reno back to the stand.

About point two - is this true? Should be easily testable. What does she mean by "ratified"? Who wrote the damn thing, anyway, and at whose direction?

[Samwise]

On what planet is she not responsible for that memo?

On planet LiberalMediaSpin.

[backhoe]

It depends on what the meaning of "sign" is. (She initialed it.)

Best I recall from years in business, if she initialled it over her name and title, it's as good as a signature in court.

[anoldafvet]

"You could have had a commission with nobody who knew anything about government. And I don't think it would have been a very helpful commission."

Want to bet Ms Gorelick? Put me and any twelve random Freepers on that committee and I bet we have answers in less than two weeks. This is the same old Liberal lie, only a government bureaucrat knows how to fix the government's problems.

[gunnedah]

When a Democrat lies it should surprise no one. It is when they tell the truth that shocks hell out of me!

[Diogenesis]

BREAKING: Gorelick (put on the Committee by Daschle)
not only created the background for the 911 Atrocities but now is covering it up
for the terrorists. Gorelick is a litigation partner of Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering.
which represents Prince Mohammed al-Faisal al-Saud, the House of Saud,
against a lawsuit filed by a coalition of 600 Sept. 11 families.

CONCLUSION:

[holden]

This is another FBI files issue. Big Jim doesn't want to be outted.
HF

[holden]

"I didn't author it."

"Somebody just put in the stack for me to initial.
("Can't you see I'm not smart enough to put this together by myself?")

HF

[alrea]

She will resign and the calls for her to be a witness will prevail.

No telling what a search of her "law" firm might find. Vince Fosters keys? Gary Condit's address book? Bin Laden's cell phone number?

[alnick]

She didn't sign it; she initialed it. Typical Clintonista. How I despise those people.

[alnick]

The way I understand it, the Gorelick memo goes beyond what the law required, so she can't take the excuse that the law had been in effect for years before the existence of the memo.

[Old Sarge]

Walk.

Pass.

Buried my The Media.

Forgotten by The Sheep.

[TomGuy]

Per this Reno speech, the Gorelick memo wasn't a wall, but Reno is parsing. It seems all the Clinton people are adept at trying to parse words.

Gorelick: I did not sign that memo [I initialled it].

Reno: "I know of nothing that would have prohibited, based on what I've seen, proper follow-up"

Hey, Janet, what does 'proper follow-up' mean? We're not talking about following up, we're talking about a directive that prohibits information sharing, Janet.

Reno: Nothing kept FBI from sharing info
			Posted by NormsRevenge On News/Activism 04/14/2004 10:13:43 PM CDT with 30 comments Bakersfield Californian ^ | 4/14/04 | Murray Evans - AP LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) - Contradicting her successor, former Attorney General Janet Reno said Wednesday that nothing prevented the sharing of FBI intelligence with criminal investigators working on counterterrorism. Reno, speaking Wednesday at the University of Kentucky, took issue with Attorney General John Ashcroft's statement Tuesday that a legal restriction referred to as "the wall" prevented the FBI from sharing information with investigators. "I know of nothing that would have prohibited, based on what I've seen, proper follow-up" in cases Ashcroft referred to, Reno said.

[KC_Conspirator]

I noticed that the liberal print media has been trying to avoid the Gorelick memo since Ashcroft outed her.