"Nothing to see here. Move along."
Posted on 02/08/2007 7:04:32 AM PST by jmc813
The Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday apologetically retracted staff members' comments that two Border Patrol agents convicted of shooting a Mexican drug smuggler had told investigators they intended "to shoot Mexicans."
The department's inspector general issued the retraction at a congressional hearing as the department released a previously sealed report into the conduct of the two agents, Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean.
Congressional pressure to remove the two agents from prison - either through presidential pardons or by releasing them on bail pending appeal - intensified Wednesday after reports that fellow inmates assaulted Ramos over the weekend.
The case has become a cause celebre among conservative groups, which contend that Ramos and Compean were railroaded by overzealous federal prosecutors who gave the drug smuggler immunity to testify against the two agents.
U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton of San Antonio has defended his handling of the case, saying the agents seriously overstepped their authority by attempting to cover up the shooting of the smuggler, Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila, and destroying evidence. They began serving their sentences last month. Compean faces 12 years in prison, Ramos 11.
The Homeland Security Department, which includes the Border Patrol, released its inspector general's report after four Texas lawmakers demanded the document to compare it with information from a briefing that department staff members gave them in September.
The aides told the lawmakers that the two agents had admitted to investigators that they intended to "shoot Mexicans." But Inspector General Richard L. Skinner said under questioning by Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, that the statements were erroneous, and he apologized.
The report also contradicted statements made in the briefing that the two men knew that Aldrete-Davila was unarmed and didn't pose a threat. The report contained a transcript of Compean's account to investigators, in which he said that he and Ramos were trying "to kill the alien" because they thought he had a gun.
McCaul described the errors as serious misrepresentations that painted a distorted picture of the case.
"My complaint here is that they weren't forthcoming with all the evidence," McCaul said.
Skinner told McCaul that his aides apparently misquoted a statement that the two agents were attempting "to shoot the alien" after they received a telephone briefing on the case from Texas. But he said that exchange had no bearing on the outcome of the criminal case and occurred after the trial in El Paso.
"It's innocent, unintentional," Skinner said, adding that he saw no need to punish his staff.
Several Republican lawmakers demanded that the two agents be separated from other inmates or be transferred to a low-security prison. Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., also called for the dismissal of Federal Bureau of Prisons Director Harley Lappin if the inmates aren't protected.
Ramos is serving his sentence at a medium-security prison in Yazoo City, Miss., and Compean is imprisoned in Ohio. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., said Ramos' family told him that the agent's injuries are more severe than originally reported and include bleeding from an ear and possible signs of paralysis in his left arm. He said a nurse examined Ramos, but that he hasn't seen a doctor.
Reps. Walter Jones, R-N.C., and Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., blasted President Bush for not intervening in the case, with Rohrabacher hinting that he would consider pressing for impeachment if either of the two agents was killed in prison.
"The president has lost my respect because he will not step forward and do what's right," Jones said.
ping
ping
"Nothing to see here. Move along."
Bush has some sort of sick fetish for border jumpers.
If the President would just get out of the way and let law enforcement do their job on the border I would leave him alone.
WHat has a photo of Whitey Bulger to do with this case?
Bush has some sort of sick fetish for border jumpers.
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Just now figuring that out?? :-)
It goes alot farther than that as well -- as we have witnessed. And our open borders and the protection of invading criminals in his country just continues.
Both cases involve governmental lying leading to federal incarceration of the innocent.
Seems like the government got caught in their CYA smear campaign.
What other things are the government doing/using to CYA?
Did the transcript of the trial ever get released? How many months does it take to get a trail transcript?
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The US government is more into propaganda these days than ever before.
So...when will these men be released from federal prison ?
If DHS is lying about that, what else are they lying about in this case?
The damage is already done.
FYI
"with Rohrabacher hinting that he would consider pressing for impeachment if either of the two agents was killed in prison."
I would support that...
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