Posted on 03/26/2008 3:07:47 PM PDT by bad company
WASHINGTON - Federal prosecutors say Saddam Hussein's intelligence agency secretly financed a trip to Iraq for three U.S. lawmakers during the run-up to the U.S.-led invasion.
An indictment in Detroit accuses Muthanna Al-Hanooti of arranging for three members of Congress to travel to Iraq in October 2002 at the behest of Saddam's regime. Prosecutors say Iraqi intelligence officials paid for the trip through an intermediary.
In exchange, Al-Hanooti allegedly received 2 million barrels of Iraqi oil.
The lawmakers are not mentioned but the dates correspond to a trip by Democratic Reps. Jim McDermott of Washington, David Bonior of Michigan and Mike Thompson of California. There was no indication the three lawmakers knew the trip was underwritten by Saddam.
Democratic Reps. Jim McDermott of Washington, David Bonior of Michigan and Mike Thompson of California have been added to the official
tx_eggman's list of people who need to be punched in the face.
Thank you so much for this information and link.
This is an outright act of treason.
Trial now.
No censure.
No stepping down.
Conviction for betrayal of America in support of a foreign dictator.
The DNC enables evil.
benedict arnold would be proud.
The time they spend in front of a firing squad would not be long at all.
You had a commie VP under FDR see Stalin’s gulags firsthand and say nothing.
The Left is EVIL.
Are any of their city councils calling for THEIR impeachment?
Soros and Ho Wilson from a joint account.
The Clintons are already working on the Pardon.
The nations that wouldn’t come onboard (France Germany and Russia) also got oil money payola.
And to think that the Congress sh*tters are upset about possible corruption in music and sports.
Trials for enemies of the state. NOW.
The left will probably say that the Bush Administration knew that Saddam was paying for the trip, but wouldn’t let the congressmen know, and now the administration puts it out to make the Democrats look bad.
You are welcome.
Do a FR key word search on mcdermott and oilforfood.
We have had this data for years.
Maybe this time something might happen.
“It’s spring cleaning and the dirt is being swept up now, I believe.”
Freepers have been on this act of treason since it happened.
Maybe something will happen this time.
“Hey! Whens ol Boniar, Tompson and the CONgressional idiot from WA state gonna resign due to total incompetence and incontinence? (buncha betwetters)”
It will never happen. Thompson and the other two traitors will blame GW and the local mediots will have wet dreams defending them against the evil America.
They were traitors when then stood in Baghdad and told the world America was wrong about Saddam.
Mike Thompson’s home newspaper has a front page article on this.
http://www.naparegister.com/articles/2008/03/27/news/local/doc47eb248b00b7f287404342.txt
Did Saddam pay for Thompson’s 2002 Iraq trip?
Thursday, March 27, 2008
By MATT APUZZO, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON — Saddam Hussein’s intelligence agency secretly financed a trip to Iraq for three U.S. lawmakers during the run-up to the U.S.-led invasion, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.
The three anti-war Democrats made the trip in October 2002, while the Bush administration was trying to persuade Congress to authorize military action against Iraq. While traveling, they called for a diplomatic solution.
Prosecutors say that trip was arranged by Muthanna Al-Hanooti, a Michigan charity official, who was charged Wednesday with setting up the junket at the behest of Saddam’s regime. Iraqi intelligence officials allegedly paid for the trip through an intermediary and rewarded Al-Hanooti with 2 million barrels of Iraqi oil.
The lawmakers are not named in the indictment but the dates correspond to a trip by Democratic Reps. Mike Thompson of St. Helena, Jim McDermott of Washington state and David Bonior of Michigan. None was charged and Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd said investigators “have no information whatsoever” any of them knew the trip was underwritten by Saddam.
Thompson released a statement Wednesday saying the trip was approved by the State Department.
“Obviously, had there been any question at all regarding the sponsor of the trip or the funding, I would not have participated,” he said.
In an interview Wednesday afternoon, Thompson said prosecutors have not suggested improper conduct by the members of Congress. The charity was investigated two years ago and was cleared to continue its work.
“The charity that paid for the trip, they didn’t do anything wrong,” said Thompson. “It was somebody involved with them that is alleged to have taken money inappropriately.”
As for his trip, Thompson said this week’s action do nothing to change what he witnessed.
“The people I saw in Baghdad, the people I talked to and the input I got from them certainly were not influenced by this charity or the donors to this charity,” he said.
“Obviously, we didn’t know it at the time,” McDermott spokesman Michael DeCesare said Wednesday. “The trip was to see the plight of the Iraqi children. That’s the only reason we went.”
Both McDermott and Thompson are popular among liberal voters in their reliably Democratic districts for their anti-war views. Bonior is no longer in Congress.
During the trip, the lawmakers expressed skepticism about the Bush administration’s claims that Saddam was stockpiling weapons of mass destruction. Though such weapons ultimately were never found, the lawmakers drew criticism for their trip at the time.
Oklahoma Sen. Don Nickles, then the second-ranking Senate Republican, said the Democrats “sound somewhat like spokespersons for the Iraqi government.”
Seattle-area conservatives dubbed McDermott “Baghdad Jim” for the Iraq trip.
Al-Hanooti was arrested Tuesday night while returning to the U.S. from the Middle East, where he was looking for a job, his attorney, James Thomas, said. Al-Hanooti pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges of conspiracy to act as an unregistered agent of a foreign government, illegally purchasing Iraqi oil and lying to authorities. He was being held on $100,000 bail.
Between 1999 and 2006, he worked on and off as a public relations coordinator for Life for Relief and Development, a charity formed after the first Gulf War to fund humanitarian work in Iraq. FBI and Joint Terrorism Task Force agents raided the charity’s headquarters in 2006 but charged nobody and allowed the agency to continue operating.
McDermott identified that charity as the group financing the Iraq trip. In House disclosure forms, he put the cost at $5,510. Thompson also understood the charity to be financing the trip, spokeswoman Anne Warden said.
Prosecutors said Al-Hanooti was responsible for monitoring Congress for the Iraqi Intelligence Service. From 1999 to 2002, he allegedly provided Saddam’s government with a list of U.S. lawmakers he believed favored lifting economic sanctions against Iraq.
Thomas said Al-Hanooti would “vigorously defend” himself against the charges but he could not discuss the specifics of the case since he had seen none of the evidence.
Register staff contributed to this report.
True. I think I intentionally forgot that. I do recall $8.50/$9 in 1999.
The Three Stooges Meet The Butcher
By: Bob Parks’ Daily Dose
Now, this kind of stinks, don’t it?
According to the Associated Press,
“Saddam Hussein’s intelligence agency secretly financed a trip to Iraq for three U.S. lawmakers during the run-up to the U.S.-led invasion, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.
“An indictment unsealed in Detroit accuses Muthanna Al-Hanooti, a member of a Michigan nonprofit group, of arranging for three members of Congress to travel to Iraq in October 2002 at the behest of Saddam’s regime. Prosecutors say Iraqi intelligence officials paid for the trip through an intermediary.”
Why is it that Democrats seemingly love to embrace our enemies?
One local version of this story conveniently left out the fact that these are anti-war Democrats we’re talking about. There is this stereotype that liberals are freeloader types. United States congressmen have money, and at any given opportunity, don’t hesitate to give the American people the privilege of footing their bills.
Then again, if they (or we) pay for such a trip, there will be some kind of paper trail. But if someone else pays for it, we may not know about it, that is, until someone gets… indicted.
Why would United States congressmen go on a junket to a country they know we’re about to be in a military conflict with? Did they go to negotiate? Were they going to volunteer to become human shields? They were criticized for going.
“Oklahoma Sen. Don Nickles, the second-ranking Senate Republican at the time, said the Democrats ‘sound somewhat like spokespersons for the Iraqi government.’”
Oh, by the way, the congressmen were Jim McDermott of Washington, David Bonior of Michigan and Mike Thompson of California, and there’s no proof to date that they knew their trip was courtesy of Saddam Hussein. Now this is only me, but if someone were paying for my trip half way around the world, I think I would know who was paying for it. That is, unless getting international trips paid for is so common, no one asks.
To date, nobody knows nothing. It always amazes me how the congressmen and senators declare themselves brilliant enough to impose legislation that sometimes has serious effects on our lives, yet when there is any hint of malfeasance on their part, nobody knows nothing.
That’s not so say this won’t change. We’re only at the infancy of this controversy. Many mainstream media outlets won’t “discover” this story for a couple more days, but there’s smoke here…
“Prosecutors said Al-Hanooti was responsible for monitoring Congress for the Iraqi Intelligence Service. From 1999 to 2002, he allegedly provided Saddam’s government with a list of U.S. lawmakers he believed favored lifting economic sanctions against Iraq.
“In exchange for coordinating the congressional trip, Al-Hanooti allegedly received 2 million barrels of Iraqi oil, prosecutors said.”
Let me cut to the quick here. Al-Hanooti “was responsible for monitoring Congress for the Iraqi Intelligence Service.” Since there are Democrats involved here, that’s a nice way of saying Al-Hanooti was a SPY.
So let’s break it down.
An Iraqi intelligence agent is able to contact United States congressmen. That Iraqi intelligence agent is successful in luring three (whose agendas are sympathetic to Iraq) to come to that country prior to a military action. While in country, those congressmen spread that nation’s propaganda.
“Obviously we didn’t know it at the time,” McDermott spokesman Michael DeCesare said Wednesday. “The trip was to see the plight of the Iraqi children. That’s the only reason we went.”
During the trip, the lawmakers expressed skepticism about the Bush administration’s claims that Saddam was stockpiling weapons of mass destruction.
“War is not the answer,” Bonior, who is no longer in Congress, said at a news conference while on the trip. “There is a way to resolve this.”
They went for “children”. Don’t get me started. Undermining your country’s foreign policy is okay, as long as you’re doing it for “the children”.
And the SPY, Al-Hanooti, was paid two million barrels of Iraqi oil for arranging the trip. It sounds like this trip was very important to Saddam Hussein, because unless we’re talking about Russian rubles during the 70’s, two million of anything is an impressive payment for services rendered.
For now, nobody knows nothing. Like I said, it’s early….
The Three Stooges Meet The Butcher
By: Bob Parks’ Daily Dose
Now, this kind of stinks, don’t it?
According to the Associated Press,
“Saddam Hussein’s intelligence agency secretly financed a trip to Iraq for three U.S. lawmakers during the run-up to the U.S.-led invasion, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.
“An indictment unsealed in Detroit accuses Muthanna Al-Hanooti, a member of a Michigan nonprofit group, of arranging for three members of Congress to travel to Iraq in October 2002 at the behest of Saddam’s regime. Prosecutors say Iraqi intelligence officials paid for the trip through an intermediary.”
Why is it that Democrats seemingly love to embrace our enemies?
One local version of this story conveniently left out the fact that these are anti-war Democrats we’re talking about. There is this stereotype that liberals are freeloader types. United States congressmen have money, and at any given opportunity, don’t hesitate to give the American people the privilege of footing their bills.
Then again, if they (or we) pay for such a trip, there will be some kind of paper trail. But if someone else pays for it, we may not know about it, that is, until someone gets… indicted.
Why would United States congressmen go on a junket to a country they know we’re about to be in a military conflict with? Did they go to negotiate? Were they going to volunteer to become human shields? They were criticized for going.
“Oklahoma Sen. Don Nickles, the second-ranking Senate Republican at the time, said the Democrats ‘sound somewhat like spokespersons for the Iraqi government.’”
Oh, by the way, the congressmen were Jim McDermott of Washington, David Bonior of Michigan and Mike Thompson of California, and there’s no proof to date that they knew their trip was courtesy of Saddam Hussein. Now this is only me, but if someone were paying for my trip half way around the world, I think I would know who was paying for it. That is, unless getting international trips paid for is so common, no one asks.
To date, nobody knows nothing. It always amazes me how the congressmen and senators declare themselves brilliant enough to impose legislation that sometimes has serious effects on our lives, yet when there is any hint of malfeasance on their part, nobody knows nothing.
That’s not so say this won’t change. We’re only at the infancy of this controversy. Many mainstream media outlets won’t “discover” this story for a couple more days, but there’s smoke here…
“Prosecutors said Al-Hanooti was responsible for monitoring Congress for the Iraqi Intelligence Service. From 1999 to 2002, he allegedly provided Saddam’s government with a list of U.S. lawmakers he believed favored lifting economic sanctions against Iraq.
“In exchange for coordinating the congressional trip, Al-Hanooti allegedly received 2 million barrels of Iraqi oil, prosecutors said.”
Let me cut to the quick here. Al-Hanooti “was responsible for monitoring Congress for the Iraqi Intelligence Service.” Since there are Democrats involved here, that’s a nice way of saying Al-Hanooti was a SPY.
So let’s break it down.
An Iraqi intelligence agent is able to contact United States congressmen. That Iraqi intelligence agent is successful in luring three (whose agendas are sympathetic to Iraq) to come to that country prior to a military action. While in country, those congressmen spread that nation’s propaganda.
“Obviously we didn’t know it at the time,” McDermott spokesman Michael DeCesare said Wednesday. “The trip was to see the plight of the Iraqi children. That’s the only reason we went.”
During the trip, the lawmakers expressed skepticism about the Bush administration’s claims that Saddam was stockpiling weapons of mass destruction.
“War is not the answer,” Bonior, who is no longer in Congress, said at a news conference while on the trip. “There is a way to resolve this.”
They went for “children”. Don’t get me started. Undermining your country’s foreign policy is okay, as long as you’re doing it for “the children”.
And the SPY, Al-Hanooti, was paid two million barrels of Iraqi oil for arranging the trip. It sounds like this trip was very important to Saddam Hussein, because unless we’re talking about Russian rubles during the 70’s, two million of anything is an impressive payment for services rendered.
For now, nobody knows nothing. Like I said, it’s early….
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