Mohammed A. Goldstein
Posted on 01/04/2002 8:52:30 AM PST by editor-surveyor
There is something very wrong inside the Justice Department of the United States and there has been for some time.
Various newspapers are now reporting that under President Clinton, the Federal Bureau of Investigation was ordered to stand down on various terrorist investigations.
One of the most egregious examples is the failure of the bureau to investigate fundraising organizations like "The Holy Land Fund," based in Arizona, which allegedly funneled millions of dollars in donations to Middle Eastern terrorists.
Although the Bush administration has now frozen the assets of the fund, it was apparently allowed to operate for 8 years despite the FBI intelligence that was presented to Mr. Clinton and then-Attorney General Janet Reno. One bureau source told the press that Ms. Reno felt any investigation of "The Holy Land Fund" would lead to anti-Arab sentiment and therefore was opposed to such an investigation.
As always, Ms. Reno will not comment on any aspect of her tenure as attorney general that is at all controversial.
There is no question now that under Ms. Reno and then-FBI Director Louis Freeh, Americans were put at great risk. The Wen Ho Lee-Chinese espionage case still has not been explained, and the fact that the 19 Sept. 11 terrorists weren't even on the FBI's radar screen is about as frightening as Janet Reno's passion for political correctness.
The current attorney general, John Ashcroft, has made no attempt to examine Ms. Reno's bizarre behavior or update the public about the Marc Rich investigation or anything else. Mr. Ashcroft specializes in looking dour and stonewalling. While Congress is attempting to get documents about President Clinton's dubious foreign fundraising and FBI abuses in Boston, Ashcroft is refusing to cooperate at all.
And this isn't a political issue. Conservative Congressman Dan Burton and liberal Congressman Barney Frank have actually joined forces to try and pry this information from Ashcroft's hands. If that's not amazing, then nothing is.
The truth is that for nearly 8 years, the Justice Department has been corrupt and inefficient. Janet Reno botched nearly every important decision she had to make including Waco and Elian Gonzalez. Time after time, Ms. Reno refused to approve investigative initiatives sought by the FBI. And time after time, Mr. Freeh sat in his plush government office refusing to let the American people know what was happening.
Now Mr. Ashcroft is doing the same thing. There is no reason on this earth why the public should not know the status of the Rich pardon probe. Or the anthrax investigation. And what about Enron, Mr. Attorney General – are you going to look into that? Millions of Americans were hosed while some Enron executives made millions.
How about a comment on that, Mr. Ashcroft?
Whether you agree, or disagree, it would seem worthy of comment.
Have the Clinton years reset the index level of outrage?
I might note that O'Reilly earilier this year signed a deal with Westwood One to do a radio version of his Fox News Channel show. I guess we'll see how long that show lasts in the killer Noon-3 ET time slot.
Stay well - Stay safe - stay armed - Yorktown
Reading this, you would think O'Really is an anti-Clinton crusader. Listening to his show, time after time he lets pro-Clinton spinmeisters spew their lies without argument. The guy's schizophrenic -- he started comparing Ashcroft to Reno immediately after he was sworn in -- he was grumbling about his 401K before Bush took office, and now he blames the recession on Bush -- I guess this is what happens when you have no real convictions, except the quest for ratings.
The Clinton years numbed and shocked most people so that reiterating their outrages is kinda like saying, that water is wet and that fire is hot. Thus,
"Now Mr. Ashcroft is doing the same thing. There is no reason on this earth why the public should not know the status of the Rich pardon probe. Or the anthrax investigation. And what about Enron, Mr. Attorney General – are you going to look into that? Millions of Americans were hosed while some Enron executives made millions.
How about a comment on that, Mr. Ashcroft?"
shouldn't surprise anyone, especially Keyes supporters and those of us who were less than enthusiastic about Bush carrying the flag for the GOP.
Mohammed A. Goldstein
Have the Clinton years reset the index level of outrage?
Unfortunately, there is alot more truth in those statements than you might think.
Good article, though.
This has become my own estimation of Bill's politics. Very disappointing.
See this thread. Good article, though.
It seems clear that anything done by government is, by its nature, corrupt. Asscroft is no different from Waco Jane who was no different from, say, Nixon and LBJ. Corrupt. And the people who work for them, like bureaucrats everywhere, live by the basic rule of CYA.
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