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When President Bush decided to keep FBI Director Louis Freeh on the job until his term expires in two years, was he aware that FBI spy suspect Robert Hanssen apparently had betrayed his country for many years, undetected by the bureau’s security procedures?We don’t know the answer to that question because the White House won’t tell us. Presidential spokesman Jimmy Orr simply referred NewsMax.com to the president’s Feb. 22 news conference.
The first questioner that day asked the president what, if any, responsibility Freeh should bear "for this breach of national security."
Bush’s answer was that he has confidence in Freeh. "I think he does a good job.
"I am deeply concerned about the spy case, as is Director Freeh," the president added. "I am pleased that they caught the spy."
Which, of course, does not answer my later telephoned question about whether Bush had prior knowledge of the "breach in security" when he decided Freeh would stay on.
"So you're saying 'no comment,' " I said.
"No," replied the White House spokesman. "Again, I would refer you to the president's news conference of February 22."
Bottom line: The very genial and polite Orr was telling me, without really spelling it out, that the White House did not want to answer the question.
Some key Bush supporters are not the least bit sanguine about Freeh, a Clinton appointee, remaining in his post.
"If Louis Freeh has a shred of dignity or integrity, he will resign today," whistleblower Notra Trulock told a conference last month.
Why? NewsMax.com later asked.
At which point Trulock, the former director of intelligence at the Department of Energy, enumerated, just for starters, the bungling of the Chinagate investigation, scientist Wen Ho Lee, Ruby Ridge, and the FBI treatment of whistleblowers, a matter with which Trulock himself has had firsthand experience.
Last July, after Trulock had testified to Congress about security problems at nuclear laboratories, Louis Freeh’s FBI agents "visited" his home and, without a search warrant, went to his bedroom and downloaded his desktop computer while asking accusatory questions. (See Trulock: Security Still Lax at Nuclear Labs.)
In an interview with NewsMax.com, and in his own writings for the Free Congress Foundation, Trulock says, "Of course, everyone knows what happened [in the Hanssen case]. People did not do their job." Practically every national security scandal of the past decade, in Trulock's view, "can be traced back to denial, complacency, managerial incompetence, arrogance or all four combined."
Trulock is miffed at Freeh's presuming to lecture other agencies about taking adequate security measures when spies have been found to have operated right under his nose in his own agency.
'Something Really Bad'
Reed Irvine, chairman of Accuracy in Media (AIM), confronted Carl Rove, senior adviser to the president, about Freeh. Rove replied that the FBI director had the president's confidence and would remain, "unless we find he does something really bad."
"Well, here's something 'really bad,' " Irvine said as he presented Rove with a copy of his AIM report.
That document, titled "Free Us of Freeh," contained a list of "really bad" things attributed to the director, including:
1. He has failed to live up to his own promise, upon taking the office in 1993, to "resist any effort from any source to impair the integrity of the FBI."
2. After censuring his friend Larry Potts for handling the Ruby Ridge, Idaho, siege in a way that resulted in the killing of Randy Weaver's wife, Freeh turned right around and tried to promote Potts to deputy director. That backfired and sent Potts into retirement.
3. Freeh tried to get into the FBI three of his friends with whom he had worked as assistant U.S. attorney, even after a polygraph test showed they were deceptive in answering questions about the use of drugs.
4. Under Freeh, FBI files on 900 individuals in the Reagan and senior Bush administrations flowed freely into the Clinton White House. Bad mistake, admitted Freeh. But no one was fired.
5. When longtime FBI agent Gary Aldrich sent his superiors an advance copy of his book "Unlimited Access," exposing the deplorable security lapses at the Clinton White House, Freeh ran interference for the Clintons. The FBI gave the Clintons a heads up, which in turn enabled them to develop the infamous "White House spin" to try to discredit the book before it hit the bookstores.
I had Aldrich as a guest on my radio interview program at the time, but only after having to set the record straight with producers who had seen the hatchet job the Washington Post had done on Aldrich and "Unlimited Access." The White House had more success with other broadcasters in blocking Aldrich's TV and radio appearances, thanks to Louis Freeh's "heads up."
6. Freeh’s FBI agents went to agent Dennis Sculimbrene's home and questioned him because, they later told Congress, they were investigating a possible crime by Sculimbrene. The crime? Three years before Filegate figure Craig Livingstone became a household name, Sculimbrene had filed a report that White House counsel Bernie Nussbaum had told him Hillary Clinton had insisted that Livingstone be hired. The possible "crime" was the filing of a false report, which, of course, would be giving the first lady’s denial all the benefit of the doubt.
7. The Chinagate probe was bungled by Freeh's FBI. Trulock watched with dismay as Freeh handled the probe in an "abysmal" manner.
8. Freeh has dismantled the FBI's counterintelligence division. That alone is good reason to give the man his walking papers, in Trulock's view. This weakness probably had much to do with the "breach of security" that enabled Hanssen to carry on his spying for the Soviets, and later the Russians, for as long as he did.
9. Dr. Frederic Whitehurst, with a doctorate in chemistry, was another FBI whistleblower. He exposed bad management and corruption in the FBI crime lab.
10. Irvine, in particular, is concerned about FBI efforts to discredit witnesses in the investigation of the crash of TWA Flight 800 and what he says are false reports by FBI agents in the death of White House aide Vincent Foster.
The "Freeh must go" movement among conservatives is getting additional impetus from America’s Survival Inc.
Collaborating With Russia
That group's president, Cliff Kincaid, says the ability of an FBI agent such as Hanssen to spy for Russia for 15 years without getting caught "may lie in FBI Director Louis Freeh's policy of working with the Russians for the last several years and turning the bureau's attention to global and U.N. issues that have spread its resources thin."
In a 1997 speech to Russian police officials in Moscow, Freeh declared that "we are truly comrades" and that U.S. and Russian law enforcement agencies would work together to "help us protect our nations and our peoples."
Under Freeh, the FBI has opened numerous offices abroad, including a legal attaché in Moscow, and has supplied dozens of FBI agents to assist the United Nations in what Kincaid calls "dubious 'war crimes' investigations." The deployment of 82 agents and 61 support employees in 30 nations around the world is, as Kincaid sees it, "a massive waste of scarce resources "
The America's Survival leader marvels that right after Director Freeh patted himself on the back for finally catching Hanssen, he promised the FBI would continue to "work very closely with the [Russian] Ministry of Interior" on criminal matters and the Russian internal security agency on counterterrorism.
Under Freeh, the FBI has been hosting seminars in Russia for Russian police officers, with Russian police coming to the U.S. to work "side by side with FBI agents. Some Russian agents have even graduated from the FBI's National Academy."
The irony of this is a bit much for Kincaid, who says, "We teach the Russians our law enforcement techniques so they can catch our spies and fool us with their own spies."
Cliff Kincaid does not suggest this as possible fodder for an article in Mad magazine, probably because this is real and it's not funny. But he adds, "Louis Freeh has made the FBI into a laughingstock."
With this record, most of which is not unknown inside the Bush White House, why does President Bush have "confidence" in Freeh?
This can perhaps be explained by the FBI director's bureaucrat-like ability to work both sides of the street.
Former senator Bob Kerrey recently said ex-President Bill Clinton had named Freeh as one of the five people with whom he worked that he liked the least.
As Trulock tells NewsMax.com, "He [Freeh] goes up to Capitol Hill and gives Senators Kyle, Hatch and Shelby the impression that he’s fighting the fight from the inside, trying to hold back the barbarians from the gates."
Freeh did get into a high-profile disagreement with ex-Attorney General Janet Reno on the Clinton-Gore 1996 campaign scandals. Freeh urged the appointment of a special prosecutor in the case, as did others within the Justice Department. And Reno mildly but explicitly and publicly rebuked him for that.
Then the word got out that the FBI was not sharing information on the security angles of that scandal with the White House, with a hint that that would hinder the investigation.
And Freeh once refused an invitation to attend a White House showing of a movie because he indicated he did not want to get in a social situation with people he might have to investigate.
All of this is window-dressing, as most whistleblowers see it. But it has been enough to win Freeh key backing on the Hill from such conservatives as Sen. John Kyl, R-Ariz. Things such as this can influence a new administration.
But the White House has the information on Freeh. What they do with it is another matter.
if we're not careful, we'll end up with another freeh republic
Freeh must go--and should have presented his resignation when Hanssen was brought to justice, if he had any shame!
The guy should have been canned for Filegate alone, not to mention the rest of it, but to have a mole in house for 15 years?!?
No way!
With this record, most of which is not unknown inside the Bush White House, why does President Bush have "confidence" in Freeh?
This can perhaps be explained by the FBI director's bureaucrat-like ability to work both sides of the street.
And evidently, Freeh has mucho dirt on Congressional Republicans regarding their complicity with Chinese money. More importantly, Freeh knows how to use it to his advantage.
Freeh was installed by Clinton, that is to say Clinton lobbied hard and employed some nasty tricks to get him installed (Read The Secret Life of Bill Clinton). Anybody that Clinton installed anywhere should be thought of as blackmailable and compromised. As a Dixie Mafia man, Clinton was too smart to surround himself with people he couldn't control.
Freeh must go.
A new broom sweeps clean......Freeh must go.
He has been there long enough to have a vested interest in NOT cleaning up messes he contributed to or should have been aware of, or in which he actively and willingly participated.
The few known "pluses" in his favor, are far outnumbered by the known "minuses"....
Thank him and send him on his way.
Semper Fi
Uncle Bill's excellent post The Rise of the FBI and the Fall of the Republic got pulled, I'm very disappointed about this. It was an awesome post with about ten thousand links to follow. Rodger Shultz's posting survived, here it is.
If Freeh has really done these things, and it appears that he has; he must go.
I read Gary Aldrich's book when it came out (1995) and was in horrified shock! I felt sure that whomever was head of the FBI would not let those files remain in Hitlery's possession!
If Freeh gave Aldrich up as you say, and I'm sure that he did, then he MUST go!
Using Hanssen as an excuse for Freeh's being compromised ( and Freeh and Hanssen DID go to the same church and he saw Hanssen living beyond his means), President Bush would be smart to ask for Louis's resignation and do it NOW!
bttt
Bush keeping Freeh at the FBI is the most disturbing move of the new president. Freeh is at the center of so many problems at the agency either he is behind them, or is hopelessly unable to control his own agency.
Louis Freeh is a danger to freedom in America.
The irony of this is a bit much for Kincaid, who says, "We teach the Russians our law enforcement techniques so they can catch our spies and fool us with their own spies."
Newsmax unloads both barrels at Freeh. Figuratively speaking of course.
Bush keeping Freeh at the FBI is the most disturbing move of the new president.
I guess that's why the pom-pom crowd "forgot" to post this, and why they've steered clear of it all day. They have no "talking points" to cover this one. Here's another disturbing development that's getting VERY little press, both in the media and here at FR. Ashcroft Winding Down Chinagate Probe
No official press statement at usdoj.gov - I done checked. This is being done UNDER the radar screen.
FRegards, IHC
Bush, so far is keeping all of Clinton's cronies and Baby Killer Janet Reno's cronies are being kept by Ashcroft. I say Bush and Ashcroft are making some real serious mistakes that will cost them dearly in the near future.
Bush has already lost my '04 vote but if I don't see some Clinton's (and their staffers) in jail by '04, I will actively campaign against the Bush Administration.
LP, the party of principle
Remove and Investigate FBI Director Louis Freeh
Published: February 22, 2001 Author: Patick B. Briley
Posted on 02/22/2001 11:55:45 PST by OKCSubmariner
A number of articles have reported that FBI agent Robert Hanssen had become close personally and administratively to Louis Freeh. Hanssen has been formally accused of spying for the Russians for 15 years.
ABC NightLine on February 22,2001 reported Hanssen may have been involved in "STOLEN NUCLEAR SECRETS." Is this a pattern with Freeh too?
Remember this, under Freeh, the FBI botched its investigation of nuclear thefts by the Russians and Chinese at our nuke labs, defense contractors and military installations. A review of the handling of Wen Ho Lee and SDI transfers at Kirtland AFB are perfect examples. A close read of the Cox report and of Notra Trulock’s allegations also raises doubts about the FBI under Freeh. Last year the FBI broke into Trulock's apartment and confiscated his hard drives becasue the FBI did not like what Trulock had written about lax security.
Two other men close to Freeh left the FBI under a great cloud of suspicion. Freeh insisted that Larry Potts become his deputy but Potts was forced out for lying about Ruby Ridge. Freeh’s other close associate was Howard Shapiro, the White House Legal counsel to the FBI who left after his involvement in Filegate became known. Also it has been widely alleged in print and on TV that Freeh and Shapiro together rose to prominence in the FBI for their falsifying of evidence in the bombing of a judge in Georgia.
Today both Potts and Shapiro enjoy fat cushy jobs at Terry Lenzer’s IGI. Lenzner is a 30 year friend and former coworker of Hilary Clinton.
Congress and the DOJ found the FBI crime lab falsified evidence in scores of cases during Freeh’s tenure.
Allegations have been made that Freeh repressed efforts by Fredrick Whitehurst to have the FBI crime lab investigated. Weldon Kennedy, Freeh’s second hand picked deputy who replaced Potts, left the FBI after Senator Grassley accused Kennedy of lying to Congress about the FBI crime lab. Kennedy and Potts were also both in charge of the FBI's OKC bombing investigation and coverup, first Potts, then Kennedy.
Late last year FBI agent Joseph Rogoskey filed a Federal suit against Louis Freeh for Freeh blocking his efforts to have actions taken against FBI superiors who had been involved in alleged illegal acts involving national security operations.
There is evidence that suggests Freeh, Potts and Shapiro may have orchestrated and covered up Waco and the OKC bombing. According to an interview on KTOK radio in OKC in 1998, Freeh is alleged to have travelled to Germany to arrange use of Andreas Strassmeyer as an FBI operative to infiltrate white supremicist groups in the US. The KTOK report said this story was confirmed by US prosecutor Beth Wilkinson. It is believed that Strassmeyer, who McVeigh called before the OKC bombing, encouraged McVeigh and told the FBI about the bombing attempt in advance.
Larry Potts was in charge of the day to day operations of the FBI investigation of the OKC bombing from April 19, 1995 to May 2, 1995 and may haveparticipated with Freeh in the coverup of the OKC bobing by the FBI.
The FBI also had advanced warning, over six months before the Kenyan and Tanzanian bombings and did not stop the bombings. Freeh bragged to Congress in May 1995 that the FBI had set up and populated ME terrorist cells in the US. This was done with the aide of Ali Mohammed, a Ben Laden lieutenant, while Mohammed was an FBI operative and a former special forces instructor.
Today the FBI has told some here in OKC that the FBI cannot go after the ME terrorists they believe were involved in OKC bombing because to do so would compromise the FBI operations and infiltration and put the lives of their agents and informants in jeopardy (then why set up cells or infiltrate them if you will not do anything about them?).
Why should we trust Freeh given his involvement in the above debacles especially since he was close to Potts and Shapiro and perhaps even Hanssen??
Freeh needs to go. Even if innocent, his public trust has been diminished by the scandals and the men near him like Potts, Shapiro and Hanssen. His ability to lead the FBI in the future is seriously in question. But we do not need Frank Keating as Freeh’s replacement either given Keating’s baggage of scandals in government.
But Freeh also needs to be investigated. Freeh will probably be taken care of by one of his admirers if he leaves now unless he is found to have done something wrong against the US.
BTTT to make sure you don't miss this one.
"Under Freeh, the FBI has been hosting seminars in Russia for Russian police officers, with Russian police coming to the U.S. to work 'side by side with FBI agents. Some Russian agents have even graduated from the FBI's National Academy.'"
This is both an outrage and a source of shame, even though I no longer ride with Freeh's Huns.
Damning read. I have no idea how I missed your thread. I just bookmarked it.
Thanks for all of your efforts, there will be justice one day.
4. Under Freeh, FBI files on 900 individuals in the Reagan and senior Bush administrations flowed freely into the Clinton White House. Bad mistake, admitted Freeh. But no one was fired.
What is really shocking is that those 900 PLUS FBI files were STILL in the possession of the Whitehouse late last year. This was revealed by Ray during an interview.
If Freeh doesn't come forward with enough dirt on Clinton to prove that he's been on the side of the good guys all along but unable to do anything about it, then Freeh Must Go! Otherwise, what is to say that he is not just another Clinton corrupted holdover?
BUMP! BUMP! BUMP!
Also please note reply #16 which is a revised and better version of my Feb 22, 2001 article calling for Freeh's removal--- it supplements the above terrific article on the same subject.
BUMP! BUMP! BUMP!
Also please note reply #16 which is a revised and better version of my Feb 22, 2001 article calling for Freeh's removal--- it supplements the above terrific article on the same subject.
The above article further demonstrates why Freeh should be on our "questionables" list for the GW Bush administration along with Mineta, Chao,Tenet, Allbaugh, Negraponte and Armitage.
Freeh should resign--period, and if he doesn't, President Bush should dismiss him--period.
Freeh bragged to Congress in May 1995 that the FBI had set up and populated ME terrorist cells in the US.
"Set up and populated?" POPULATED? Were these REAL cells or fake cells? Were they partially, mostly, or WHOLLY "populated" by FBI informants/provacateurs? Are these REAL terrorists or RENT-A-TERRORIST operations? I can't believe that Congress didn't ask these questions of the oily Boomer-on-Steroids presently impersonating the Director of the FBI.
Water seeks its own level. CLINTON chose Freeh for that job, and all of their "disagreements" were only puppet shows to fool the public. The fact that his butt-boys wound up working for TERRY LENZNER, gumshoe of the elected tyrant Clinton, should tell anyone with any commonsense Freeh was nothing more than Clinton's slavishly obedient servant, for which the lying little toady of the internationalists was rewarded with more power for the office he disgraced.
Why is no one suggesting the possibility that GW is not truly making his own decisions. You let me put my people close to Bush to provide and explain the options from which he chooses and I'll control the country.
Why Taint the New Bush Administration? (Armitage)
Freeh needs to go. Who would replace him?
This whole thread is cr*p IMO. Freeh is a good man, and the article has no beef in it. It is garbage. JMO.
Yeah, I already know where you stand on all the issues. That's why I pay little to no attention to you. Life's too short to argue with RNC sycophants.
Kindest regards, IHC
Bush is trying very hard to move the head of FBI back to a non political job.
If Bush fires Freeh the next Democratic president will fire the head of the FBI as soon as he takes office and put a policital flack in the FBI directors place. It will become his Political FBI directors job to give the president the FBI files on anyone who opposes him. But it will be more than files. He will be under orders to surpress the president oppostion. If he fails to do that the President will fire him and find a new FBI director that will do what he says.
Most of the fools here on Free Republic demand that Bush do the same things that Clinton did. If he does then it will become SOP. Our free form of government will disappear. The next Demcorat president will use Bush's firing of an FBI director to justify appointing his own political hack to be FBI head. The next Democratic president will then use the FBI to destroy sites like Free Republic. What do you suppose an unfettered FBI guy could do to a Fred Mertz if he wanted too.
This nation once had alien and sedition acts. Like stupid fools we are screaming for them again. All Democrats and Republicans have to agree on is that federal law enforcement should serve at the pleasure of a president. It will please the next Democrat president to see that most of us are in political prison.
Politicised federal law enforcement is definitely what most of you want. Your posts scream for it. I pray you never get what you want. If you do, the feedom of mankind was just an experiment that didn't work. Man will have once again proved he is too corrupt and stupid to handle it. Mostly he is just too stupid.
What do you suppose an unfettered FBI guy could do to a Fred Mertz if he wanted too.
They know, therefore they don't dare.
You make good points. Apolitical and professional are best.
Life's too short to argue with RNC sycophants.
Actually your brain is too small and your knowledge too little to argue with anyone as bright and as knowledgeable as Torie.
Torie knows it. I know it. But of course you don't know it.
Many of us like to sharpen our wits on encounters with Torie. In your case it only dulls what passes for your brain.
Real Terrorist cells . They are Abu Nidal cells set up in Virginia, California and near Dallas. Freeh actually identified the cells to Congress as Abu Nidal and stated the cities. Abu Nuidal met with Sadam Hussein and Bin Laden terrorists in Iraq in 1999 to plan more terrorist attacks against the US according to CBN News and Steve Emerson.
Remember during this time the FBI was running Ali Mohammed, a Bin Laden lietenant, as an FBI informant out of Sacramento California. Mohammed was indicted(did plea bargain with Reno in 2000 to get off) in 1998 for the World Trade Center, Kenyan and tanzanian bombings and for setting up terrorist cells in the US-source-New York Times.
The source for the Freeh testimony to Congress in May 1995 was a news item written by William Grigg for the New American in 1999. I contacted Grigg and got his backups for the story, actual Congressional testimony, they appear legit. I also talked to his editor and they stand behind the story.
In his Congressional testimony in May 1995 Freeh described one of the several terrorists the FBI used to populate the cells as a known terrorist who the FBI helped come to the US on a student visa. He also said these terrorists were being helped without knowing they were being helped by the FBI to be used to track their movements.
It is absolutely amazing that the Congressmen who heard this from Freeh bought into this without objecting. Those Congressmen have become complicit and compromised by very bad FBI policies-insane in my opinion. freeh gave his testimoney in support of the pending anti-terrorism legislation that was eventually passed.
The identity of Freeh's replacement will be a real acid test for GW Bush to see where GW really stands and where he really is headed.
I have to say that Freeh has not done his job well. Hansson should have been caught long ago. There should be ways of checking the activities of agents with access to so much critical information. And it looks like there is still at least one other mole in the FBI or the CIA. Freeh simply is not doing the job.
You wrote: "Politicised federal law enforcement is definitely what most of you want."
I do not want a politicized FBI.
Freeh has politicized the FBI heavily and you do not see it? For that matter, the FBI has always been very politicized and the FBI has contempt for oversight by Congress. Danny Coulson, a Freeh Deputy, personally and publicly expressed his and the FBI's contempt for Congress oversight at his book signing in March 1999 which I attended. Coulson got into trouble and left the FBI in part for his handling of Ruby Ridge. Coulson worked closely with Freeh and Larry Potts.
Freeh strongly and publicly politicised the gay agenda in the FBI.
On his radio show in 1997, G. Gordon Liddy read a memo written by Freeh to all FBI personnel instructing them that gays already in the FBI were to be "protected" and others gays be encouraged to work in the FBI. I heard Liddy read the memo over the air and I am sure he will send you a copy if you request it.
Gays in law enforcement are subject to being blackmailed and compromised for their activities. Gay conduct, just as debt and infidelity (affairs) in marriage are issues that effect the viability of FBI agents. I have friends in law enforcement and in the military who do not condone persecuting gays but who feel gays can be serious security risks to the FBI just as agents who get into debt or are having affairs.
Please See reply #36. I accidently left your name off the reply list.
Nonpolitical law enforcement is the key...and we pretty much HAD that UNTIL Freeh joined the FBI as Director. Here is a guy who has often trudged up the "Hill" to lobby for legislation which would empower his agency to the level of a Gestapo by authorizing warrantless roving wiretaps and warrantless covert searches of private property with little or no probable cause. Here is a guy who often actively PUSHES for the most draconian forms of gun control and other legislation that would seriously infringe on civil liberties. FBI enforces Federal Law. It does not PROPOSE and LOBBY for NEW Federal law!
Please, save your insults. Personal insults, like cursing are merely substitutes for a weakened mind. Engage, parry thrust...but do so on the issues...not on personal grounds. I try to show my high school students how this sort of behavior makes you weaker rather than more powerful. Mostly, they get it. Do you?
Thanks for the heads up!
RE your #30. That "Common Tation" of yours sounds like the ramblings of a party hack. It's pure, unadulterated spin! Check the archives of Free Republic with Google Search, type in the keyword "Freeh" and read up on the slimebag. You say Bush is trying "very hard" to un-politicize the FBI? That borders on the rantings of a lunatic.
Hoover was a crook and a tireless power-grabber for his beloved FBI, but Freeh makes him look like a child by comparison. There used to be an encyclopedic thread here on FR called The Rise of the FBI and the Fall of the Republic but it's been pulled because it was based on a WP article. Too bad you missed that one, there was about ten thousand links on it. Instead of spinning the "if GW fires him, it will politicize the Bureau" angle, you could have included facts had you not missed that marvelous post. The info is still here on FR, you just have to look for it a little harder now after that post got pulled.
You did give it a valiant effort, however, so hereafter you shall be known as "Common Spinner" within the more informed circles here on this forum.
Freeh must go.
I agree it is time ..... it's time for Feckless to go ........it's time for us to get Louie 'Freeh'
Pure Serendipity.
William Sessions Director of the FBI was removed by Clinton after Janet Reno had concluded "serious deficiencies in judgement" on July 19, 1993, and Waco's own Floyd Clarke was appointed acting Director by Clinton.
The Feckless Louie Freeh was nominated by Clinton July 20, 1993
"JULY 20, 1993 -- After anonymous call was received at 18:04 hours U.S. Park Police officers found 48 yrs Caucasian male with self-inflicted gunshot wound mouth to neck on a foot path in Marcy Park [sic]. His car was parked in the parking lot but no note was found. MEDICAL HISTORY Unknown."
It was Vince Foster who was "fired" On July 20, 1993.
Pure Serendipity.
.
Who is this guy Louis Freeh who is head of the FBI? People keep calling him Louie, like he was the king of France or something. And what's this with his last name? What does this mean, that he gives away the letter H? ............. Seinfeld-ism
.
Online NewsHour: FBI: Troubled House -- April 16, 1997
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| FBI: TROUBLED HOUSE
APRIL 16, 1997TRANSCRIPT |
|---|
Experts reflect on negative evaluations of Director Louis Freeh, numerous incidents of mishandled cases, and plummeting morale at one of the nation's chief law enforcement agencies. A background report is followed by a panel discussion.
(SCENE FROM MOVIE)
A RealAudio version of this NewsHour segment is available.
Online NewsHour links:
April 16, 1997:
A panel discussion on the leadership of FBI director, Louis Freeh, and reports of poor morale at the agency.
April 15, 1997:
A panel discussion on the Justice Dept. report critical of the FBI crime lab.
December 18, 1996:
A veteran FBI agent has been charged with spying on the U.S. for Russia.
June 26, 1996:
The investigation into the White House's handling of confidential FBI files
Browse the Online NewsHour's coverage of federal agencies and legal issues.
External links:
FBI Home Page
KWAME HOLMAN: This is a Hollywood image of
the FBI. In the movie "Melvyn Pervis, G Man" FBI agents are capable, fair, dedicated, and fearless. But for the last year that image has been shaken as bureau director Louie Freeh has overseen an FBI embroiled in several controversies. Freeh, himself, was selected by President Clinton in 1993 after FBI Director William Sessions left under an ethics cloud.
LOUIE FREEH: I was born in Jersey City, and from about the age of my eldest son, I wanted to be an FBI agent.
KWAME HOLMAN: Freeh was seen
as a breath of fresh air with credentials unlike any of his predecessors. He’s the only director who has worked as an agent, a prosecutor, and a federal judge, having been appointed by George Bush to the federal court with the jurisdiction over New York City. Freeh was confirmed without opposition to the Senate and sworn in in 1993. And he was quick to rack up some high profile accomplishments. In 1993, successful prosecutions in the World Trade Center bombing; in 1996, the bloodless resolution of the Freeman standoff in Montana.
But also last year problems arose. First came the so-called "Filegate" case. Officials at the White House acknowledged they requested from the FBI and were sent the background files of more than 300 people, including prominent Republicans. Freeh admitted the--and ordered changes in agency procedures, but he--the White House, saying, "The prior system of providing files to the White House relied on good faith and honor. Unfortunately, the FBI, and I were victimized."
Then last year the FBI’s general counsel, Howard Shapiro, admitted he had warned the White House about an impending congressional investigation of the files matter. An internal Justice Department review of Shapiro’s actions cleared him of specific wrongdoing but said he used very poor judgment and created an appearance the FBI was not sufficiently independent of the White House. And last August, FBI sources reportedly told the press Richard Jewell was a suspect in the Atlanta Olympic Park bombing.
RICHARD JEWELL: In its rush to show the world how quickly it could get its man the FBI trampled on my rights as a citizen. In their mad rush to fulfill their own personal agendas, the FBI and the media almost destroyed me and my mother.
KWAME HOLMAN: The government finally issued an apology to Jewell and cleared him of involvement but the case remains unsolved, and field agents’ tactics, as well as Freeh’s role, are under investigation by the Justice Department. As the controversies mounted, members of Congress, especially Republicans, began to question Freeh’s management of the FBI. Last month, Freeh testified before a House Appropriations Subcommittee.
REP. HAROLD ROGERS, (R) Kentucky: (March 5) Mr. Director, your judgment in several high profile episodes is coming under increased scrutiny and raise serious questions that have cast serious doubts about the independence of the FBI.
REP. BOB LIVINGSTON, (R) Louisiana: (March 5) I think the leadership of the FBI has brought the entire organization into question, and you are the leader.
LOUIS FREEH, FBI Director: (March 5) For problems that have occurred during my watch and for problems which have developed prior to my watch I take full responsibility. I don’t ask about anybody in my organization. I am the director, as you said, Mr. Chairman, I am the leadership, and I’m not doing a good job in that regard, they ought to get a new FBI director.
KWAME HOLMAN: And earlier this year there was another apparent miscue between the FBI and the White House. Before the 1996 federal elections two FBI agents told White House national security officials that the Chinese government would attempt to make illegal campaign contributions. But that information never reached President Clinton, sparking a public dispute between the President and Director Freeh.
PRESIDENT CLINTON: They have dual obligations to share with the White House and with the State Department, the Secretary of State, where appropriate, information we need to protect and advance national security and to preserve the integrity of criminal investigations.
REPORTER: Do you still have strong confidence in Louie Freeh?
PRESIDENT CLINTON: Yes. I have no basis--on the basis of this incident I don’t have any information at this time which would--which would call into question that confidence.
KWAME HOLMAN: Freeh said White House officials were responsible for telling the President, and the next day Freeh got a vote of confidence from Attorney General Janet Reno.
JANET RENO, Attorney General: I have every confidence in Director Freeh. I have watched him deal with some of the most sensitive and important issues that we face in this country, and he’s done so with firm determination to pursue the truth to get to the right answer to make sure that steps are taken to ensure that justice is done.
KWAME HOLMAN: But this week brought more bad news for the FBI. An 18-month investigation of the Bureau’s troubled crime lab confirmed reports of significant procedural flaws that could compromise dozens of federal prosecutions, including the Oklahoma City bombing trial.
WILLIAM ESPOSITO, FBI Deputy Director: We regret the--we’ve got to this point in the FBI--it’s not only unpleasant for me but also the director and probably every FBI agent in the FBI. There’s no
doubt problems that were surfaced by the inspector general and also by our own people are very serious. We all agree with the recommendations made by the IG. I think he made 40 recommendations. We agree with all 40 of them. In some areas we have already made those changes; in other areas changes are being implemented.
KWAME HOLMAN: Freeh already had taken steps to improve the crime lab prior to this week’s report, but like Freeh’s successes in promoting women and minorities at the Bureau, that work may be overshadowed by controversy.
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bump
First Rule for the new administration: Anything touched by or supported by Clinton is unclean and corrupt. Get rid of it.
BUMP!
4. Under Freeh, FBI files on 900 individuals in the Reagan and senior Bush administrations flowed freely into the Clinton White House. Bad mistake, admitted Freeh. But no one was fired.
What is really shocking is that those 900 PLUS FBI files were STILL in the possession of the Whitehouse late last year. This was revealed by Ray during an interview.
In light of that discovery, do we know where these files are even NOW? [hint, check under Hitlery's bed in Chappaqua or the DC residence].
I think when the tax cut is done then there will be some big changes in a lot of the Agencies. Re Hassen, Whomever made the decision(s) to keep him at the same job for 15 years needs to be investigated ASAP.
Perhaps just having a terrible car crash would be sufficient. After he/she has been interrogated with electronic devices and drugs of course.
Different administration, same criminal enterprise. Face it folks the whole system exists for the benefit of special interests and not for us. It was good while it lasted but we have let our nation slip away. Shame on all of us.
If he does, Bush would be the first freehbooting president in some time.
He was a former federal judge.
From what I have read Senator Shelby has said that he is dissatisfied with the explanations provided to him by the FBI and CIA related to the Hanssen case. Do you know anymore details about this?
FWIW,I have in the past generally been a supporter of Freeh, but I am beginning to have doubts.
He was a former federal judge. You mean just like Carter's boy Wee Willy Webster?
What's your point? Most federal judges are political hacks that will have to be screwed into the ground.
Most large lawfirms get rid of deadwood spartners by pony-ing up a couple hundered grand to one party or another and offering up the dead wood for a judgeship.
These men are not paragons of virtue
"Hence it is, that there can be but few men in the society who will have sufficient skill in the laws to qualify them for the stations of judges. And making the proper deductions for the ordinary depravity of human nature, the number must be still smaller of those who unite the requisite integrity with the requisite knowledge." -The Federalist No. 78 (Hamilton)
.
Now that you mention it.
I guess I have no point.
What follows is what you are referring to:
WASHINGTON (AP) Confronting the FBI director about an agent accused of spying for Moscow for 15 years, the Senate Intelligence Committee chairman said Wednesday his panel remained unsatisfied with explanations of a ''very, very grave'' espionage case.
An assessment will show ''a lot of damage'' by accused spy Robert Philip Hanssen, a 25-year FBI counterintelligence agent, said the chairman, Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala.
''There probably will be other spies. Don't be surprised,'' Shelby told reporters after a three-hour closed session with FBI Director Louis Freeh, CIA Director George Tenet and Attorney General John Ashcroft.
Shelby would not discuss explanations the committee received nor the specific measures the FBI would institute to catch spies within the U.S. government. The FBI said Hanssen began spying for the Russians in 1985.
Shelby said he holds Freeh accountable for the espionage but expressed confidence in the director. ''The FBI is not perfect,'' he said.
The senators wanted to know how Hanssen allegedly was able to spy for so long. While Shelby would not divulge Freeh's answers, the senator said, ''We're not satisfied with anything at this point. From what we learned this is a very, very grave, serious case.''
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Notice that Shelby says he has "confidence" in Freeh but "holds Freeh accountable for the espionage". Does not sound like to me that Shelby should give Freeh his confidence until Shelby makes Freeh accountable and unless Freeh can give him answers with which he is satisfied since Shelby says he is not satisfied with the explanations.
I have no special info or insights on this ambiguity. But I have a few observations:
Shelby should not be satisfied with the safe guards that currently exist at FBI. This maybe the reason for polygraphs now being recommended for key FBI personnel like they do for the CIA.
Shelby should not be satisfied that there were not much better safeguards already in place that would have made Hanssen's espionage more difficult and unlikely.
Shelby should not be satisfied that the FBI and CIA could not catch Hanssen for 15 years.
Shelby should not be satisfied that all the other possible Russian spies/moles in FBI and CIA related directly to this case have not been caught even though we are being repeatedly told they know there are more-at least several.
Shelby should not be satisfied with our counterintelligence capabilities.
Since Shelby should not be satisfied about all the above concerns and since Freeh was in charge and did not take care of Shelby's concerns by his answers or by his performance (obvious failures) then Shelby should not be satisfied with Freeh or really even Tenet at CIA.
Sould not Tenet also do better in catching spies in the FBI and CIA particularly when we know that the Hanssen case is connected to CIA agent Ames and that Hanssen was allegedly working for the CIA and the FBI at the same time as he was working for the Russians and the Hansen and Ames cases still have not been fully resolved after 15 years. This problem involves both the FBI and CIA and Freeh and Tenet at the same time. Very serious problem.
Freeh and Tenet should not be out of the woods on this yet. And even if they are found innocent of helping the Russians, they should be replaced with men having different philosphies and approaches. What is needed are replacements who have philosophies and approaches that would create the conditions and apparatus to make this kind of spying more difficult and detectable and also would do better in catching the remaining spies believed to be connected with the Hannssen and Ames cases.
The media are laboring to paint Freeh in a sympathetic light over the Hanssen issue. While NEWSWEEK typically sneers at religious people, the writer of this week's cover story on the Hanssen case painted Freeh's religiosity in a favorable light, commenting on how the Clintonite chief of the Huns is a "man of faith." Newsweek also tried to make it appear as if the FBI had recovered the diamonds Hanssen allegedly received as partial payment for his alleged spying. A photograph of "diamonds" was displayed prominently on one page as if to mislead that the diamonds in the photo were the alleged Hanssen diamonds. At least the media are conceding that the Kim Philby story Hanssen allegedly sent to the KGB was a phony.
Just like in the Birmingham abortion clinic and Olympic Park Bombings that were pinned on Eric Rudolph, now Hanssen is being blamed for the alleged tunnel under the Soviet embassy being blown. However, some intelligence officials are claiming the tunnel never worked anyway. The important thing is: If the Russians didn't know about the tunnel before, they know about it NOW, and it probably didn't cost them anything to find out about it!
This whole thread is cr*p IMO. Freeh is a good man, and the article has no beef in it. It is garbage. JMO.
And your evidence that 'Freeh is a good man'? It would appear that Freeh's role in supervising the Wen Ho Lee incident ALONE would discredit your opinion in this regard. IM