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One man's journey: DMC’s link to the 1980 Abscam case
The Foghorn (Del Mar College) ^ | March 23, 2010 | Paul Lyman

Posted on 03/24/2010 3:35:58 PM PDT by Interesting Times

Del Mar College proved to be an unlikely starting and ending point for an investigation by a citizen investigator and activist that resulted in the downfall of one of the most influential members of the US Congress.

In the early 1980s, Congressman John Murtha and fellow house members were accused of participating in a scam, known as the infamous Abscam affair, a sting operation conducted by the FBI in which two FBI agents posed as advisors to a mysterious sheik named “Abdul” who was supposedly seeking asylum in the US.

The agents said the sheik was willing to pay large sums of money to legislators who would facilitate the sheik’s asylum. The sting proved to be not very difficult to pull off and the FBI caught four legislators, including Murtha.

Murtha was granted immunity and testified against the other members and then moved on to continue his career during which he vied for the position of House Majority Leader in 2006.

However, that goal was blocked by a man who saw the unethical road Murtha took and reminded the American people why this senator should not be in charge of anyone or anything.

The man, former DMC student Ron Kolb, undertook an investigation in which he hunted down a copy of the full tape of the sting meetings from a reliable source and made it public. The tape’s appearance weighed down Murtha’s campaign to the point that he lost in a landslide to his opponent.

Just how did a man with limited connections bring down a corrupt politician? His journey began simply at the DMC Library on Infoweb where Kolb researched information on Murtha as the 2006 election was taking place.

Kolb uncovered the full tape by contacting two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Bob Greene who put Kolb in touch with “Throat,” an investigator from the 1980 Abscam case. Throat gave Kolb the full tape of the original FBI recordings of the negotiations with corrupt senators and the fictional sheik and his advisors.

This task was not an easy one. It took Kolb six weeks to track Throat down to get the tape. Kolb contacted many of the representatives and former judges and prosecutors from the case to track the source down.

As soon as he received the evidence, Kolb said he forwarded the tape to American Spectator magazine and the Fox News Channel; most of the mainstream media did not pick up on the story right away, Kolb said.

It wasn’t until House Speaker Nancy Pelosi endorsed Murtha for House Majority Leader that heavy coverage by the mainstream media began, which ultimately led to Murtha’s demise.

When the story of Murtha’s defeat hit the news, Kolb was in disbelief that the story would have this level of impact. Nevertheless, Kolb said he felt that justice had been served and that this was not a personal agenda.

When Murtha died, Kolb said, “I have sympathy that he died, but I do not feel sympathy for how he lived. The tape got people focused on his ethical history and Del Mar played a crucial role in this situation.”

In an example of citizen investigation and activism, Kolb, a man with no formal journalism or investigative training and no political ties, said he simply had the patience and the determination to see this through to the end. “The little things matter, and it is important not to give up,” he said.

Kolb’s investigative journey ended when he returned to DMC last month to speak to those attending the screening of “Charlie Wilson’s War” at the Library Film Series.

He discussed how, in the process of exposing the tape and Murtha’s actions, he also contacted Texas Congressman Charlie Wilson, the main character in the movie, about the tape and Murtha’s corrupt activities.

Kolb noted the discrepancies between the film and the actual events (the “Hollywood treatment”) for audience members and recounted his experience with the Abscam tape and Murtha’s eventual downfall.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: abscam; bootmurtha; johnmurtha; ronkolb
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I've known Ron Kolb since 2004 - he tracked down an interview with former VVAW leader Scott Camil in which Camil described his proposal to murder US Senators during the group's April 1971 rally in Washington. Camil recalled that John Kerry "flipped out" at the suggestion. Nevertheless, Kerry continued to work closely with Camil for the rest of that year...

This is the first time Ron's remarkable research into Murtha's role in ABSCAM has been publicly recognized. Without his work, I have little doubt that John Murtha would have become House Majority Leader.

1 posted on 03/24/2010 3:35:58 PM PDT by Interesting Times
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To: Howlin; eddie willers; cajungirl; wirestripper; Southflanknorthpawsis; Peach; prairiebreeze; ...

A “now it can be told” ping...


2 posted on 03/24/2010 3:36:43 PM PDT by Interesting Times (For the truth about "swift boating" see ToSetTheRecordStraight.com)
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To: Interesting Times

I think Kolb did America a huge service and hope there is another Abscam soon.

Maybe he can even find Barry’s Long Form Birth Certificate, Travel Records, etc.


3 posted on 03/24/2010 3:49:41 PM PDT by Vendome (Don't take life so seriously... You'll never live through it.)
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To: Interesting Times

Thank you Ron Kolb.....as Hannity says:
You’re a great American!


4 posted on 03/24/2010 4:02:08 PM PDT by RVN Airplane Driver ("To be born into freedom is an accident; to die in freedom is an obligation..)
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To: Interesting Times
 
John Murtha's January 7, 1980 meeting with the FBI's undercover Abscam investigation. At Abscam's W Street townhouse in Washington, D.C. With FBI Special Agent Anthony Amoroso, informant Mel Weinberg, and Howard Criden
 
Murtha's Abscam meeting with the FBI.

5 posted on 03/24/2010 4:17:47 PM PDT by Wolverine (A Concerned Citizen)
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To: Wolverine

That’s it - thanks for posting the link.


6 posted on 03/24/2010 4:19:54 PM PDT by Interesting Times (For the truth about "swift boating" see ToSetTheRecordStraight.com)
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To: Interesting Times; potlatch

.

Great stuff Scott!

I forwarded/linked this thread to the unsinkable Bud Garner - WWII Navy Vet, author, journalist, historian - and many others


7 posted on 03/24/2010 4:23:37 PM PDT by devolve ( . . . . . . . . . PAINT THE RED STATES BLACK . . . . . . .)
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To: devolve

Bud will enjoy it.


8 posted on 03/24/2010 4:42:47 PM PDT by potlatch (~~"Where secrecy or mystery begins, vice or roguery is not far off. "~~)
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To: Interesting Times; devolve; ntnychik; PhilDragoo; MeekOneGOP
Thanks for the ping I.T.
Back through the years - some of devolve's old posts and one of mine at bottom;







9 posted on 03/24/2010 4:49:01 PM PDT by potlatch (~~"Where secrecy or mystery begins, vice or roguery is not far off. "~~)
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To: devolve

It’s a heck of a story. Thanks for passing it along.


10 posted on 03/24/2010 4:51:59 PM PDT by Interesting Times (For the truth about "swift boating" see ToSetTheRecordStraight.com)
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To: potlatch

.

Wow potlatch!

My old “banner” .gifs too

I crammed a lot of wild stuff in the NYT one!


11 posted on 03/24/2010 4:57:59 PM PDT by devolve ( . . . . . . . . . PAINT THE RED STATES BLACK . . . . . . .)
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To: Interesting Times; potlatch

.

As one big corporation has now picked up the Sarah Palin comment now in it’s TV and radio ads:

“You betcha!”


12 posted on 03/24/2010 5:00:27 PM PDT by devolve ( . . . . . . . . . PAINT THE RED STATES BLACK . . . . . . .)
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To: devolve

Yeah, it’s one banner after another except for the red Kerry one. Old stuff that I find and save!!


13 posted on 03/24/2010 5:05:44 PM PDT by potlatch (~~"Where secrecy or mystery begins, vice or roguery is not far off. "~~)
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To: devolve

[“You betcha!”]

Funny huh? A phrase probably all of us have used in our lives, and she said it and it caught on!


14 posted on 03/24/2010 5:07:26 PM PDT by potlatch (~~"Where secrecy or mystery begins, vice or roguery is not far off. "~~)
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To: potlatch

.

That was a phase I went through

Some of the FX were sorta mind-bending

I am not sure how I did many of those

I kept notebooks of every step, parameter, animated graghic, text, style, color, size I used

Impossible to duplicate now from scratch

GIFworks website - for one - appears to be gone - You mentioned that recently


15 posted on 03/24/2010 5:12:31 PM PDT by devolve ( . . . . . . . . . PAINT THE RED STATES BLACK . . . . . . .)
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To: devolve

Eight gifs on that top one and no jumping or weird stuff.
Too bad about GifWorks if you can’t get to it now.

All the Murtha, Kerry and Kennedy graphics we made and not much use for them now.


16 posted on 03/24/2010 5:23:39 PM PDT by potlatch (~~"Where secrecy or mystery begins, vice or roguery is not far off. "~~)
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To: potlatch

.

We sure created a ton of them

The DNC has us on their hit list


17 posted on 03/24/2010 5:29:35 PM PDT by devolve ( . . . . . . . . . PAINT THE RED STATES BLACK . . . . . . .)
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To: devolve

[The DNC has us on their hit list]

Lol, not you! You said you run ‘under the ?’ - radar?


18 posted on 03/24/2010 5:34:29 PM PDT by potlatch (~~"Where secrecy or mystery begins, vice or roguery is not far off. "~~)
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To: Interesting Times

As I read though this, it makes a person wonder how much more is out there that no one has unearthed. Thanks for the information Scott.


19 posted on 03/24/2010 6:32:09 PM PDT by hoosiermama (ONLY DEAD FISH GO WITH THE FLOW.......I am swimming with Sarahcudah! Sarah has read the tealeaves.)
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To: Interesting Times

Massa was best buds with Murtha. Now he’s “out” so to speak, where and what is he doing. He had to have some connection to this scam. He may have still been in the Navy, though.


20 posted on 03/24/2010 6:54:36 PM PDT by John S Mosby (Sic Semper Tyrannis)
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