And another non-surprise. We have known for years about the ongoing attempts in our MSM and on the left side of the aisle to leak anything damaging to this President and to the Republicans. Security clearences be damned. Now comes news yesterday that Hoekstra suspended an aide to Rep. Jane Harman until a investigation can be completed:
A Democratic staff member on the House Intelligence Committee has been suspended by the Republican chairman of that committee over concerns about the leak of a secret intelligence estimate, and political mudslinging has become a central part of the investigation into the security breach.
The unidentified staff member is Larry Hanauer, FOX News learned Friday. Chairman Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich., suspended Hanauer earlier this week and won’t allow him access to classified information until a review can be completed, said Jamal Ware, Hoekstra’s spokesman.
The suspension drew heated response from the committee’s top Democrat, Jane Harman, who said she was “appalled” by the suspension and called for his immediate reinstatement.
[…]According to letters released Friday, Hoekstra said he began looking into the leak of the National Intelligence Estimate after a story based on the secret document on global terror trends appeared Sept. 23 in The New York Times.
The leak caused a political uproar last month. In the assessment, completed in April, analysts from the government’s 16 spy agencies concluded that the Iraq war has become a “cause celebre” for Islamic extremists, breeding deep resentment of the U.S. that probably will get worse before it gets better.
President Bush, who suggested the document was leaked for “political purposes” weeks before the midterm elections, later made public four pages of the estimate’s key findings.
In a letter to Hoekstra dated Sept. 29, committee member Rep. Ray LaHood, R-Ill., said a committee staff member — identified by FOX sources as Hanauer — requested the document from National Intelligence Director John Negroponte three days before the Times story appeared.
“I have no credible information to say any classified information was leaked from the committee’s minority staff, but the implications of such would be dramatic,” LaHood said in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press. “This may, in fact, be only coincidence, and simply ‘look bad.’ But coincidence, in this town, is rare.”
Here is some audio of Hoekstra on the Michael Medved show yesterday.
Meanwhile Rep. Jane Harman is under investigation for some shananigans herself:
Did a Democratic member of Congress improperly enlist the support of a major pro-Israel lobbying group to try to win a top committee assignment? That’s the question at the heart of an ongoing investigation by the FBI and Justice Department prosecutors, who are examining whether Rep. Jane Harman of California and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) may have violated the law in a scheme to get Harman reappointed as the top Democrat on the House intelligence committee, according to knowledgeable sources in and out of the U.S. government.
The sources tell TIME that the investigation by Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which has simmered out of sight since about the middle of last year, is examining whether Harman and AIPAC arranged for wealthy supporters to lobby House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi on Harman’s behalf. Harman said Thursday in a voicemail message that any investigation of — or allegation of improper conduct by — her would be “irresponsible, laughable and scurrilous.”
[…]A spokesman for AIPAC, a powerful Washington-based organization with more than 100,000 members across the U.S., denied any wrongdoing by the group and stressed that it is not taking sides in regards to the committee assignment. Spokespersons for Justice and the FBI declined to comment. The case is a spin-off of a probe that has already led to charges under the Espionage Act against two AIPAC lobbyists, whose case is still pending, and to a 12-and-a-half-year prison sentence for former Defense Intelligence Agency official Lawrence A. Franklin. Franklin pleaded guilty a year ago to three felony counts involving improper disclosure and handling of classified information about the Middle East and terrorism to the two lobbyists, who in turn are accused of passing it on to a journalist and a foreign government, widely believed to be Israel.
[…]The sources say the probe also involves whether, in exchange for the help from AIPAC, Harman agreed to help try to persuade the Administration to go lighter on the AIPAC officials caught up in the ongoing investigation. If that happened, it might be construed as an illegal quid pro quo, depending on the context of the situation. But the sources caution that there has been no decision to charge anyone and that it is unclear whether Harman and AIPAC acted on the idea.
[…]But congressional sources say Pelosi has been infuriated by pressure from some major donors lobbying on behalf of Harman. In a story touching on tensions between Pelosi and Harman, an alternative California publication, LA Weekly, reported in May that Harman “had some major contributors call Pelosi to impress upon her the importance of keeping Jane in place. According to these members, this tactic, too, hasn’t endeared Harman to Pelosi.”
A congressional source tells TIME that the lobbbying for Harman has included a phone call several months ago from entertainment industry billionaire and major Democratic party contributor Haim Saban.
Ok, now tie this Harman investigation with what we know about the leaker:
“LARRY HANAUER, wrapped up a year of working on U.S. policy toward Iraq and is now managing U.S. defense relations with Israel from his teeny little Pentagon office in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Larry was recently elected as a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations, asked to join the board of the American Jewish Committee’s Washington Young Leadership Forum, and appointed to the Board of Advisors of Fletcher’s Program on Southwest Asia and Islamic Civilization.”
And then we have these connections which Squiggler found. Hanauer was mentioned by Karen Kwiatkowski in this report she wrote about her uneasiness while working for neo-cons:
Another civilian replacement about which I was told was that of the long-time Israel/Syria/Lebanon desk, Larry Hanauer. Word was that he was even-handed with Israel, there had been complaints from one of his countries, and as a gesture of good will, David Schenker, fresh from the Washington Institute, was serving as the new Israel/Syria/Lebanon desk.
Who is Karen Kwiatkowski? Why just one of the signers to a document from the schizophrenic VIPer titled: “A Call to Patriotic Whistleblowing”…..
Hmmmm
It is time for unauthorized truth-telling.
Citizens cannot make informed choices if they do not have the facts – for example, the facts that have been wrongly concealed about the ongoing war in Iraq: the real reasons behind it, the prospective costs in blood and treasure, and the setback it has dealt to efforts to stem terrorism. Administration deception and cover-up on these vital matters has so far been all too successful in misleading the public.
[…]Some of you have documentation of wrongly concealed facts and analyses that – if brought to light – would impact heavily on public debate regarding crucial matters of national security, both foreign and domestic. We urge you to provide that information now, both to Congress and, through the media, to the public.
[…]Needless to say, any unauthorized disclosure that exposes your superiors to embarrassment entails personal risk. Should you be identified as the source, the price could be considerable, including loss of career and possibly even prosecution. Some of us know from experience how difficult it is to countenance such costs. But continued silence brings an even more terrible cost, as our leaders persist in a disastrous course and young Americans come home in coffins or with missing limbs.
[…]Signatories
Edward Costello, former special agent (Counterintelligence), Federal Bureau of Investigation
Sibel Edmonds, former language specialist, Federal Bureau of Investigation
Daniel Ellsberg, former official, U.S. Departments of Defense and State
John D. Heinberg, former economist, Employment and Training Administration, U.S. Department of Labor
Larry C. Johnson, former deputy director for anti-terrorism assistance, Transportation Security, and Special Operations, Department of State, Office of the Coordinator for Counter-Terrorism
John Brady Kiesling, former political counselor, U.S. Embassy, Athens, Department of State
David MacMichael, former senior estimates officer, National Intelligence Council, Central Intelligence Agency
Ray McGovern, former analyst, Central Intelligence Agency
Philip G. Vargas, Ph.D., J.D., director, Privacy & Confidentiality Study, Commission on Federal Paperwork (author/director: “The Vargas Report on Government Secrecy” – censored)
Ann Wright, retired U.S. Army Reserve colonel and U.S. Foreign Service officer
Lt. Col. Karen Kwiatkowski, recently retired from service in the Pentagon’s Office of Near East planning
Did Larry Hanauer heed the call?
Now, granted, the connections are not rock solid. But as many have found through the years in Washington DC….coincidences don’t happen in that town. He is a man who was booted out of his intelligence job, was obviously a bit upset about that, went on to work for Jane Harman, asked for classified report about Iraq and then a few days later that same report was written about in the Times….
Come on…..
Coincidence my ass. If the accusations are true may he suffer what any other traitor has to suffer.
and some more….
The Ties That Bind - Kennedy & The KGB
The antipathy that congressional Democrats have today toward President George W. Bush is reminiscent of their distrust of President Ronald Reagan during the Cold War, a political science professor says.
“We see some of the same sentiments today, in that some Democrats see the Republican president as being a threat and the true obstacle to peace, instead of seeing our enemies as the true danger,” said Paul Kengor, a political science professor at Grove City College and the author of new book, The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism.
In his book, which came out this week, Kengor focuses on a KGB letter written at the height of the Cold War that shows that Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) offered to assist Soviet leaders in formulating a public relations strategy to counter President Reagan’s foreign policy and to complicate his re-election efforts.
The letter, dated May 14, 1983, was sent from the head of the KGB to Yuri Andropov, who was then General Secretary of the Soviet Union’s Communist Party.
In his letter, KGB head Viktor Chebrikov offered Andropov his interpretation of Kennedy’s offer. Former U.S. Sen. John Tunney (D-Calif.) had traveled to Moscow on behalf of Kennedy to seek out a partnership with Andropov and other Soviet officials, Kengor claims in his book.
At one point after President Reagan left office, Tunney acknowledged that he had played the role of intermediary, not only for Kennedy but for other U.S. senators, Kengor said. Moreover, Tunney told the London Times that he had made 15 separate trips to Moscow.
“There’s a lot more to be found here,” Kengor told Cybercast News Service. “This was a shocking revelation.”
Bryan at Hot Air has taken a look at the book and gives his impression:
There’s a new book on Ronald Reagan making the rounds, The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism. Its author, Paul Kengor, unearthed a sensational document from the Soviet archives. That document is a memo regarding an offer made by Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts via former Senator John Tunney, both Democrats, to the General Secretary of the Communist Party, USSR, Yuri Andropov, in 1983. The offer was to help the Soviet leadership, military and civilian, conduct a PR campaign in the United States as President Ronald Reagan sought re-election. The goal of the PR campaign would be to cast President Reagan as a warmonger, the Soviets as willing to peacefully co-exist, and thereby turn the electorate away from Reagan. It was a plan to enlist Soviet help, and use the American press, in unseating an American president.
Think about that.
I received a review copy of The Crusader on Wednesday. The book first references the Kennedy plan on page 206, and includes the complete Soviet memo, dated May 14, 1983, in the Appendix. It’s an eye opener.
And this was 23 years ago. Do you think things have changed? Not one iota. They want nothing more then power, this is all they know and want, and they will do anything….even deal with our enemies, to get it.
Disgusting. Will a Kerry/Osama letter be forthcoming?
Kennedy needs to resign NOW! This is treason folks.
Article III, Section 3, Paragraph 1, of the Constitution of the United States:
“Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them,
or, in adhering to their Enemies, giving them aid and comfort.”
The “aid and comfort” prong of treason has been interpreted by SCOTUS as requiring proof of four elements:
1. an intent to betray the United States (which can be inferred from);
2. an overt act;
3. witnessed by two people; and
4. that provides aid and comfort to an enemy of the United States.
But of course we forget one thing. He got away with murder once, whats a little treason?
More proof of Kennedy’s treasonous behavior here.
And this article, published in 2004, provides a bit more background on this traitors actions:
Romerstein, a former House intelligence committee staffer and a researcher of Soviet archives, uncovered numerous documents suggesting that Ted Kennedy was a “collaborationist” with the Soviets during our Cold War. Romerstein also co-authored, along with Eric Breindel, the highly praised “Verona Secrets, Exposing Soviet Espionage and America’s Traitors.”
According to Romerstein, a review of Soviet Communist Party archives offers an unflattering view of Kennedy. Some of the documents that have come to light since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 include claims that:
Sometime in 1978, Kennedy requested the KGB’s assistance to set up a relationship between the Soviets and a firm owned by former Sen. John Tunney, D-Calif. Again, on March 5, 1980, Tunney, acting as Kennedy’s liaison, met with KGB agents in Moscow. During that meeting, Tunney articulated Kennedy’s position that “nonsense about ‘the Soviet military threat’ and Soviet ambitions for military expansion in the Persian Gulf … was being fueled by [President Jimmy] Carter, [National Security Advisor Zbigniew] Brzezinski, the Pentagon and the military industrial complex.” Kennedy, according to the documents, offered to speak out against President Carter on Afghanistan.
Romerstein notes that soon after the meeting, several public speeches subsequently were made by Kennedy criticizing Carter on his handling of Afghanistan.
This particular document was found in KGB archives by a KGB officer named Vasiliy Mitrokhin, who copied the records and defected to the West.
Other reports regarding Kennedy’s affiliation with the Communists also were divulged.
According to information provided by the KGB, Kennedy told Tunney to carry a message to the general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party, Yuri Andropov.
Kennedy conveyed his concern over the anti-Soviet activities of then-President Ronald Reagan.
The KGB report said: “in Kennedy’s opinion the opposition to Reagan remains weak. Speeches of the President’s opponents are not well-coordinated and not effective enough, and Reagan has the chance to use successful counterpropaganda.”
To appease the Soviets, Kennedy requested a meeting with Andropov for the purpose of “arming himself with the Soviet leader’s explanations of arms control policy so he can use them later for more convincing speeches in the U.S.”
Kennedy suggested that he could provide a venue to bring Soviet views to the major networks and into American living rooms by inviting ABC television network chairman of the board Elton Rule, Walter Cronkite or Barbara Walters to Moscow.
Kennedy’s tune has never changed has it:
Then - Reagan is the single biggest threat to world peace.
Now - Bush is the single biggest threat to world peace.
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