Members of Congress Pledge Support for FBI Whistleblower Sibel Edmonds

http://www.aclu.org/SafeandFree/SafeandFree.cfm?ID=17640&c=206

Members of Congress Pledge Support for FBI Whistleblower Sibel Edmonds

March 3, 2005

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: media@aclu.org

Members From Both Sides of the Aisle Promise to Investigate Problems at FBI After Hearing Wednesday

WASHINGTON - Two Members of Congress promised to investigate whistleblower Sibel Edmonds’ allegations against the FBI and raised concerns over the government’s response to her case after she testified Wednesday for the first time before Congress.

Edmonds, who was fired after exposing national security concerns at the FBI, received support from Representatives Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) and Christopher Shays, (R-Conn.) after testifying at a subcommittee hearing of the House Committee on Government Reform. Edmonds shared her story with the committee and answered questions as part of a series of speakers on over-classification and pseudo-classification. She testified about the government’s excessive use of classification to cover up its own misconduct in her case. The American Civil Liberties Union is representing Edmonds in her appeal to reinstate her case against the government.

Representative Maloney said she was outraged that Edmonds, who was trying to protect the United States by shedding light on national security breaches, has been punished by the government for her courage. Representative Maloney said the current classification system allows government agencies to silence whistleblowers and told Edmonds she would rally women leaders to support her case. She also said she would to write a bill named for Edmonds to solve classification problems.

"Our system, when we classify things, is supposed to protect us, not punish whistleblowers. It’s almost unbelievable," Representative Maloney said. "I find your testimony absolutely and completely terrifying."

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http://www.antiwar.com/edmonds /

Statement of Sibel Edmonds
Before the House Committee on Government Reform, Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats and Internal Relations, March 2, 2005

Emerging Threats: Overclassification and Pseudo-classification

Good afternoon, my name is Sibel Edmonds. I have been invited to provide you with testimony today regarding my direct experience with the use of excessive secrecy, rare privileges, and over-classification by the Department of Justice against me during the past three years. Thank you for giving me this opportunity. I believe that my case clearly illustrates how the government uses secrecy laws and classification to avoid accountability, to cover up problems and wrongdoing, and to gain unfair legal advantage in court.

I began working for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as a language specialist for several Middle Eastern languages starting shortly after 9/11, and was granted Top Secret Clearance. During my work, I became aware of problems within the translation unit involving criminal conduct against our national interests, potential espionage, serious security breaches threatening our intelligence, intentional mistranslation, and blocking of intelligence. I was asked, and later ordered, to refrain from reporting these allegations. I reported them, together with evidence, to higher management within the bureau. They refused to take any action, and again, they asked me not to pursue them. I then took these issues and evidence to the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General and to the Senate Judiciary Committee, because I believed that according to our laws these were the appropriate steps to take in this situation. As a result, I was retaliated against, was ordered to submit to a polygraph, and had my home computer confiscated. Finally, in March 2002 I was fired. The only explanation I received for getting fired was ‘for the convenience of the government.’

In March 2002, the Senate Judiciary Committee began investigating my case and allegations, and in June and July 2002, during two unclassified briefings with the staff of Senators Grassley and Senator Leahy, the FBI publicly confirmed all of my core allegations. These two Senators issued public statements and letters regarding these confirmations and my case, demanding expedited investigation by the Inspector General and response from the FBI. These letters and statements were widely disseminated in the media and on the Internet; including on the Senators’ own websites. When the judge overseeing my legal cases asked the government to produce any unclassified materials that was relevant to the substance of my allegations, the government took a truly extraordinary step: it moved to retroactively classify these letters, statements, and news releases that had been public for almost two years. It is quite clear that the government’s motivation was not to protect national security, but rather to protect itself from embarrassment and accountability. Senator Grassley characterized this retroactive classification as ‘ludicrous,’ and ‘gagging the congress.’ However, the Congress complied. Only after this highly unusual retroactive classification was challenged in court by POGO, a government watchdog organization, did the Department of Justice reverse itself and declare that this information was not considered classified and a danger to national security after all. I would like to request that these letters from Senators Grassley and Leahy be included in the record of today’s hearing.


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she is a symbol of the fight against bush crime family

expose its misbehavior. I'm just glad that in this case, the whistleblower has been heard, and others are supporting her. I suspect that there are a lot of horror stories out there that haven't yet come to light.

Whistle-blower Sibel Edmonds speaks with Daniel Ellsberg (video)

http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0510,webmondo2,61790,6.html

I had to minimize and just listen. She's so darned beautiful I keep looking at her face and I miss what she says. It's very distracting.

With her fiery personality, intelligence, and obvious physical beauty, if anybody can get Congress to listen it will be her. Repubs will have a hard time ignoring her, though they will most certainly try. The Democrats need to put a strong spotlight on her and her story...not only to highlight her story but also to protect her from the BFEE and its minions.

Edietd for spelilng, motsly.

she is a brave and brilliant woman, and she hasn't shown any signs of backing down.

Courageous sums it up. Not many people have the guts to stand up to the Bush slime machine.

:hi: fellow Tar Heel!

There are no more checks and balances in the US government. We are under a Fascist dictatorship dressed up in the clothes of a free democracy. It's an illusion. More like mass dellusion.

and Edmond gets clobbered. :mad:

and request a public investigation? That's huge. Cracks starting to appear!

She's a real American hero for standing up for what is right...