Steven Hatfill Vs. The Media
By Cliff Kincaid
June 30, 2008
Page 3 of 4
No Lessons Learned
There are undoubtedly many good people in the Bureau struggling to protect us against terrorist attack. But some clearly haven't learned the right lessons. We recently discovered that FBI Special Agent Andrew Bringuel had invited Weather Underground terrorist Mark Rudd to lecture at the FBI training Academy in Quantico, Virginia. Rudd, who traveled to Cuba before returning to the U.S. to lead the violent protests at Columbia University as a member of the Students for a Democratic Society, now lists his occupation as "writer, organizer" and is with "Progressives for Obama." Rudd writes about his FBI visit on his blog. (web site)
According to declassified government intelligence information, (web site) Rudd had traveled to Cuba as part of a program designed to provide training to foreign radicals in revolutionary and guerrilla tactics. Now's he's an FBI lecturer.
It turns out that Bringuel also invited a member of the Animal Liberation Front (web site) to come to the FBI to speak to a group of "police executives." The animal lover turned him down. In 2002, an FBI official had testified (web site) that groups like the Animal Liberation Front and Earth Liberation Front had emerged as a serious terrorist threat in the U.S.
Shouldn't the FBI be putting terrorists in jail rather than inviting them to lecture?
If the Congress wants to do oversight of the Bush Administration, Hatfill is the perfect case, even if the victim isn't a left-winger. Here is a concrete example of a real innocent victim of the "war on terror."
More than anything, however, the Congress should not make the problem worse. The proposed media shield law, known officially as the Free Flow of Information Act, would make it easier for unscrupulous officials in the FBI and other agencies to use the media to smear people and damage their reputations. With a media shield law in place, we could have many more Steven Hatfills, who would be prohibited from even attempting to get justice.
With justification, Hatfill argues that the leaks from the government violated his right to privacy. As a result, he wants to identify the government agents who fingered him because he wants them to pay. In order to do that, however, he wants reporters to identify sources who provided them information about the Justice Department's investigation. He has gone to court to force the disclosure of these sources. That's the only way to root out these corrupt government officials. A media shield law would make it impossible for Hatfill and his lawyers to identify and punish those dishonest government officials.
Back in 2005 we said that "It is important for our national security and survival to find out why the case is unsolved and who in the government used the press to finger an innocent man. Members of the media must tell us what they know. They are citizens as well. They are not above the law." This is why we call the shield bill the "Special Rights for Journalists Act."
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