FBI INSIDER LINKS TURKISH LOBBY TO BRIBERY AND BLACKMAIL
By Paul Chaderjian
/10/fbi-insider-links-turkish-lobby-to-bribery-and -blackmail/
August 10, 2009
Sibel Edmonds talks under oath about Turks buying votes against
Genocide Resolution
WASHINGTON-Less than 72 hours ago, former FBI translator Sibel
Edmonds testified under oath about shocking details connecting
the Turkish government to an intricate network of individuals
and organization that bribed, persuaded, and-at least in one
case-blackmailed U.S. lawmakers and corrupted American government
officials. Corruption. Espionage. Bribery. All to ensure that the
U.S. does not recognize the Armenian Genocide ever again.
For years, the Turkish government and its representatives here in
the United States have stopped at nothing to fight the recognition
of the Armenian Genocide. This far-reaching campaign of denial and
cover-up stretches from well-funded efforts to block education about
the Armenian Genocide to ensuring that American media does not address
or acknowledge the genocide as a historic fact.
The Turkish government and Turkish lobby have for years pressured the
local, state, and federal governments and American and global media
to rewrite American, Ottoman, Turkish, and world histories so that
they exclude the Armenian Genocide.
But only now are we beginning to understand exactly how far the
government of Turkey, and its agents and proxies, are willing to go
to undermine the Armenian case.
Sibel Edmonds
The FBI hired linguist Sibel Edmonds as a translator after
9-11. But she was fired less than a year later after reporting
the illegal activities of Turkish citizens being covered up by her
bosses. Edmonds has been bravely battling the legal system for years
for the opportunity to tell her story. On Sat., Aug. 8, Edmonds was
able to speak freely thanks to David Krikorian, an Armenian American
who is running for a Congressional seat in Ohio.
"Ms. Edmonds is a very credible witness," said Krikorian, "and she
has direct information pertaining to how when she was a member of the
Department of Justice, of the FBI, where she uncovered relationships
between the government of Turkey and U.S. officials, where the
government of Turkey was pushing its agenda on U.S. officials and
doing so, perhaps, and we’ll find out today, in what people many
people believe to be an illegal way."
David Krikorian is the Democratic candidate in the 2010 elections for
Ohio’s 2nd Congressional district. The seat is now held by Republican
Jean Schmidt, who was the largest recipient of money from the Turkish
lobby in the 2008 elections. Schmidt also fought the Armenian Genocide
Resolution.
When her challenger, David Krikorian, pointed out that she
was receiving blood money from Turks for helping deny the
Armenian Genocide, Schmidt complained to the Ohio Elections
Commission. Representing Schmidt and the Turkish American Defense
Fund at the deposition on Aug. 8 was none other than the attorney
and longtime voice of the Turkish lobby, Bruce Fein.
Bruce Fein
Krikorian says the Turkish lobby’s interest in what Sibel Edmonds would
say is because this FBI whistle blower is linking bribes accepted by
lawmakers to the Turkish campaign of denial.
"I think they’re concerned because this exposes their campaign of
denial regarding the Armenian Genocide," said Krikorian, "and how
they’ve been able to buy off certain members of the U.S. Congress in
support of the Turkish government’s position on this issue. So they
have an interest."
Bruce Fein claims Edmond’s testimony on Aug. 8 has no relevance in
congresswoman Schmidt’s case against David Krikorian.
We asked Bruce Fein about Krikorian’s first amendment rights of
freedom of speech and the right to talk openly about his opponent’s
opposition to the Armenian Genocide Resolution.
"We totally support his right to state anything he wants about the
Armenian Genocide," said Fein. "What you’re not entitled to do under
the first amendment as interpreted by the U.S. Supreme Court, who we
think is the authoritative interpreter, is knowing state lies, and
what we have alleged, and what we have to prove, and we understand
and accept it, is that Mr. Krikorian knowingly and intentionally told
lies about Jean Schmidt including she received money from the Turkish
government, and we fully expect we will discharge that burden and
we agree that we ought to be able to. We must be shouldered with
that burden in order to protect free speech. We don’t want close
anybody’s mouth when it comes to arguing one way or another about
the Armenian Genocide."
Fein and the Turkish Defense Fund are indeed trying to stop Krikorian
from speaking the truth. Congresswoman Schmidt did receive huge sums
of contributions from the Turkish lobby. Sibel Edmonds says that same
lobby bribed public officials to enforce the Turkish agenda in the
United States.
Gag Orders
The government has tried to gag Edmonds and has sent threatening
letters to stop this type of talk about corruption inside the FBI,
the State Department, the Department of Justice, and in the halls
of Congress.
"I am able to talk about the kind of information they used to
retaliate against whistle blowers, to gag people, to issue states
secrets privilege, or to use the excuse of classification," said
Edmonds. "Nothing that has to do with national security but to
cover up criminal activities, embarrassing information, and today
that is happening, and this is the biggest significance. It’s very
significant. I believe, Mr. Krikorian is very brave and courageous
person, to push this and bring it to this point. He’s actually serving
the interest of the United States citizens and not only in Cincinnati,
Ohio, but everyone here in this country. So, we should be all thankful
to him for providing us with this opportunity."
During the deposition on Aug. 8, Edmonds talked in detail about
scandalous bribes accepted by then-Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert
and former lawmakers Dick Gephardt and Stephen Solarz. She also
spoke about the blackmailing of another un-named member of Congress-a
married woman with children, who was lured into a homosexual affair
by a female prostitute sent by the Turkish lobby. This Congresswoman
was then blackmailed to abandon her support for the Armenian Genocide
Resolution.
"It’s the Turkish government," said Edmonds, "but also other entities
and layers of these operations and some of these covert operations
and the way they are done is completely illegal. I was able to discuss
those in detail, and that information within the next couple of hours I
hope will be available to the public, and the public will get a chance
to decide for themselves and see what the government does to gag and
quash necessary information like this and stamp it as classified. I
think this may end up inflicting the best and the worst damage to
arbitrarily, criminally done classifications and let’s hope that
it does."
Vanity Fair
Sibel Edmonds says the allegations she made in an August 2005
Vanity Fair article were confirmed by the several FBI agents and
Department of Justice officials. The piece by Vanity Fair reporter
David Rose said that then-Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert was
the recipient of various bribes. Edmonds says it is amazing Hastert
nor his attorneys reacted to the article. Hastert did not issue a
denial to the allegations, but he resigned a year later. Now he is
part of the Turkish government orchestrated network that Vanity Fair
says paid him the big bribes when he was the most powerful member of
the House of Representatives. The most recent Federal filings show
that Hastert, one of several registered foreign agents for Turkey,
now receives $35,000 a month to push the Turkish government’s agenda
on Capitol Hill.
How deep do these corrupt Turkish operations go? Vanity Fair reported
that the FBI began investigating Turkish citizens living in the
U.S. in the late 90s, and they found evidence of attempts to bribe
U.S. officials.
However, as Sibel Edmonds says, the government has used the phrase
"state secrets" and security reasons to hold this information back
from the public and media.
The Ohio Election Commission’s Probable Cause hearing is scheduled
for Aug. 13, and the final hearing in the case against David Krikorian
where all the evidence will be heard is scheduled on Sept. 3.
***
Q&A with Bruce Fein
Q: Is this part of the series of cases you’re opening up, whether
it’s in Massachusetts or suing the Southern Poverty Law Center,
to try to quash speech with regard to the Armenian Genocide?
BF: No, what we are trying to do is promote freedom of speech because
what’s been done is that other organizations have accused various
members who dispute their version of history of criminal activity of
compromising scholarly integrity. It is they who are trying to suppress
freedom of speech by intimidating, harassing, and calling criminal
those individuals who happen to dispute their version of history.
Q: Would you then also support Holocaust denial entrance into the
Massachusetts school system or pushing other publications like the
Southern Poverty Center’s publication to talk about denial, as well?
BF: What the Southern Poverty Law Center alleged is that various
academics are receiving money from the government of Turkey to
compromise their scholarship and we will not accept accusations that
are knowingly false of that sort, period.