Sibel Edmonds, Other National Security Whistleblowers Form Coalition to Continue the Fight for Reform, as Explosive New Info Revealed
Another eyebrow-raising press release that came in today.
The celebrated Sibel Edmonds, in coalition with fellow whistleblowers like Coleen Rowley, John Vincent and Mike German of the FBI, is announcing a new "united front" in the form of a new pressure group, the National Security Whistleblowers Coalition (NSWBC).
In a very recent interview, Edmonds added a few more tantalizing details relevant to her case. She suggested (as best she could, due her gag order) that "...the content of the FBI intercepts she heard indicates that recognizable, very high-profile American citizens are linked to the 911 attacks.... [she] implied that legislators and even lobbyists were benefiting from laundered narcotics proceeds in an earlier interview with the Baltimore Sun, '...this money travels. And you start trying to go to the root of it and it’s getting into somebody’s political campaign, and somebody’s lobbying. And people don’t want to be traced back to this money.'"
Edmonds was also quoted in the most recent interview as saying "'...there is direct evidence involving no more than ten American names that I recognized,' further revealing that ;some are heads of government agencies or politicians--but I don’t want to go any further than that,' as we listened in stunned silence."
Evidently deciding that joining forces in the battle to influence legislators in the fight for accountability and reform is the best way to go, Edmonds and Co. have scheduled an inaugural meeting for Thursday (details below). Especially noteworthy is the list of eminent and experienced former officials supporting them, including the grandaddy of the all, Daniel Ellsberg (see bottom for list).
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, April 26, 2005
Contact: Sibel Edmonds, (703) 519-3640, sibeldeniz@aol.com
PRESS ADVISORY
National Security Whistleblowers Coalition:
Congress, Whistleblower Protection & Accountability
What: An unprecedented group of national security whistleblowers have formed a united front as the National Security Whistleblowers Coalition (NSWBC). They will collectively attend two bipartisan congressional meetings today to demand that Congress act to end government retaliation against those who expose national security blunders, that Congress hold hearings into the federal government’s actions against whistleblowers, and that Congress act to require ‘individual accountability’ for retaliation against whistleblowers. The congressional meetings will be followed by a press conference featuring speakers from the NSWBC and guest speakers.
Speakers: Sibel Edmonds, Former Language Specialist, FBI
Coleen Rowley, Retired Agent and former division counsel, FBI
John Vincent, Veteran Special Agent, FBI
Mike German, Veteran Special Agent, FBI
Russ Tice, Senior Intelligence Analyst & Action Officer, NSA
Jesselyn Radack, Former Counsel, DOJ
Guest Speakers: Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-MA)
Mark Zaid, attorney, Krieger Zaid LLC
Professor William Weaver, University of Texas
Danielle Brian, Director, Project on Government Oversight (POGO)
Tom Devine, Legal Director, Government Accountability Project (GAP)
Dan Ellsberg, Founder, Truth Telling Project
Date: Thursday, April 28
Time: 1:30 PM- 3:00PM
Location: 122 Cannon House Office Building, SE, Washington, DC
Background: Since the September 11th terrorist attacks, whistleblowers have felt compelled to come forward in greater numbers to address our nation’s security weaknesses – in fact almost 50% more have sought protection annually under the Whistleblower Protection Act since that terrible event. However, patriotic truth-tellers across a variety of federal agencies have no protection against retaliation when they blow the whistle. Today, the federal government’s policies support and reinforce wrongdoers who would seek to silence whistleblowers by demoting them, taking away their security clearances, or firing them. In recent days that point was illustrated in the case of FBI Special Agent Robert Wright, who has been critical of the FBI’s efforts to pursue terrorists. Without whistleblower protections, agencies will continue to quash truth tellers and national security weaknesses will be allowed to fester underneath the growing cloak of secrecy.
Anderson, Mick, Former Senior Advisor for Policy, DOJ,
Bittler, Thomas, Training Coordinator, TSA-DHS,
Carman, John, Former Senior Inspector, U.S. Customs,
Carson, Joe, Nuclear Safety Engineer, DOE
Chambers, Theresa, Former National Park Service Police Chief,
Costello, Edward J. Jr., Former Special Agent, Counterintelligence, FBI,
Cole, John M., Former Veteran Intelligence Operations Specialist, FBI,
Coleman, Marsha Adebeyo, Senior Policy Analyst, EPA,
Conrad, David “Mark”, Retired Agent in Charge, Internal Affairs, U.S. Customs,
Cruse, Larry, Army Intelligence Analyst, DOD,
Czarkowski, Carol, Navy-DOD,
Dew, Rosemary, Veteran Supervisory Special Agent, Counterterrorism, FBI
Dzakovic, Bogdan, Former Red Team Leader, FAA,
Edmonds, Sibel, Former Language Specialist, FBI
Ellsberg, Dan, Former Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Defense (ISA), DOD,
Elson, Steve, Veteran Agent, FAA,
Fogg, Matthew F., Chief Deputy US Marshal, (INA),
Foley, Theresa, Special Agent, FBI,
Forbes, David, Aviation, Logistics and Govt. Security Analysts, Boyd Forbes, Inc.,
German, Mike, Former Special Agent, Counterterrorism, FBI,
Goodman, Melvin A., Former Senior Analyst/ Division Manager, CIA; Senior Fellow at the Center for International Policy,
Graf, Mark, Former Security Supervisor & Derivative Classifier, DOE,
Graham, Gilbert, Veteran Special Agent, Counterintelligence, FBI
Jenkins, Steve, Intelligence Analyst, NGIC, US Army
Johnson, Manny, Former Supervisory Special Agent, Counterterrorism, FBI
Kleiman, Diane, Former Special Agent, US Customs,
Kwiatkowski, Karen U., Lt. Col. USAF (ret.), Veteran Policy Analyst-DOD,
Larkin, Lynne A., Former Operations Officer, CIA,
Lewis, Linda, Current Emergency Program Specialist (WMD), FSIS- USDA
Lau, Lok, Former Special Agent, Counterintelligence, FBI
MacMichael, David, Former Senior Estimates Officer, CIA,
McGovern, Raymond L., Former Analyst, CIA,
Nunn, Sandy, Former Special Agent, US Customs,
Pahle, Theodore J., Senior Intelligence Officer (Ret), DIA,
Radack Jesselyn, Former Counsel, DOJ,
Rowley, Coleen, Retired Special Agent and Former Division Counsel, FBI,
Sarshar, Behrooz, Retired Language Specialist, FBI,
Spaulding, Kerry, Veteran Agent, FAA
Sullivan, Brian F., Special Agent, Risk Program Management Specialist, FAA,
Tice, Russ, Senior Intelligence Analyst & Action Officer, NSA,
Tortorich, Larry J., Retired Naval Officer, US Navy & Dept. of Homeland Security/TSA,
Turner, Jane, Veteran Special Agent, FBI,
Vincent, John, Veteran Special agent, Counterterrorism, FBI
Walp, Glenn, PhD, Former Office Leader of the Office of Security Inquiries, Los Alamos National Lab, DOE,
Wehrly, Dot, Veteran Special Agent (Current), FBI,
Whitehurst, Dr. Fred, (Retired) Supervisory Special Agent/Laboratory Forensic Examiner, FBI,
Woo, Robert, Former Special Agent, Counterintelligence, FBI,
Wright, Ann, Col. US Army (ret.); and Former Foreign Service officer
Wright, Robert, Veteran Special agent, Counterterrorism, FBI
Zipoli, Matthew J., Former Special Response Team (SRT) Officer, DOE,