Sibel Edmonds is a former contract translator for the FBI. She went to work as a Turkish and Farsi translator for the FBI five days after 9/11 with a top-level security clearance.
Even redacted, the report provided stunning vindication of Edmonds' credibility, stating that many of her claims "Were supported" and were indeed a "Significant factor in the FBI's decision to terminate her." So, what was Edmond's alleging? Edmond's job was to translate and transcribe recordings of conversations between suspected Turkish intelligence agents and their American contacts.
The Justice Department also took the unusual step of retroactively classifying Edmonds' briefings, as well as FBI briefings, forcing Members of Congress who had the information posted on their Web sites to remove the documents.
Edmonds wasn't revealing national security information; that is unless one considers exposing the U.S. government's brazenly and deeply embarrassing criminal acts to be a matter of national security.
We do know some of what Edmonds alleged thanks to a October 27, 2002, interview on 60 Minutes, Edmonds said that, after 9/11, the translation unit was ordered to deliberately slow its work and let documents pile up so that the FBI could request more money! According to Sen. Grassley, who was also interviewed on the same show, other people in the FBI "Corroborated a lot of her story." The FBI hired Jan Dickerson as another Turkish translator with a high-level security clearance.
Many drugs came to the U.S. on military planes and, from there, "Went to distribution centers in Chicago and Paterson, New Jersey." Edmonds also asserted that Turkish diplomats were entering our country with "Suitcases of heroin." Most people are probably unaware that, in 2007, six years after international forces invaded Afghanistan, the opium yield was the largest in human history.
Hastert's lawyers had no problem negotiating a plea bargain for the same reason Sibel Edmonds was gagged with the dubious States Secrets Privilege.
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