"To Tell The Truth: Eric Holder" Part 3-

[stephanie henry]

NEVER LET A CRISIS GO TO WASTE

While the nation was dumbfounded and an entire community devastated by the Columbine High School massacre, Mr. Holder quickly grabbed a hold of a particular point of interest during the investigation. That point was---the use of the internet by the young men who perpetrated the crimes.

Holder advocated regulating Internet speech
'That is something the Supreme Court ought to favorably look at'
________________________________________
Posted: February 20, 2009
11:40 pm Eastern
By Drew Zahn
© 2010 WorldNetDaily
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder's understanding of how First Amendment free speech rights apply online has come into question after various sources have posted his call for "regulation" of Internet content.

In the wake of 1999's school shooting massacre in Columbine, Colo., Holder told CBS that the court system ought to look at regulating Internet speech, since the two boys who executed the massacre learned how to build bombs online.


His comments were reported on the May 28, 1999, edition of National Public Radio's Morning

http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=89535

**Additionally, Holder was a leader in Bill Clinton's "all-out war on guns."
Holder is viewed by many as a nightmare for gun rights in America. In his professional life he has advocated:

• federal licensing of handgun owners
• a three-day waiting period on handgun sales
• rationing handgun sales to no more than one per month
• banning possession of handguns and so-called "assault weapons" by anyone under age 21
• a gun show restriction bill that would have given the federal government the power to shut down all gun shows
• national gun registration

So we have gun control and censorship of speech all via regulation and legislation…. based on knee jerk reactions (HUGE ones I might add) to individual situations by government agencies. Well that takes care of amendments 1 & 2.

What was that movie Tom Cruise was in where the psychics predicted crimes and the government stopped the individuals before they could act on them?
That’s right, ‘Minority Report’. Fill in your own punch line here.


ALL THE DEVIL NEEDS IS OPPORTUNITY

Now it gets juicy.

Remember those last-minute Clinton pardons and commutations at the end of his presidency?

Who brought those pardon applications before Pres. Clinton?
“Anyone, Anyone?”
No, it wasn’t Buhler.

Holder was there, helping to bring them about. Making himself the go-between.

*the pardons issued in the departing president’s final hours. Of these, most notorious is the case of Marc Rich, an unrepentant fugitive wanted on extensive fraud, racketeering, and trading-with-the-enemy charges – but granted a pardon nonetheless thanks to the intercession of his ex-wife, a generous donor to Clinton’s library and legal-defense fund.

*He steered Rich’s allies to retain the influential former White House counsel Jack Quinn (Holder later conceded he hoped Quinn would help him become attorney general in a Gore administration); he helped Quinn directly lobby Clinton, doing an end-run around the standard pardon process (including DOJ’s pardon attorney); and he kept the deliberations hidden from the district U.S. attorney and investigative agencies prosecuting Rich so they couldn’t learn about the pardon application and register their objections. . . .

And then Holder advised the White House that on the pardon — this would be one being sought by the attorney whose help Holder was seeking to get into the Gore administration — he was “neutral, leaning toward favorable.” He made this recommendation, despite the fact that under Department of Justice guidelines, Rich would not have been eligible for a pardon until five years after completing any sentence.

This exchange with Sen. Mike DeWine captures the incredulity with which Holder’s conduct was observed by Congress:

SEN. MIKE DEWINE (R), OHIO: I want to make sure I understand the facts. So you did know that he was a fugitive under the facts as recited to you by Mr. Quinn?

HOLDER: Yes. I knew he was a fugitive.
DEWINE: You knew he was a fugitive, and still you said you didn’t know that you necessarily had any objection to that? Didn’t the fact that he was a fugitive bother you?

HOLDER: Sure it did. What I said to the White House counsel ultimately was that I was neutral on this because I didn’t have a factual basis to make a determination as to whether or not Mr. Quinn’s contentions were in fact accurate, whether or not there had been a change in the law, a change in the applicable Justice Department regulations, and whether or not that was something that would justify the extraordinary grant of a pardon.

DEWINE: So the fact that he was a fugitive did not take it out of the realm of possibility? You didn’t say, “Well, gee, he’s a fugitive, therefore I wouldn’t be in favor of this.” I mean, you come down you’re neutral based on the facts as given to you by Mr. Quinn. I just want to make sure I understand your rationale here, your thought process.

HOLDER: Essentially what I was trying to say, what I tried to convey, was that I didn’t have a basis to make a determination; again, assuming that what Mr. Quinn said — I mean, you’re accurate, I did not reflexively say that I was opposed to this because he was a fugitive, having had that experience with I guess Mr. Preston King, who was a fugitive and who ultimately was granted a pardon that I supported. But I did not think, given the fact that he was a fugitive, that this was ever a matter likely to be successfully concluded from Mr. Rich’s perspective.

For more on the Rich pardon, I recommend Googling :
Dick Morris & Eileen McGann, June 2008

*pardons of Susan Rosenberg and Linda Evans – Weather Underground terrorists associated with Obama’s friends Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn (connecting the dots) – issued on the same day as the Rich pardon. Rosenberg and Evans had been serving decades-long sentences for bombings targeting American government facilities.

SUSAN ROSENBERG

Clinton Gave A “Controversial” Pardon To Susan Rosenberg, A Member Of The Weather Underground Who Was Implicated In The Deaths Of Two Police Officers And A Security Guard. The New York Times wrote that “A former terrorist who was caught with 740 pounds of dynamite and weapons in New Jersey, the fugitive ex-husband of a Manhattan socialite who is a close friend of former President Clinton, and four men who stole tens of millions of dollars from the federal government by creating a phony school for Jewish students were among about a dozen people from the New York area who were pardoned or had their prison sentences commuted” on Clinton’s last day in office. […]

The most controversial local case involves Susan L. Rosenberg, a former member of the Weather Underground who had been denied parole in a New Jersey explosives and weapons case because of charges brought against her in the 1981 armed robbery of a Brink's armored car. That heist left two police officers and a security guard dead.” [New York Times, 1/21/01]

Ø Rosenberg, A Terrorist Pardoned By Clinton, Was Indicted For Her Role In The 1983 Bomb Attack On The U.S. Capitol. Describing the Weather Underground, The National Review wrote, “In 1983 came their attack on the U.S. Capitol. Their bombs killed no one, but caused considerable damage and spooked the nation. A statement sent to a radio station read: ‘We purposely aimed our attack at the institutions of imperialist rule rather than at individual members of the ruling class. We did not choose to kill any of them this time. But their lives are not sacred.’ Rosenberg, Linda Sue Evans, and five of their cohorts were indicted for the Capitol bombing. Their numerous other targets included the Naval War College, an Israeli-owned company, and a patrolmen's benevolent association.” [National Review, 3/19/01]

Ø Pardoned Terrorist Was Member Of Weather Underground; Apprehended With An Uzi, Cop-Killer Bullets, And Hundreds Of Pounds Of Explosives. The Courier-Post (Cherry Hill, NJ) wrote, “Police uncovered 730 pounds of explosives. They found an Uzi, .357-caliber Magnum,M-14 rifle, as well as two semi-automatic pistols and Teflon-coated bullets. Police found bogus Social Security numbers and 50 fake New Jersey State Police and FBI identification cards. They found a library of books on guerrilla warfare. […] Rosenberg and Blunk were taken to the Cherry Hill police station, which was ringed by officers armed with automatic rifles and shotguns. They were charged with transporting explosives across state lines and possessing 14 firearms. The pair was believed part of a ring planning to bomb government buildings and was arraigned at the federal courthouse in Camden. Rosenberg was a major catch for Cherry Hill police. She was president of the May 19 communist organization, an offshoot of the radical Weather Underground of the '70s. […]

Rosenberg was a fugitive, wanted in a failed $1.6 million ambush-robbery of a Brinks armored car at a suburban New York mall in 1981.” [Courier-Post (Cherry Hill, NJ), 1/24/01]
Susan Rosenberg Denied Involvement In The Brink’s Robbery, Refused To Apologize For Her Role In The Terrorist Organization, And Said That Her Violent Actions Were Part Of An Era. The New York Daily News said, “In her only interview after her release, with WBAI radio on Jan. 23, she said she was not involved in the Brink's robbery. ‘We were really out of time and out of place on every level. ... The use of violence by individuals ... is not a position that I support or would ever want to be in again,’ Rosenberg said. ‘It was an extreme time. ... I was totally and profoundly influenced by the revolutionary movement in the '60s and '70s.’ Both Brown and O'Grady dismissed those revisionist sentiments.” [New York Daily News, 2/18/01]

Ø Giuliani And Schumer Condemned Clinton’s Pardon Of Weather Underground Member. “An unusual combination of New York political and law enforcement leaders have condemned former President Bill Clinton’s pardon of Susan L. Rosenberg, a one-time member of the Weather Underground terrorist group who was charged in the notorious 1981 Brink's robbery in Rockland County that left a guard and two police officers dead. Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, a Republican, and United States Senator Charles E. Schumer, a Democrat, were among those who criticized the pardon, as did Bernard B. Kerik, New York City's police commissioner, and David Trois, a Rockland County police union official. […] Mr. Giuliani, asked yesterday if he regretted not prosecuting Ms. Rosenberg on the Brink's charges, said he could not recall the details of the case. But even if she was not tried or convicted in the case, Ms. Rosenberg did not deserve to be freed, he said. "She was convicted of having in her possession 740 pounds of explosives, a submachine gun, weapons," the mayor said. "She admitted she had these weapons to give to someone to use in a bombing, and she had been involved in a significant number of robberies, bank robberies." Senator Schumer said that, even 20 years after the Rockland County robbery, the hardship continues for the families of the men killed, so Ms. Rosenberg should not have been pardoned. [New York Times, 1/22/01]

LINDA EVANS
Bill Clinton Commuted The Sentence Of Linda Sue Evans, Who Was Sentenced For Conspiracy And Malicious Destruction In Connection With Eight Bombings Between 1983 And 1985, Including One At The Capitol. Bill Clinton also commuted the sentence of Linda Sue Evans. In 1990, Evans was sentenced in United States District Court in Washington to five years in prison for conspiracy and malicious destruction in connection with eight bombings between 1983 and 1985, including one at the Capitol. Rosenberg and Blunk had been brought up on the same charges. At the time, Ms. Evans had already been sentenced to 40 years in prison for using false identification to buy firearms and harboring a fugitive. [San Francisco Chronicle, 1/21/01; NYT, 1/21/01]

Ø Linda Evans, One Of The Former Leaders Of the Weathermen, Was Convicted Of Acquiring Weapons, Fake IDs And Safe Houses, And Of Terrorist Actions. Linda Evans “was one of the leaders of a vanguard organization known as Weatherman and had come to the university with fellow militant Ted Gold to recruit others to the cause. … Linda Evans was arrested for transporting weapons and explosives in Detroit, and for crossing state lines to incite a riot. The charges were eventually thrown out on a technicality because the wiretaps that identified her had been unauthorized. … On May 11, 1985, she was arrested again, charged and then convicted of acquiring weapons, fake IDs and safe houses, and of terrorist actions. Her targets included the U.S. Capitol Building, the National War College, the Navy Yard Computer Center, the Navy Yard Officers Club, Israeli Aircraft Industries, the FBI and the New York Patrolman's Benevolent Association. In her possession were 740 pounds of dynamite. Evans was sentenced to 40 years in prison. … As the last hours of the Clinton era expired, Linda Evans was freed. It was 24 years shy of her full sentence.” [Salon, 9/4/01]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2165052/posts
More info on Holder, Rosenberg, Evans, & Weather Underground
http://online.wsj.com/public/article_print/SB120277819085260827.html

But it doesn’t end there….

...In 1999, over the objections of the FBI, the Bureau of Prisons, and prosecuting attorneys, Holder supported Clinton’s commutation of the sentences of 16 FALN conspirators. These pardons — of terrorists who even Holder has conceded had not expressed any remorse — were issued in the months after al-Qaeda’s 1998 U.S. embassy bombings, when the Clinton administration was pretending to be the scourge of terrorism. The commutations were nakedly political, obviously designed by Clinton to assist his wife’s impending Senate campaign by appealing to New York’s substantial Puerto Rican vote.
http://www.nationalgunrights.org/ericholder.shtml

Back when CNN was a real news agency, they said THIS:

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The White House gave final approval Thursday to the Bureau of Prisons for the release of 11 members of a militant Puerto Rican nationalist group who agreed to renounce violence in return for clemency from President Clinton. The release of the prisoners could begin as early as Friday night.

Another prisoner who accepted clemency still must serve five more years at a federal prison in Florida before he is eligible for release.

The president offered clemency to a total of 16 convicted Armed Forces of National Liberation (FALN) members. Two rejected the offer, while two others -- who are already out of prison, but would have their fines reduced as part of the deal -- have yet to respond and must do so by 5 p.m. EDT Friday.

Granting clemency is a presidential prerogative that cannot be overruled by Congress, but lawmakers formally criticized President Clinton on Thursday for being soft on terrorism.
And of course that can’t possibly have any repercussions.

Who are the FALN?
Armed Forces of National Liberation, a Puerto Rican pro-independence group known by its Spanish initials, claimed responsibility or were blamed for 130 bombings, mostly in New York and Chicago, in the 1970s and early 1980s.

None of the 16 at the heart of the clemency offer was convicted in any of the bombings. They were convicted on a variety of charges, ranging from bomb-making and conspiracy to armed robbery, and given sentences ranging from 35 to 90 years; the activists served 14 to 19 years in prison.

To read more on the FALN and the pardons, I suggest “The Clintons' Terror Pardons” By Debra Burlingame.