[Vision2020] Felt's Crimes: Just fine?

Fri Jun 3 15:23:14 PDT 2005

You are correct to the extent that he should not have violated anyone's Constitutional rights. However the breakins he authorized were to gain information on criminals that had been involved in bombings. The Watergate breakin was for political purposes. These are not on the same level. Also I am not a part of the left but am usually on the right. I do support the law and the apprehension of criminals, but not illegal means to gain political advantage. To br aware of ilegal behavior and not bring it to light under the code of "protect the organization "is a Mafia mentality and is reprehensible. Whistle Blowers are Saints for there actions, even if they have made mistakes in the past.
-----Original message-----
From: Tim Lohrmann timlohr at yahoo.com
Date: Fri,  3 Jun 2005 14:43:42 -0700
To: vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: [Vision2020] Felt's Crimes: Just fine?

> So, the opinion of some on the list seems to be that breaking the law/violating the Constitutional rights of some Americans is just fine as long as we approve of the political result?
>  Fuhgedaboudit, huh?
> Interesting and illuminating!
>     TL
> 
> Tim Lohrmann <timlohr at yahoo.com> wrote:
> 
> Visionaries,  Astounding how the Lexis Liberal press spews unquestioning praise for this Felt character isn't it?  Apparently Felt was bypassed for several promotions with the Feds. Maybe revenge was his motive for passing info to Katherine Graham's boys--because he sure had no problem with illegal break-ins. After all, he was convicted of ordering them himself. (You can also listen to the interview at the link below--see especially the section with David Wise.)    TL
> 
>     
> 
> http://www.pacifica.org/programs/dn/050602.html
> 
>  
> 
> 
> Jennifer Dohrn: I Was The Target Of Illegal FBI Break-Ins Ordered by Mark Felt aka "Deep Throat"
> 
> Mark Felt -- who was exposed this week as Deep Throat -- was one of only two FBI officials ever to be convicted for ordering COINTELPRO operations. In 1980 he was convicted for ordering FBI agents to break into the home of Dohrn and other associates of the Weather Underground. He was later pardoned by President Reagan. Jennifer Dohrn discusses the FBI surveillance, break-ins and a secret FBI proposal to kidnap her infant. Democracy Now! co-host Juan Gonzalez also reveals that as a leader of the Young Lords that he, too, was also a target of a similar FBI campaign. [includes rush transcript - partial]
> 
> On Tuesday the family of Mark Felt publicly said they hoped history would view him as hero for being Deep Throat.
> 
> But not everyone is praising Felt. A group of former Nixon aides are criticizing him for betraying the Nixon administration.
> 
> Former Nixon advisor Pat Buchanan says Felt was "corrupt" for revealing White House secrets.
> 
> G. Gordon Liddy also criticized Felt. Liddy organized the break-in of the Democratic National Campaign headquarters in the Watergate complex. Liddy said:
> 
> "He's certainly not a hero because a law enforcement official who obtains knowledge of a commission of a crime, has the evidence of it and who did it and so forth, is ethically obliged to go to a grand jury, bring his evidence and so forth, so an indictment can be obtained and justice can be done. He didn't do that. Instead, he selectively leaked it to a single news source."
> 
> That was G.Gordon Liddy. Liddy himself was convicted conspiracy, burglary, and illegal wiretapping in connection to Watergate. He served four and a half years in prison before having his 20 year sentence commuted by President Jimmy Carter. 
> 
> While Felt's name will forever now be linked to helping expose the Watergate scandal, he is also connected to another dark moment in U.S. history -- the FBI's counter intelligence program known as COINTELPRO.
> 
> Under the leadership of J. Edgar Hoover, the FBI carried out an extensive campaign of surveillance and neutralization of political groups including the Black Panthers, American Indian Movement, the Young Lords, and Vietnam Veterans Against the War. 
> 
> In 1980, Mark Felt -- along with Edward Miller -- became the highest ranking FBI officials to be convicted of criminal charges since Hoover became head of the agency in 1924.
> 
> The two officials were convicted by a jury of conspiring to violate the constitutional rights of American citizens for ordering FBI agents to secretly break into the homes of friends and relatives of the militant anti-war group The Weather Underground.
> 
> In September 1980, government prosecutors said in court that Felt's actions were a "violation of the rights of all people of this country, violations that cannot and will not be tolerated as long as we have a Bill of Rights." 
> 
> Felt and Miller were later pardoned by President Ronald Reagan who credited them for bringing a "end to the terrorism that was threatening our nation." In 1983 a federal judge ordered that Felt and Millers' criminal record be swept clean. Felt and Miller were the only FBI officials convicted in connection to COINTELPRO.
> 
> Felt never denied the the break-ins but argues they were done in the name of national security. He claimed that the Weather Underground had extensive ties to foreign powers and that break-ins were part of a foreign intelligence investigation.
> 
> We are joined now in our studio by Jennifer Dohrn who was the target of FBI break-ins ordered by Felt. Her sister, Bernadine Dorhn, was a a founder of the Weather Underground and was on the run from the federal government during the 1970s. Government documents show that FBI agents repeatedly broke into Jennifer's home. In 1978 she filed a civil suit against Felt and Miller. The suit was settled in 1983 out-of-court.
> 
>    Jennifer Dohrn, sister of Weather Underground member Bernadine Dohrn. Jennifer sued Mark Felt after it was revealed that he ordered FBI agents to secretly break-in to her home as well as other associates of the Weather Underground. 
> 
>  
> 
> Investigative Journalist David Wise on the Significance of Watergate, Anonymous Sources and the Tug-of-War Between Civil Liberties and National Security
> 
> In 1981 Wise criticized President Reagan's pardon of Mark Felt for ordering FBI agents to conduct secret break-ins. Wise said the pardon sent a "clear message to the intelligence agencies: The President of the United States approves of Government burglaries." 
> 
> We are joined now by investigative journalist David Wise. He is the coauthor of The Invisible Government, a number one bestseller about the CIA. He is also the author of Nightmover, Molehunt, The Spy Who Got Away, The American Police State, and The Politics of Lying.
> 
> In 1981 he wrote a column in the New York Times criticizing President Reagan for pardoning Mark Felt – the man who we now know was Deep Throat. 
> 
> Wise began his column by writing: “President Reagan's pardon of two high Federal Bureau of Investigation officials who were convicted of authorizing illegal break-ins sends a clear message to the intelligence agencies: The President of the United States approves of Government burglaries.
> 
> “One can visualize the intelligence operators" breaking out the champagne at F.B.I. headquarters in the J. Edgar Hoover Building and across the river at the Central Intelligence Agency, in Langley, Va. ?“The meaning of Mr. Reagan's action was immediately grasped by W. Mark Felt, one of the pardoned F.B.I. officials: "This is going to be the biggest shot in the arm for the intelligence community for a long time.” ?We are joined now by David Wise in our Washington studio. 
> 
>    David Wise, the coauthor of The Invisible Government, a number one bestseller about the CIA. He is also the author of Nightmover, Molehunt, The Spy Who Got Away, The American Police State, and The Politics of Lying. David is also the former chief of the Washington bureau of the New York Herald Tribune 
> 
> 
> 
> For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359. Our website is www.democracynow.org. Our email address is mail at democracynow.org.
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