US lawmaker demands criminal prosecution of New York Times

by Maxim Kniazkov



WASHINGTON (AFP) - A high-ranking US Republican demanded a criminal prosecution of The New York Times following the newspaper's disclosure of a secret government operation to monitor international finances.


Representative Peter King (news, bio, voting record) of New York, chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, called the actions of the leading US newspaper "disgraceful" and said he believed it had violated counterespionage laws.

"The New York Times is putting its own arrogant, elitist, left-wing agenda before the interests of the American people," the lawmaker said as he appeared on the "Fox News Sunday" television program.

"And I'm calling on the attorney general to begin a criminal investigation and prosecution of the New York Times, its reporters, the editors that worked on this, and the publisher," he stressed.

The Times was among a group of several US newspapers reporting Friday that the US government had secretly monitored scores of banking transactions around the globe since the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington in order to track suspected terrorists.

The searches involved millions of records held by the Belgium-based Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), an international cooperative that serves as a clearing house for the transactions.

The cooperative serves 7,800 financial institutions in more than 200 countries. Its database, officials say, has provided valuable information about ties between suspected terrorists and groups financing them, and directly led to the capture of Al-Qaeda operative Riduan Isamuddin, believed to have masterminded the 2002 bombings in Bali, Indonesia.

Officials say it has also helped identify a US man convicted of helping an Al-Qaeda member launder 200,000 dollars through a Pakistani bank.

Members of the administration of President George W. Bush have expressed disappointment that the secrecy surrounding the program has now been blown, but stopped short of advocating legal action against The Times.

The White House declined to comment on the lawmaker's appeal on Sunday.

But King said The Times had "compromised America's antiterrorist policies" for the second time in less that a year.

Last December, the paper published a report saying that Bush had authorized the National Security Agency to listen in to thousands of telephone calls made by Americans without a warrant issued by a special counterintelligence court.

That disclosure had also prompted charges that the paper was undermining US national security.

"The time has come for the American people to realize and The New York Times to realize we're at war and they can't be just on their own deciding what to declassify, what to release," King argued.

The appeal, however, was met with skepticism by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, who said lawmakers needed to learn more about the operation before any action is taken.

"I think it's premature to call for a prosecution of the New York Times, just like I think it's premature to say that the administration is entirely correct," he argued.

Rights groups have criticized the Bush administration for the sweeping surveillance of telephone calls and financial transactions, accusing it of trampling on civil liberties and legal safeguards.

The New York Times has confirmed that the White House asked it not to run the story but defended its coverage of both the banking and the NSA controversies.

"We believe The Times and others in the press have served the public interest by accurately reporting on these programs so that the public can have an informed view of them," executive editor Bill Keller said in a letter to readers Sunday.


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The New York Times should be held accountable for disclosing this kind of information to the public. They've just handed over a strategy, that's so far has been successful in combatting terrorism, to our enemies.

IMO this irresponsible act committed by this rag of a newspaper boarderlines treason. While I believe in freedom of the press, I don't believe that this kind of information should have been leaked because it compromises our national security. There are just some things, during a time of war, that need to be kept quiet in order for both our military and our government to do their jobs. And this is definitely one of those situations.


Don Cardi

Agree. Freedom of speech is limited.

That piece of garbage paper should be shut down and brought up on charges of comiting treason against our country. No one should buy that paper ever again. We should send the person who leaked that information to someplace like gitmo. Maybe bin laden owns a part of that paper.


ds

Then why don't you take it into your own hands and literally do something about it?

This whole thing is the biggest pile of political bullshit ever.

First of all the information comes from SWIFT a Belgian operation that keeps track of worldwide financial transactions. The United States' monitoring of these transactions has been known since 2002. This information was incorporated into a United Nations Security Council report in 2002, which is available on the UN Website.

In other words the NY Times "scoop" isnt news at all. This information has been out there for years.

There is no real privacy right in the information Swift gathers, and this whole issue is a bunch of election year nonsense.

The NY Times, hot off its disgraceful performance by Judith Miller who peddled all the lies that got us into this mess is trying to look herioc to its liberal base, and of course all the right wingholes like Peter King are calling for the Times to be "investigated."

Its an election year people. Calm down.

You talking to me or DS?


Don Cardi

What news isn't a big pile of political bullshit these days?


DonT, why must you generalize and group all those on the right into a category that you keep reffering to as "Right wing assholes?"

It is obvious that you lean towards the left, but I happen to know from several of our conversations and some of our exchanges here on the boards that you are more open minded then this.

Hey, I consider people like Michael Moore, Al Gore, etc. to be liberal left wing anti American pigs. But you don't see me bunching you in or generalizing those from the left in the manner that you seem to do in all your posts whenever you bring up the right.

You want to call Peter King a right wing asshole? That's perfectly ok. But cut out the generalization bullshit everytime you make a reference to the right.

It weakens your arguement.


Don Cardi

I meant everyone in general.

Use non-lethal, safe ways of protesting the New York Times. For example, go read THE POST.

True to form, as always.

By disclosing this government operation, the NY Times has in effect shut it down. They've aided the enemy. It can't be put much simpler than that.

While the financial investigations themselves were public...what was not well known was the scope of cooperation and involvement from banks and HUBs worlwide. That is what the NEWS was; otherwise, the Times would not have bothered to publish. Some of these organizations have now pulled out and will no longer work with the U.S. due to the disclosure of the NY Times story.

I'm not sure of how successful Rep. King's call for a criminal investigation will be...the NY Times didn't really do anything 'illegal'. However, the disgrace and whatever trouble they run into is due to the fact that despite White House requests (which had previously been honored by the L.A. Times & Washington Post)...they published the information anyway.

It was shameful behavior and it was purely politically motivated.

And it will blow up in their faces.

Apple

I just renewed my subscription for another year of the world's greatest newspaper.

This is an illegal government and according to the Declaration of Independence we have the right to take it and all the leaders down. REVOLUTION!!!!!!!!

Exactly. In November 2001 Bush made a big deal about going after financial records of terrorists already.

In Bush's own words...
If they are going to try and prosecutre the NY Times, I think we will need to prosecute Bush himself. No. All I can say is that what moron wouldn't have made the assumption that the U.S. government wasn't looking at bank records?

True to form, as always.

By disclosing this government operation, the NY Times has in effect shut it down. They've aided the enemy. It can't be put much simpler than that. [/b][/quote]Where was the demand for an immediate investigation from the National Review when there was an apparent leak of an CIA agents identity, oh wait that was not in the best interest of our Count(President)ry, to find out who leaked the agents name......

Today was in the news that Swift and the Belgian National Bank did know all this for the past 4 years, but the government knew nothing about this. So this wasn't public.

Care to elaborate?

Dee de dee!

"BUSH LIED KIDS DIED,"
Double-J

The example set by the White House in the past has only demonstrated the trivia in leaking important information. It's funny though, a Republican law maker on FOX NEWS (of all places) is attacking someone from THE NEW YORK TIMES (of all places) sounds more to me like a gang war.

And where does the country stand?

Split down the middle, of course!

I think both places need shut down!

Doesn't this law maker have anything better to do? Go vote yourself another pay raise, maybe you can spend some more time with your family as tax dollar go towards your next vacation.

Besides, Bush doesn't really need the information about the banks keep classified, what's going to win this war for us will be the phone conversations we have of our citizens (the real terrorists).

Viva la Revolution!!

Yes, revolution followed by corruption, torture, secret police, firing squads, and chaos.......

Wooo! Viva la Fronse!

What's bothersome here is how people from both sides of the fence are so quick to deal in absolutes.

If there are sufficient grounds for an investigation, let there be one.

And if it's determined that the Times broke the law, then let them suffer the consequences.

But how about we wait until that happens before rushing to a judgement about whether or not what they did was illegal, immoral, or whatever?

What is there to wait for? Once the decision made to print of the article, that decided all of it.

I don't think it can be considered 'illegal', as the NY Times has a right to print whatever it sees fit to print.

Whether what they did was 'immoral' or 'whatever'...is strictly a matter of opinion. There's no need for 'absolutes'. And in the opinion of many (including yours truly), it WAS immoral, reckless, disrespectful, irresponsible and dangerous (in lieu of 'whatever').

And in the matter of public opinion, they SHOULD be held accountable for their actions. None of this wussy 'waiting to see what happens'. They printed the information. It happened. Now all that results from it, including this thread, is kickback.

Apple

ps - Looks like somebody got hold of that 'very, very, very high horse' that another BB member though I was sitting on a few days ago.

Of course it's a matter of opinion.

Some would say that what the Times did was wrong. Others would say that they performed a public service.

I prefer to reserve my opinion until all the facts are in.

Message boards everywhere would shut down from inactivity, including this one.

Viva la Revolution!!

[/b][/quote]Ah, yes...how differently the end of the story goes.



That's Che before he was executed.

"You say you want a revolution,"
Double-J

Sounds like present day Iraq.

Sounds like present day Iraq. [/b][/quote]Need help planning a vacation, DT?

"Get away from it all,"
Double-J

Sounds like present day Iraq. [/b][/quote]Or the early days of the Third Reich.


Don Cardi

Sounds like present day Iraq. [/b][/quote]Or the early days of the Third Reich.


Don Cardi [/b][/quote]BUSH IS HITLER! THE SKY IS FALLING! MY ERECTION LASTED LONGER THAN FOUR HOURS, SOMEONE CALL A DOCTOR!

:p

"Manic depression is a frustrating mess,"
Double-J

[[/qb][/QUOTE]Or the early days of the Third Reich.


Don Cardi [/qb


Speaking of which, I'm beginning to think the events of 9/11 and the Reichstag fire have a lot in common.

[ [/qb][/QUOTE] MY ERECTION LASTED LONGER THAN FOUR HOURS, SOMEONE CALL A DOCTOR!


Double-J [/QB][/QUOTE]


Is that a quote from Rush Limbaugh?

Oh you read the Wallstreet Journal too?