- Neo-con global conspiracy under increased assault from
US Attorney for Northern Illinois and Special Prosecutor in CIA "leakgate"
Patrick Fitzgerald.
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- Yesterday, Patrick Fitzgerald indicted former Hollinger
International chairman (Lord) Conrad Black on 11 counts of fraud and issued
an international warrant was issued for his arrest. Hollinger owned several
neo-con newspapers, including the Chicago Sun-Times (Robert Novak's syndicator,
which it still owns), Jerusalem Post, London Daily Telegraph, New York
Sun, and several Canadian newspapers. In his indictment, Fitzgerald said
of Black and his co-conspirators, "All in all, what has happened here
has been the grossest abuse by officers or directors and insiders."
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- In addition to Black, Fitzgerald charged Jack Boultbee
and Peter Atkinson, Hollinger's former executive vice president, and Mark
Kipnis, former corporate counsel. Chicago Sun-Times former publisher F.
David Radler was indicted by the same Chicago grand jury that indicted
Black and the other Hollinger executives. Radler pleaded guilty and agreed
to cooperate against his former Hollinger colleagues. Radler may be sharing
information on suspected Hollinger money laundering, carried out by two
off-shore Barbados-based entities called Moffat Management, Inc. and Black-Amiel
Management Inc.
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- Hollinger's board includes Richard Perle, 911 Commission
member and former Illinois Governor Jim Thompson, and Henry Kissinger.
Incoming Deputy Attorney General and US Attorney for Eastern Virginia Paul
McNulty has probed deals involving the Pentagon, Boeing, Perle's Trireme
Partners (a joint Perle-Kissinger investment firm), and Hollinger. Perle
as Chairman of the Defense Policy Board recommended the Air Force's use
of Boeing planes for replacement fuel tankers over Airbus. His Trireme
Partners had received an influx of Boeing capital. Air Force procurement
official Darleen Druyun and Boeing executives were prosecuted by McNulty
and found guilty of contract fraud.
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- Black's wife, Barbara Amiel Black, also served on Hollinger's
board and was Vice President for Editorials. Mrs. Black is an ardent supporter
of the Israeli Likud Party who once proffered the assassination of Yasser
Arafat: "One can never predict the consequences of an assassination,
but I think it is too late to kill Arafat. Had Arafat been eliminated 20
years ago, the situation might be different." (Daily
Telegraph, Sept. 15, 2003).
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- McNulty is also the prosecutor who is investigating the
American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and the leak of classified
material involving former Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) officer Larry
Franklin. Franklin and two former AIPAC officials have been indicted in
that case, which is ongoing. Franklin pleaded guilty in return for his
cooperation against the AIPAC officials -- Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman
-- and as yet unnamed Israeli intelligence agents and other U.S. interlocutors,
including a senior fellow who is an Iran expert at a "Washington think
tank."
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- Black renounced his Canadian citizenship when he became
a member of the British House of Lords as "Lord Black of Crossharbour."
The arrest warrant for Black has resulted in the issuance of an INTERPOL
red notice to apprehend the fugitive since it is believed he is residing
in Canada with a British passport. U.S. fugitive Marc Rich, the Zug, Switzerland-based
"silent partner" of the neo-con global criminal cartel and Scooter
Libby's former client, was also subject to an INTERPOL red notice prior
to his being pardoned by President Clinton.
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- In 2003, financial discussions were held between The
Carlyle Group and Hollinger. A Carlyle source told The Observer,
"Ideally, we would look to take a 25-40 per cent stake [in Hollinger].
That would allow us to put people on the board."
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- Hollinger directors and principals continue to face an
investigation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
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- There is another interesting nexus between Fitzgerald's
probe of the White House CIA leak and McNulty's probe of the AIPAC espionage.
It turns out that Fitzgerald has questioned Washington Post reporter Glenn
Kessler (as well as Walter Pincus) about the leak. While all attention
is focused on Woodward, it is also important to focus on Kessler because
he is also mentioned in the AIPAC probe in a report by the Jewish Telegraph
Agency:
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- "The FBI apparently taped the July 21, 2004, conversation
that Weissman and Rosen had with Kessler, the Washington Post reporter,
according to sources. Rosen and Weissman got in touch with the White House
and Kessler because they wanted to get the information out as soon as possible,
sources said. Franklin told the AIPAC staffers that he was giving them
the information because they had better connections than he did.
- In the exchange, Rosen, Weissman and Kessler joked about
"not getting in trouble" over the information, according to sources
. . . Kessler, who did not publish a story with the leaked information,
declined to comment on his news gathering."
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- Well now. Two Washington Post reporters -- Woodward and
Kessler -- failing to report on serious Bush administration leaks and involved
with officials who are now facing criminal prosecution for those leaks.
Folks, that is the current state of journalism in Washington, DC. Again,
thanks to WMR's supporters for supporting this modest effort to return
journalism in this town to its roots.
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- http://waynemadsenreport.com/
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