Feds pull Spitzer's security clearance

[seafan]

Feds pull Spitzer's security clearance

By Jonathan Dienst, WNBC Investigative Correspondent
March 14, 2008 12:24 PM PT

The FBI and Homeland Security officials revoked Governor Eliot Spitzer's security clearance early this week as the criminal investigation into Spitzer's alleged use of prostitutes broadened, according to officials familiar with the case. As a result, Spitzer no longer has access to classified intelligence and security briefings, federal officials told WNBC on condition of anonymity. A spokeswoman for Spitzer did not return calls for comment.

Spitzer's security clearance was pulled on Tuesday, just one day after his alleged connection to the alleged prostitution ring became public.

.....

Spitzer still can be told of potential threats, such as the new but uncorroborated Al Qaeda threat against Wall Street and other financial institutions, in order to help deploy resources if necessary. This latest non-specific threat information about New York suggests a possible attack sometime in March, officials have said.

<<<<<FEAR FEAR FEAR FEAR FEAR FEAR>>>>>

Spitzer is set to resign from office on Monday. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan continue to look into whether the Governor committed crimes when he allegedly paid thousands of dollars to have a prostitute meet him at a Washington, D.C., hotel. He allegedly paid $4,300 for the February 13 rendezvous. Investigators are looking into whether Spitzer illegally tried to conceal at least $15,000 in payments to the escort service, sources familiar with the case have said. Spitzer has not denied the escort-service allegations in his public comments to date, instead referring only to his "personal failings." Investigators also want to know if Spitzer used any campaign cash or state funds for the alleged trysts, the sources added.

And, just like clockwork, Bush drops the fear bomb on us again today:


TIME: High-level Al-Qaeda Figure Captured

By AP/PAULINE JELINEK
March 14, 2008

(WASHINGTON) — The Pentagon says authorities have captured a high-level al-Qaeda figure who helped Osama bin Laden escape from Afghanistan in 2001.

Officials declined to say when or where Mohammad Rahim was captured —announcing only that he was handed over by the CIA to the Pentagon earlier this week and is being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman says Rahim is a close associate of bin Laden and has ties to al-Qaeda organizations throughout the Middle East.

Whitman says Rahim helped prepare the hideout at Tora Bora, a mountain area used by bin Laden as the U.S. invaded Afghanistan in 2001. Whitman says Rahim assisted al-Qaeda's escape from the area during the U.S. operation to try to catch the al-Qaeda leader.

I've just heard on the radio (WINZ AM Miami) that this man was captured LAST SUMMER.


Ooooops.

[EFerrari]

1. But it isn't political, right?

I wonder if we can still get power away from these criminals.

[seafan]

2. Confirmation of today's news report of Al-Qaeda *capture*: (In custody since last summer...)

Al-Qaida operative detained at Guantanamo; had been captured in summer 2007

Associated Press - March 14, 2008 3:43 PM ET

WASHINGTON (AP) - A top al-Qaida figure who's now been handed over to the Pentagon has apparently been in custody since last summer. That's according to a memo obtained by The Associated Press.

In the memo to CIA employees, the agency's director also suggested that the al-Qaida figure wasn't captured by American authorities.

CIA director Michael Hayden called Mohammad Rahim a "tough, seasoned jihadist" with combat experience dating back to the 1980s and including plots against the U.S. and Afghanistan.

.....

The Defense Department announced today that the CIA had handed Rahim over to the Pentagon. A spokesman says Rahim helped prepare the al-Qaida hideout in Tora Bora that was used by Osama bin Laden during the 2001 U.S. invasion of Afghanistan.