Sibel Edmonds Hearing Closed to Public . . . why?

[reprehensor]

ACLU Challenges Government’s Use of Secrecy to Avoid Accountability in National Security Whistleblower Case

April 21, 2005

D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals Bars Public, Press from Sibel Edmonds Hearing

WASHINGTON -- During closed oral arguments today before the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, the American Civil Liberties Union challenged the government’s "radical theory" that every aspect of FBI whistleblower Sibel Edmonds’ case involved state secrets and therefore could not go forward. The ACLU also filed an emergency motion last night, along with other public interest groups and media outlets, challenging the court’s decision to close the courtroom to members of the press and the general public.

Edmonds, a former Middle Eastern language specialist hired by the FBI shortly after 9/11, was fired in 2002 after repeatedly reporting serious security breaches and misconduct. Edmonds challenged her retaliatory dismissal by filing a lawsuit in federal court, but her case was dismissed last July after Attorney General John Ashcroft invoked the so-called "state secrets privilege," and retroactively classified briefings to Congress related to her case.

In January 2005, after significant delay, the Justice Department released an unclassified summary of its Inspector General’s report investigating the circumstances of Edmonds’ termination. According to the summary, the Inspector General report concludes that Edmonds’ whistleblower allegations were "the most significant factor" in the FBI’s decision to terminate her.

"The Justice Department’s own Inspector General has now concluded publicly that the FBI fired Edmonds for reporting agency misconduct," said Ann Beeson, Associate Legal Director of the ACLU, who argued on behalf of Edmonds today. "Clearly the FBI is using secrecy not to protect national security but to avoid accountability for its own mistakes."

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Sibel's Website

[BlueEyedSon]

1. NOTHING TO SEE HERE.... MOVE ALONG NOW.

[dave123williams]

2. Gosh, who ever thought giving these bozos too much power was a

...bad idea? The TERRORISTS, that's who. Or so DOJ would have us believe.