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American
Muslims Expose Possible Leak of Raids to Congressman
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Hill building. |
By
Neveen A. Salem, IOL Washington D.C. correspondent
WASHINGTON,
March 29 (IslamOnline) – American Muslim organizations reported
Thursday that sealed information, about the raid on American Muslim
businesses and individuals, may have been leaked to John J. Loftus,
former prosecutor in the Justice Department's Nazi War Crimes Unit.
It
has been reported that Mr. Loftus contacted members of the media and
told them of the upcoming raids before they occurred to assure that
the media would cover them, turning the raids into a virtual media
circus, further humiliating the American Muslim community.
In
a meeting held Thursday on Capitol Hill at Congressman Frank Wolf's
(R-VA) office, Mahdi Bray, political director of the Muslim Public
Affairs Council (MPAC), asked Dean Boyd of the Department of the
Treasury's United States Customs Service, how it was that some
members of the media were actually present at raids that were
supposed to be secret. Boyd informed both Bray and Congressman
Wolf that they did not contact the media about the North Virginia
raids because information pertaining to these raids were under seal.
However,
Boyd publicly confirmed suspicions that Loftus leaked the story of
the raids on American Muslim organizations and individuals to the
media. Bray then questioned the legality of leaking sealed
federal information to a former Justice Department employee.
Bray commented, "It is my understanding that law enforcement
initiatives under seal are not even privy to other members of law
enforcement who are not directly connected to the investigation of
that particular case. How could Mr. Loftus have received this
highly sensitive information without someone within law enforcement
breaking the law?"
Loftus
is on record as defending Jonathan Pollard, the American spy serving
a life prison sentence for spying for Israel, and has accused
President George W. Bush and his family of acquiring their wealth
directly from the Nazi party and the Third Reich, MPAC relayed in a
statement.
Also
present at the meeting with Congressman Wolf were representatives
from the American Muslim Council (AMC), the Council on
American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Nicole Nason, Assistant
Commissioner for the Office of Congressional Affairs at the United
States Customs Department, and individuals whose homes and offices
were raided by federal officials.
The
meeting, which was called by the American Muslim organizations, came
after Wolf held two separate town hall meetings with American
Muslims last week and told them that he is open to addressing their
concerns.
“What
Frank Wolf did was recognize the community’s deep concerns,” Ray
Busch, government relations director for the American Muslim Council
(AMC), told IslamOnline.
Bush
also relayed that Wolf respected their call for the meeting, which
lasted almost a full hour, and also arranged for members from the
U.S. Department of Treasury and Customs to be present at the
meeting.
The
witnesses that also attended the meeting explained what happened to
them, including government searches on areas where other people and
organizations have separate operations that were not described in
the search warrants.
“They
[the witnesses] also relayed that they were handcuffed and
intimidated and that comments were made that are unprofessional and
unbecoming of law-enforcement,” Busch continued.
IslamOnline
was told that the Wolf and the other officials were receptive to the
concerns of the community and stated that they would thoroughly look
into what happened during the raids.
Busch,
who was designated to be the Treasury and Customs Department’s
liaison to the community, asserted that the government needs to
thoroughly investigate both the reasons for, as well as the
procedures that were undertaken surrounding the raids.
“I
hope the Treasury Department will investigate thoroughly. There is
such a thing as accountability in our government and we hope to see
that here,” he stated.
In
reference to the fact that the organizations, two of which are
schools, have had all of their computers confiscated, thus hindering
their ability to function Busch said, “I also requested for
computers and copies of documents be returned as soon as possible to
the raided institutions and individuals to ensure to the community
that the confiscation of these documents will not culminate in an
end to the everyday operations of the organizations, and to ensure a
return to normalcy,” Bush concluded.
MPAC
also hand delivered a letter to Congressman Wolf asking for a
congressional investigation into the misconduct of officials as they
conducted these raids last week. Wolf responded that he would
contact the commissioner of U.S. Customs concerning this matter and
will respond to MPAC's insistence on an investigation and full
disclosure of the circumstances surrounding the raids.
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