-Caveat Lector-
December 12, 1999
Report: FALN Lobbyist Was
Terrorist
By The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The activist who successfully
lobbied the White House for the release of 14 jailed
Puerto Rican separatists was a leader in the terrorist
organization FALN, a congressional report obtained on
Saturday alleges.
The report said that Luis Nieves Falcon corresponded
with several top Clinton administration officials on the
clemency and was a member and leader of the militant
Puerto Rican independence group.
The report, prepared by Rep. Daniel Burton's
Committee on Government Reform, included letters
documenting Falcon's correspondence and at least one
meeting with the Clinton administration. And it cited
federal law enforcement sources who had requested
anonymity in declaring him a leader of the terrorist
group.
Falcon did not immediately return phone calls place to
his home in Puerto Rico on Saturday.
FALN -- the Spanish initials for the Armed Forces of
National Liberation -- was responsible for a wave of
bombings in the late 1970s and early 1980s that left six
dead and dozens wounded.
Burton, an Indiana Republican and frequent critic of the
president, blasted the Clinton administration for
negotiating with a terrorist.
``The fact that the White House and the Department of
Justice were negotiating with a terrorist leader, and
working with him as partner to achieve the goal of
letting the terrorists out of prison is unconscionable,''
Burton wrote.
Jim Kennedy, of the White House Counsel's Office,
said Falcon was one of the leading advocates for the
prisoners release, but was not involved in negotiations.
``The notion that the White House negotiated with a
terrorist is pure partisan fantasy,'' Kennedy said.
Kennedy would not comment on whether Falcon was a
terrorist or not.
Subpoenas issued by Burton's committee turned up
letters to Falcon from seven high-ranking Clinton
administration officials, including then-White House
Counsel Bernard Nussbaum and White House Deputy
Chief of Staff Maria Echaveste. Most were routine
letters acknowledging the receipt of information and
letters which Falcon had sent on the prisoners behalf.
Others answered Falcon's questions about the transfer
of prisoners and other inquiries.
But Burton said the frequent correspondence with
Falcon was an ``insult to the victims'' of FALN
bombings who have testified at recent Capitol Hill
hearings that they were unable to even get letters to the
administration answered.
The documents indicate that Falcon met at least once
with a Justice Department official.
And they suggest he was scheduled to attend a White
House meeting in December 1996 on the clemency,
though it was unclear if he actually did. Administration
officials said Falcon had been inside the White House
in March 1996 with several lawmakers and advocates
to deliver letters of support for the prisoners release.
They were unaware on Saturday of any other visits and
said he had never met with the president.
President Clinton ignited a firestorm of controversy in
August when he offered clemency to 16 Puerto Rican
separatists affiliated with the FALN or its sister
organization in Puerto Rico, Los Macheteros. The
clemency was conditioned on the prisoners renouncing
violence. Fourteen accepted the offer.
Critics accused the president of extending the clemency
to boost the standing of his wife's Senate candidacy in
New York, which is home to about 1.3 million Puerto
Ricans. Subpoenas from Burton's committee then
unearthed a March memo from Jeffrey Farrow,
co-chairman of the president's interagency group on
Puerto Rico, which surmised that the prisoners release
could benefit Vice President Al Gore in his bid for the
presidency.
Gore has said he had no prior knowledge of Clinton's
clemency decision and has declined to take a position
on it.
Clinton has insisted that politics did not play role in his
decision. He said he based it on the lengthy prison
terms the nationalists were serving. None of those
offered clemency were directly involved in activities
that killed or maimed anyone, administration officials
say. They were convicted of seditious conspiracy, and
possession of weapons and explosives.
=================================================================
Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT
FROM THE DESK OF: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
*Mike Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
~~~~~~~~ <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends
Shalom, A Salaam Aleikum, and to all, A Good Day.
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