-Caveat Lector- http://www.truthout.com/12.21A.Burton.Probe.htm
WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War! December 19, 2001 Burton Seeks Probe Into Convictions By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 6:14 p.m. ET WASHINGTON (AP) -- Rep. Dan Burton, known for investigating the Clinton White House, asked Wednesday for a congressional investigation into whether the Bush Justice Department had inflated its figures on convictions of terrorists. He cited reports that drunks and the mentally imbalanced had been labeled as terrorists. Burton, R-Ind., asked the General Accounting Office, the investigative office of Congress, to look into reports the Justice Department was giving Congress inaccurate information. The allegations, while unproven, were "one more indication of a heightened need for congressional oversight of the department," he said. Burton, as chairman of the House Government Reform Committee, held extensive hearings during the Clinton administration into alleged campaign finance irregularities linked to the Clinton White House. He also recently sparred with the Bush White House, subpoenaing documents pertaining to the FBI's handling of mob informants in Boston in the 1960s. Bush responded by invoking executive privilege to protect the confidentiality of those documents. Burton, in seeking the GAO report, referred to a recent Philadelphia Inquirer article concluding that many of the 236 terrorism convictions reported by the Justice Department for the budget year ending last September were questionable. It said cases classified as terrorism involved erratic behavior by people with mental illnesses, passengers getting intoxicated on airplanes and convicts rioting to get better prison food. Justice Department spokesman Bryan Sierra said the department "doesn't feel it is necessary to quibble about the characterization of what is terrorism." He said there is no evidence the department padded the number of convictions to justify its counterterrorism budget, as the article suggested. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he was interested in seeing the results of the GAO study. "The bipartisan concern in Congress over the possible inaccuracy of Justice Department terrorism statistics is growing," he said. Burton, speaking of the terrorism conviction issue and the dispute over the Boston documents, said, "An iron veil is descending over the executive branch that will keep information away from the Congress and the public." He said that could create a schism between the executive branch and Congress. Assistant Attorney General Daniel Bryant, in a letter to Burton Wednesday on the subpoena issue, said the department had a "strong confidentiality interest in the extremely sensitive prosecutorial decision-making documents" sought by the subpoenas. But he said the department was ready to make a proposal on how it can better accommodate the legitimate needs of the committee for information. *COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for nonprofit research and educational purposes only.[Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ] Want to be on our lists? Write at [EMAIL PROTECTED] for a menu of our lists! Write to same address to be off lists! <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
