>l >From: "LPDC" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: URGENT PELTIER ACTION! > >202-456-1111 WHITE HOUSE COMMENT LINE > >EXTREMELY URGENT PELTIER ACTION: > >GOVERNOR JANKLOW OF SOUTH DAKOTA MET WITH PRESIDENT CLINTON TO OPPOSE >CLEMENCY FOR PELTIER > >WHITE HOUSE REPORTS THAT CLINTON FOUND JANKLOW TO BE A RELIABLE SOURCE > >JANKLOW IS KNOWN AS A MODERN DAY "INDIAN FIGHTER" AND FOR THE FOLLOWING >STATEMENT MADE IN THE EARLY 1970's: > >"THE ONLY WAY TO DEAL WITH THE INDIAN PROBLEM IN SOUTH DAKOTA IS TO PUT A >GUN TO THE AIM LEADERS' HEADS AND PUTLL THE TRIGGER." > >FLOOD THE WHITE HOUSE WITH CALLS IN OPPOSITION TO JANKLOW'S STANCE ON >CLEMENCY!!! HERE ARE SOME TALKING POINTS: > >1. I am calling to express my outrage with Governor Janklow's meeting with >President Clinton, opposing clemency for Leonard Peltier. >2. According to the LA Times, the President found Governor Janklow to be a >"credible important point of view" >3. Janklow has a long standing reputation as being anti-Indian. In fact, >Janklow is well known for his comment, "the only way to deal with the Indian >problem in South Dakota is to put a gun to the AIM leaders' heads and pull >the trigger." >4. Janklow was condemned by the United States Commission on Civil Rights for >spreading misinformation to the media and public about the shoot-out. Most >of what he reported was found to be totally false. He is not a reliable or >a neutral source. >5. The tribal council of the Pine Ridge Oglala Lakota Nation has >consistently supported clemency for Peltier. The president elect, John >Yellow Bird Steele, and President Salway have written the president in >support of clemency. These are the truly credible and important points of >view which should be taken into account. >6. I want to encourage the President to base his decision on the merits of >Peltier's case, which fully justify clemency, and not on the biased >misinformation of Janklow. > > >NOTE: We do not know if Pres. Clinton is truly leaning toward a denial. >According to an interview he did last night with Dan Rather, he has not yet >made up his mind. DO NOT give up hope! Please keep up all of your great >work. Let's reach out to as many as possible to broaden our base for the >phone call campaign. Thank you! --LPDC > >Clemency for Peltier Likely to Fail > Pleas: Clinton is leaning toward rejecting a pardon for the killer of two >FBI agents, officials say. Case underscores the rift between the president >and Freeh. > > >By ERIC LICHTBLAU, Times Staff Writer > > > WASHINGTON--President Clinton appears ready to reject convicted killer >Leonard Peltier's bid for clemency, but the debate over the Native American >activist's future has inflamed already tense relations between the White >House and FBI Director Louis J. Freeh, officials said Wednesday. > Freeh has been lobbying hard for Clinton to reject pleas from >Hollywood, >Native American groups and civil rights leaders for a pardon for Peltier, >who >is imprisoned for the murders of two FBI agents on a South Dakota Indian >reservation in 1975. > But White House sources said that Clinton is leaning strongly toward >rejecting the clemency request within the next week or so--not because of >Freeh's recommendation but in part on the basis of information from others >familiar with the case. > Native Americans said they remain confident that Peltier will be freed >because he is an innocent man. > > Friend Sees Defeat Setting Back Relations > Ernie Stevens Jr., a close friend of Peltier who is on the executive >committee of the National Congress of American Indians, said that pardoning >Peltier would remove a "black eye in an ugly era" that many Native Americans >hope to move past. If Clinton rejects that bid, "I think it really sets us >back in tribal-United States relations," said Stevens, who lives in >Temecula, >Calif. > In fact, Clinton and White House staff members were so unimpressed by >Freeh's recommendation--and the manner in which it was leaked to >congressional Republicans--that the advice has been virtually discarded, >according to a senior White House official familiar with the clemency >discussions. > "Freeh's credibility on this issue is not particularly high and his >ability to sway the president is not particularly high," said the official, >who asked not to be identified by name. "The manner in which [Freeh] offered >his advice, by leaking it through [Capitol Hill] rather than by even >bothering to send it over here to the White House, was just small-minded." > An FBI spokesman denied the White House version of events, saying that >Freeh's recommendation on clemency was hand-delivered to the White House on >Dec. 5. > But the fact that Clinton and Freeh have had trouble working together >on >an issue as fundamental as a presidential pardon indicates that, in the >closing weeks of the administration, relations between the two are even more >fractured than many realized. > The tension is attributable in large part to Freeh's repeated position >that an independent counsel should have investigated alleged campaign >finance >abuses by the 1996 Clinton-Gore campaign. > Paul Bresson, a spokesman at FBI headquarters in Washington, declined >to >discuss relations between the White House and the FBI in the Peltier case. > "I don't think that's something we're really interested in pursuing," >he >said. "This whole thing has nothing to do with personal relationships >between >the FBI and the White House. It has everything to do with the justice system >and seeing that everything prosecutors have worked to accomplish [in >Peltier's conviction] does not get undone." > On Friday, more than 300 FBI agents marched on the White House >demanding >that Clinton reject Peltier's request for clemency. > In a Dec. 5 letter addressed to Clinton, Freeh argued passionately >against freeing Peltier, saying: "Mr. President, there is no issue more >deeply felt within the FBI." > But it's unclear whether Clinton ever received that letter. Its >contents >immediately became public--and White House staffers said they learned about >it only after it was posted on the Web site of Rep. Henry J. Hyde (R-Ill.), >head of the House Judiciary Committee. > "That didn't go unremarked on by the president," the White House >official said. "That has become standard operating procedure [by Freeh]. . . >. Rather than a serious note delivered to [Clinton], it gets laundered >through a Republican." > Just a few days after Freeh's letter was written, Clinton sat down in >the Oval Office with South Dakota Gov. William Janklow. > A Republican, Janklow was South Dakota's attorney general in 1975 when >violence erupted at the Pine Ridge Reservation. Two FBI agents who had gone >onto the reservation in search of a robbery suspect were killed. >Peltier--whose supporters say he was framed--was convicted, and two other >men >were acquitted. > > Clinton Finds Governor Persuasive > In their conversation at the White House, Janklow told Clinton that he >believes Peltier essentially executed the two FBI agents, who had been >wounded in the initial shootout. > Clinton "understands that a lot of the voices on this are strong and >fierce on both sides and he wanted to take a closer look at the facts" by >speaking with Janklow, the White House official said. > The president "found the case that Janklow made very persuasive," the >official added. "He was seen as a credible, important point of view. . . . >He >made a very convincing case in a way that Freeh never could." > But Janklow, who was unavailable for comment on the White House >meeting, >is not without his critics. He lost a libel suit against the publisher of >"In >the Spirit of Crazy Horse," a critically acclaimed 1983 book about the >incident at Pine Ridge. Janklow said the book depicted him as a drunk, a >racist, a bigot and even a rapist. > Bruce Ellison, an attorney for Peltier for the last 25 years, said >that >some of Janklow's more recent actions as governor have only exacerbated >tensions with the Native American community. > Janklow "has not been a particular friend of the Native American >people >. . . " Ellison said. "Hopefully, the president will learn more about his >biases and his partisan nature" before deciding the clemency issue. > > Search the archives of the Los Angeles Times for similar stories about: >Bill Clinton, Leonard Peltier, Clemency, American Indians, Louis J Freeh, >Murders. > > > > > > >------------------------------------------------------------------------- >To subscribe, send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] >To unsubscribe, send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] >To change your email address, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > with your old address in the Subject: line > > > >This message was launched into cyberspace to [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi _______________________________________________________ Kominform list for general information. 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