DHS EMAILS: ISLAMIC GROUPS SCOFF AT ANTI-TERRORISM EFFORTS

This one is disturbing on multiple levels, not the least of which are attempts by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to expect cooperation from groups like the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), and others with connections to the Muslim Brotherhood would be allies in anti-terrorism efforts. Emails obtained by Judicial Watch and posted at World Net Daily reveal that Muslim representatives from these groups scoffed at DHS requests to aid in anti-terrorism efforts involving Islamic extremists.

Via World Net Daily:

The e-mails relate to several days of meetings the DHS held Jan. 27-28 between DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano and various Arab, Muslim, Sikh and South Asian "community leaders."

The e-mails reveal the attendees included Imad Hamad, the Midwest regional director of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, who Judicial Watch said has been linked in press reports to the Marxist-Leninist terrorist group Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

Judicial Watch reported he also "has financially supported the Islamist terrorist group Hezbollah" and in a 2002 interview on Detroit television "supported a Palestine Authority TV program that urged children to become suicide bombers, calling the program 'patriotic.'"

One of the reported participants of the meeting mentioned above represented a group that pledged support for the Holy Land Foundation, a group convicted on over 100 counts relative to funding Islamic terrorism.

Another participant, according to Judicial Watch, was Salam al-Mayarati, who founded the Los Angeles-based Muslim Public Affairs Council. Judicial Watch said al-Mayarati "has long been criticized for his extremist views and statements. In 1999 former House Minority leader Richard Gephardt, D-Mo., withdrew his nomination of al-Mayarati to the National Commission on Terrorism because of al-Mayarati's extremist politics."

Click HERE for more on MPAC.

Perhaps the email containing the most explosive quotes is one that shows none other than Senator Joe Lieberman (D), Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, was made aware of MPAC's refusal to cooperate with a DHS directive.

"Gordon Lederman of Sen. Lieberman's Staff called me asking about the 2-day HSAC meeting last week with American Muslim and Arab groups. He was called by a reporter who told him MPAC (Muslim Public Affairs Council), ISNA (Islamic Society of North America) and Muslim American Society 'rejected the ideas' of soliciting their help with countering violent extremism and were 'angry and indignant.'"

This is beyond shocking. ISNA was an un-indicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation trial and has absolutely no business being anywhere close to working with DHS. The fact that the head of this country's Senate Homeland Security Committee is unwilling to call out these nefarious groups speaks volumes.

Read it all.

FORT HOOD: OBAMA IGNORES SUBPOENAS

Ah, the pitfalls of going to the mat. Anyone could have seen this coming. When Lieberman's letters to the White House were predictably ignored, he upped the ante by issuing subpoenas to the administration and the Department of Justice, asking for the release of documents relative to the Fort Hood shootings.

Joe Lieberman, chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs appears to have inserted himself into a game of "chicken" with the Obama administration. The question is, how long will he continue playing? Based on this report from the Washington Post, it's Lieberman's move.

Via WaPo:

After days of negotiations, the Pentagon and Justice Department informed a Senate committee that they would not comply with congressional subpoenas to share investigative records from the Nov. 5 shootings at Fort Hood, Tex., which killed 13 people. The agencies said that divulging the material could jeopardize their prosecution of Army Maj. Nidal M. Hasan, the accused gunman.

Granted, the reaction from Lieberman's office to this latest news is strongly worded....

Leslie Phillips, a spokeswoman for the Senate committee, called the refusal by the Pentagon and the Justice Department to hand over all the requested material "an affront to Congress's constitutional obligation to conduct independent oversight of the executive branch."

Unless Lieberman is prepared to go to the mat, such language could be nothing more than a parting shot before the committee chair bows out.

The ball is in Lieberman's court and he is either going to let this matter die or continue to push via subpoenas through the courts.

More on the Fort Hood subpoena story here.

h/t to Free Republic

FORT HOOD: OBAMA ADMINISTRATION SUBPOENAED

The continued stonewalling by the White House on releasing documents to Senate Homeland Security Chairman Joe Lieberman led to the latter finally issuing a subpoena for the documents necessary to pursue a congressional investigation. Lieberman gave the White House a deadline of April 19th which it predictably ignored.

Lieberman and ranking Republican on the committee, Susan Collins have taken the next step of issuing subpoenas for the documents. I wrote about my take on the likelihood of Lieberman and Collins going to the mat and winning this battle here.

Via Reuters:

Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman, an independent, and Susan Collins, the panel's top Republican, took the action after the departments of Justice and Defense failed to provide the materials by Monday's deadline.

The two senators have been trying for months to obtain documents and be provided access to witnesses that they say are critical to their investigation of the shooting spree at Fort Hood in November that ended with 13 soldiers killed and dozens wounded.

Pardon my skepticism but this White House has made stonewalling an art form, the Justice Department in particular. Let's not forget Walpin-gate or Jobsgate. This doesn't even account for how Holder's DOJ handled the Black Panther case in Philadelphia.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates didn't back down when asked about the threat of a subpoena last week. Since the White House did not respond by Lieberman's deadline, the latter has issued subpoenas along with a new deadline:

In a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, who heads the Justice Department, and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Lieberman and Collins wrote: "It is impossible for us to avoid reaching the conclusion that the departments simply do not want to cooperate with our investigation."

"It is with great disappointment and reluctance that we have directed service of subpoenas to you which demand disclosure of the requested information by Monday, April 26, 2010," they added.

Yes, it takes a degree of fortitude to issue a subpoena but this is still the blustering phase. Lieberman is trying to do the right thing here but with this administration, a subpoena is increasingly looking like just another piece of paper to ignore.

I'd love to think that the tandem of Lieberman and Collins will be able to force the White House into compliance but am under no illusion they will. Lieberman has put himself in a bit of a spot with this subpoena. If he's outrightly ignored and dismissed, he's effectively neutered as chairman of the committee for good. I wouldn't be surprised to see him reach some sort of compromise where he gets the White House to cough up something only moderately significant just to make it look like his subpoena was effective in return for backing off and letting the issue fade. To Lieberman's credit, this issue is definitely not welcome news to an administration that continues to rack up very questionable practices.

h/t to Free Republic

LIEBERMAN VS. WHITE HOUSE ON FORT HOOD SHOOTER

Putting trust in any leftwing politician to do the right thing has always been a vain endeavor but the final nail in the coffin was hammered in by Bart Stupak, a man whose name will live in infamy and could possibly be tied to the demise of the greatest societal experiment in history - The United States.

That's why I find this bit of news beyond laughable. In his role as Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman, Lieberman is once again portraying himself as the uncompromising politician; he will stop at nothing to make sure his demands are met.

Whatever. The Hill reported on April 15th:

Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) accused the Obama administration of stalling a congressional investigation into the Fort Hood shootings and threatened to start issuing subpoenas.

His vow opens a new rift with the White House for the Independent Lieberman, as well as the possibility of President Barack Obama’s first legal showdown with Congress.

Legal showdown between Lieberman and Obama? That's like promoting a fight between Apollo Creed and a Tomato can. This posturing on the part of congressmen - especially Democrat ones - is really getting pathetic. The ranking Republican on this committee that Lieberman chairs is none other than Republican Susan Collins (ME). Are you kidding me? Please try and tell me the author of this article wasn't laughing as he typed this paragraph:

A stern Lieberman said he and Collins have been stalled for five months in their attempts to seek answers in the Nov. 5, 2009, tragedy at the Texas military base, in which 13 people were shot dead. An Army psychiatrist, Maj. Nidal Hasan, is accused of the murders, which Lieberman and others have described as an act of terrorism because Hasan had been in contact with Islamic clerics and may have acted out of opposition to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

A stern Lieberman? Please. That paragraph was topped just a little bit further in the article with this one:

Collins was just as stern, noting that Obama initially said he welcomed a congressional investigation into the shootings, and saying the committee “has taken step after step, made offer after offer and bent over backwards” to accommodate the administration’s concerns.

A stern Collins? You mean the one who voted for the Stimulus bill after getting stiff pressure from the White House? Now we're to believe she's going to stand up to them on the Nidal Malik Hasan case?

On Saturday, the White House predictably responded with a resounding yawn at Lieberman's demands. Again, via The Hill:

The Pentagon signaled on Saturday it would continue limiting lawmakers' access to details unearthed during the military's investigation of the shooting at Fort Hood.

Even after Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) threatened to subpoena the Pentagon on Friday in an attempt to obtain that information, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the secrecy is necessary to allow the military's inquiry to continue uninhibited.

I'll gladly eat my words if Lieberman goest to the mat on this one but something tells me he'll bluster for a while, the White House will ignore him, and everyone will move onto something else.

Seriously, Obama and Rahm vs. Lieberman and Collins?

THE JOE LIEBERMAN COLLAPSE

Is this really all that surprising? Conservatives were asked to pin their hopes on Joe Lieberman sticking to his guns? That's like taking the Japanese High School All-stars of American-style football in a straight up bet against the 2009 New Orleans Saints. Did anyone really think Joe Lieberman was going to go to the mat against the Obama, Reid, Pelosi, and SEIU machine?

Yes, it's easy for me to sit here and point fingers at Lieberman for not exhibiting leadership or courage but isn't that what he's there for? Oh, sorry. Forgive that momentarily lapse. I am still chuckling at the notion.

THE HILL reports that not only has Lieberman caved to the Democrats but he is now groveling after the fact:

Sen. Joe Lieberman (Conn.) told Democratic colleagues at the White House this afternoon that he regretted creating tension within their conference during the healthcare debate.

Lieberman, a Democrat-turned-Independent who still caucuses with his former party, stopped short of apologizing. But he told colleagues that he is empathetic to the heartburn he caused.

Yes, the far left bloggers went after Lieberman's wife but at what point does fear in the face of intimidation take a back seat to principle?

For some reason, this video of Van Jones from February 11, 2009 came to mind. WARNING: the word A**hole is used with reckless abandon. Shortly after where this video cuts off, Jones makes reference to determining which "two or three" Senators need to have "really bad days".