On August 2, Roll Call issued a breaking news report, warning of a suspected terror threat against the U.S. Capitol:
Capitol Police officials have stepped up the department’s security presence on Capitol Hill in response to intelligence indicating the increased possibility of an al-Qaida terrorist attack on Congress sometime between now and Sept. 11.
Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS) ratcheted up the rhetoric, “ominously” advising that “Congress needed to pass changes to terrorist surveillance laws before leaving for the August recess and warned that otherwise ‘the disaster could be on our doorstep.’”
Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA), speaking at a FISA event yesterday organized by the Center for American Progress Action Fund, stated that the terror claims were “part of a well-orchestrated campaign” by the administration to politicize the FISA debate. She referred to the efforts as part of the “Rovian strategy of using terrorism as a wedge political issue.” Harman asserted that the intelligence agencies “knew” the terror claims propagated by conservative lawmakers were false:
That specific intelligence claim, it turned out, was bogus; the intelligence agencies knew that –apparently had communicated to Congress or to relevant people that it was bogus, the source was unreliable. But that communication wasn’t in any published form until the day that the Senate passed the amendments to FISA.
It’s still unclear exactly how much the vote was influenced by these events, but at a minimum it demonstrates that the politicization of terror and safety has sunk to a new low on the decency scale.
"Guardians of the Free Republics' letters to governors spur "inquiry.""~ L. A. Times
"FBI warns letters to governors could stir violence" ~Yahoo! News
Only the Washington Post got it right, it appears.
"The letters from the group, Guardians of the Free Republics, do not threaten violence, according to officials in Richmond and Washington. No arrests have been made."
The Associated Press reported that on Wednesday governors received an advisory about the letter, which the FBI said came from an "identified sovereign citizensextremist group."
"Sovereign citizen extremists are individuals who reject all forms of government authority and believe they are emancipated from the responsibilities with being a U.S. citizen," the FBI told the Des Moines Register. "These extremists advocate for their thoughts through the use, support and facilitation of violence or other illegal conduct."
Mr. Turner was not only a radio shock jock, exercising his right to free speech — he was also an F.B.I. informant, spewing rhetoric at the agency’s instruction.
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