United States News Digest

2008 Voter Intimidation Scandal Hits White House

Sept. 26 (EIRNS)—The coverup of voter intimidation by the New Black Panther Party (NBPP), which has been the subject of two hearings by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, and a civil law suit by Judicial Watch, continues to escalate, and now has directly implicated the White House. According to new postings on the Judicial Watch website, FOIA documents, including a Vaughn Index, itemizing 122 documents totaling more than 600 pages, that have been withheld by the Department of Justice, confirm that DOJ political appointees were deeply involved in the decision to drop the case against the NBPP. A hearing before Federal District Judge Reggie Walton will take place on Oct. 5, over whether the Justice Department will be forced to release the documents.

What has already been confirmed is that Sam Hirsch, a Deputy Associate Attorney General, and an attorney for the Obama campaign in 2008, was in the decision-making loop on the dropping of the New Black Panther Party case, despite denials by Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez that any political appointees were involved.

According to Judicial Watch, news accounts confirmed that Associate Attorney General Thomas Perrelli visited the White House nine times between March 25 and May 27, 2009—the time frame in which the decision was made to bury the NBPP case, even though the DOJ had already won a default ruling against the four defendants, who refused to appear in court for the scheduled trial.

The Vaughn Index, obtained by Judicial Watch, reveals a series of e-mail exchanges between Hirsch and Assistant Deputy Attorney General Steve Rosenbaum, reviewing details of the NBPP case, reporting on discussions with other Department attorneys, and providing recommendations for how to deal with the matter.

According to one senior U.S. intelligence source, one of the reasons for the coverup is that, during the 2008 campaign, members of the NBPP met personally with candidate Obama at his Chicago home. The source emphasized that the NBPP matter is part of a larger voter intimidation strategy that was pursued by the Obama campaign, and that a serious investigation would, minimally, quickly focus on David Axelrod, Obama's campaign manager, and now a top White House aide. One question that has surfaced in recent days is whether Axelrod's announcement this week, that he will leave the White House some time next year, to take charge of Obama's reelection campaign, is related to the new eruptions of the NBPP affair.

Book Burning at the Pentagon Over 9/11 Revelations

Sept. 26 (EIRNS)—The Pentagon has destroyed 9,500 copies of Army Reserve Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer's memoir, Operation Dark Heart. The Army originally cleared the book for release, but the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) says national security could be breached if it were published in its current form. The Agency attempted to block key portions of the book, which claim that 9/11 pilot Mohammed Atta was identified as a threat to the U.S. before the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

Specifically, the DIA wanted references to a meeting between Lt. Col. Shaffer and the executive director of the 9/11 Commission, Philip Zelikow, removed. In that meeting, which took place in Afghanistan, Shaffer alleges the Commission was told that the "data mining" operation known as Able Danger had identified Atta before the attacks. No mention of this was made in the final 9/11 report.

Shaffer, who was undercover at the time, said there was "stunned silence" at the meeting after he told the executive director of the commission and others that Atta had been identified as early as 2000 by Able Danger. "Dr. Philip Zelikow approached me in the corner of the room. 'What you said today is very important. I need you to get in touch with me as soon as you return from your deployment here in Afghanistan,'" Shaffer said.

Once back in the U.S., Shaffer says he contacted the Commission. Without explanation, the Commission was no longer interested. An Inspector General's report by the Department of Defense concluded there was no evidence to support the claims of Shaffer and others. But Fox News has obtained an unredacted copy of the IG report containing the names of witnesses who backed up Shaffer's story, when contacted for comment.

The documents and exclusive interviews, including with an Army data collector on the Able Danger Project, are part of an ongoing investigation by the documentary unit "Fox News Reporting," which has also uncovered new details about American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki and efforts by the FBI to recruit him for intelligence purposes after 9/11. This is the same al-Awlaki that Obama wants to assassinate. Obama reportedly intervened Sept. 24, demanding that a Federal Court dismiss a law suit by al-Awlaki's father to stop the assassination. Obama says hearing the case would reveal "state secrets."

Mayors Targetted for Recall by Irate Voters

Sept. 25 (EIRNS)—Lacking any responsible leadership on the national level, the mass strike is lashing out at local officials, especially mayors, as cities and towns hit with budget shortfalls continue to cut services. Last month, what the New York Times calls "irate voters," claimed their first pelt, as the first-term mayor of rural Livingston, California, was dumped in a "landslide" recall, after he attempted to raise taxes to pay for upgrades in the city's water system. This follows a number of unsuccessful recalls over the last several years, many in areas hard hit by the economic collapse. Towns listed by the Times include Flint, Michigan; Akron and Toledo in Ohio; Kansas City, Missouri; Chattanooga, Tennessee; and Portland, Oregon. The U.S. Conference of Mayors has started production of a video to warn mayors of the seriousness of the recall efforts. Recall efforts in smaller municipalities are inexpensive and easy to mount, and local Tea Party activists have been involved in several recall campaigns.

Republicans Pledge To Repeal Obamacare

Sept. 23 (EIRNS)—Six months after the passage of Obama's Nazi-style "health-care" bill on March 23, the Republican Party issued its electoral Pledge to America, which prominently includes the repeal of Obamacare. Unfortunately, the alternative they offer is to hand over health care to the predatory HMO insurers.

In addition, this morning, leading Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee led by Senators Charles Grassley (Iowa) and Orin Hatch (Utah), invited Donald Berwick to appear at a forum on how he had performed in his post as head of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Obama appointed Berwick in a recess appointment in order to avoid a confirmation hearing, which would have centered on his advocacy of rationing and support for the British health-care system.

Health Insurers Will Not Cover Kids' Pre-Existing Conditions

Sept. 22 (EIRNS)—Just as Nerobama prepared to tout the first group of provisions of his Hitler health-care legislation, which will take effect Sept. 23—six months after its passage—the major U.S. health insurers announced that they will not sell insurance for children with pre-existing medical conditions who are not already covered by child-only plans, family policies, or by parents' employers. This, according to the Los Angeles Times, will mean that 80,000 children in California, and 500,000 nationally, will not get the coverage they were promised under Obamacare—because, the insurers say, the anticipated insurance payouts would create huge and unexpected costs for them!

Instead, Anthem Blue Cross, Aetna, United Health, Cigna, and others have decided to stop selling child-only policies for children under 19 with pre-existing conditions, who are not already covered under a child-only policy, or a family policy. Aetna will discontinue coverage of this group in 32 states; Anthem in 10, and Cigna in 10. So, Obamacare's dictum that children under 19 with pre-existing conditions must have insurance has been rejected by the insurance companies.