Bounty Hunter Disrupts Possible Terror Plot

July 31, 2007 3:14 PM

Brian Ross and Vic Walter Report:

A terrorist attack on U.S. soil may have been averted, thanks to the efforts of a Florida bounty hunter.

William "Cobra" Staubs claims to have captured more than 8,000 fugitives in his long career hunting bail-jumpers. But his latest nab got the attention of federal terrorism investigators: a self-described ex-soldier allegedly harboring a cache of military-grade explosives, functional pipe bombs and other weapons -- and a deep grudge against the U.S. military.

"It's not some hillybilly saying, 'Hey Mama, how you doing?' This was real," Cobra told ABC News.

After a month-long chase through three states, Cobra caught 38-year-old Christopher Riendeau holed up in a motel near the Fort Campbell, Ky. U.S. Army base. Riendeau, a purported 17-year Army veteran, had skipped out on a $100,000 bond after being arrested on drug charges.

Photos: Catching a Possible Lone-Wolf Terrorist

Once Riendeau was behind bars, he agreed to a proposal from Cobra to sell off his motorcycle and other items from a Georgia storage shed he rented, to cover his court expenses.

In the shed, Cobra discovered more: 16 loaded and fully functional pipe bombs, two pounds of C-4 military explosives, grenade fuses and an arsenal of 60 firearms and ammunition.

"There are real bombs. We dare not pull the pin on them," Cobra said as he walked through the shed on a videotape obtained by ABC News. "We're going to be calling the bomb squad in a few minutes."

Cobra also found a cleaned and pressed U.S. military uniform and an array of Nazi paraphernalia.

World News Video:  Home Threat: Suspected American Terrorist

Cobra says Riendeau told him he had a grudge against the military because he had been unfairly discharged from the Army. Riendeau's lawyer, Jerry Berry, declined to comment for this story.

"Every place he stayed was near a military base," Cobra told ABC News. "This guy had a problem with the military. This guy had guns, more than he could shoot in any one time...and a lot of ammunition and bombs."

The bombs were seized by law enforcement and destroyed. The FBI is currently investigating whether Riendeau was possibly planning a revenge attack on a U.S. military base, as what the FBI calls a "lone-wolf" terrorist -- a terrorist with no connection to a larger group.

"You definitely have to take this kind of thing seriously," said Brad Garrett, a celebrated former FBI special agent who worked numerous terrorism investigations and now an ABC News consultant. "There's not enough time taken, in my view, looking for these types of people."

Riendeau is now being held without bail while a federal grand jury investigates.

This post has been updated.

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July 31, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (43)

After Raid, Watchdogs Seek Senator's Ousters

July 31, 2007 11:58 AM

Justin Rood Reports:

Less than a day after FBI and IRS agents raided the Alaska home of Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, as part of a sprawling corruption probe, two good-government groups are calling for him to forfeit his powerful committee seats, including one which controls the FBI's budget.

"It is imperative that no member under federal investigation be involved in the oversight or appropriations of any agency involved in investigating that member," stated the group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) in a release Tuesday.

The group is asking Stevens, the longest-serving Republican in the history of the Senate, to step down from the appropriations panel overseeing the FBI's budget.

Blotter: FBI, IRS Search Home of Sen. Ted Stevens

Meanwhile, the nonpartisan watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense has asked Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to push Stevens to give up not only his appropriations committee seat, but also his seat on the Commerce, Science and Transportation committee, until the investigation is resolved.

"The standard for holding a powerful committee position should not hinge on the absence of a criminal conviction," wrote the group's president Ryan Alexander.

Neither Stevens nor McConnell immediately responded to a request for comment Tuesday.

Click Here for Full Blotter Coverage.

A federal grand jury has been investigating the senator's ties to VECO, an Alaska oil services firm, including the firm's involvement in improvements to the senator's Girdwood, Alaska, home, which nearly doubled its size. VECO is in the middle of a statewide corruption investigation that has tarnished Stevens' son, Ben, a state senator. The FBI raided Ben's offices last August.

Stevens has denied wrongdoing in the matter. Yesterday, he declined to comment on the merits of the investigation, other than to urge his constituents "not to form conclusions based upon incomplete and sometimes incorrect reports in the media."

Stevens is thought to be the first sitting senator to have his house raided by the FBI.

The FBI has raided houses belonging to three lawmakers this year. In April, agents served warrants at houses owned by Reps. John Doolittle, R-Calif., and Rick Renzi, R-Ariz., in separate corruption investigations. Both men have denied wrongdoing.

Shortly after those raids, the Republican leadership in the House of Representatives urged both men to give up their seats on key committees.  Both men consented.

By contrast, the Democratic House leadership has not pushed one of their own, Rep. Alan Mollohan, D-W.Va., to remove himself from the panel overseeing the FBI's budget, after news of an investigation into his land deals surfaced. Mollohan has said he would recuse himself from voting on any matter affecting the FBI's budget, although he recently violated that promise, according the Roll Call newspaper, by voting against an amendment that would have added $6 million to the bureau's budget.

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July 31, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (4)

FBI, IRS Search Home of Sen. Ted Stevens

July 30, 2007 7:44 PM

Jason Ryan Reports:

FBI and IRS criminal investigators executed a search warrant this afternoon at the Alaska home of Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska. The search warrant is currently under seal.

A federal grand jury has been investigating the senator's ties to VECO, an Alaska oil services firm. VECO is in the middle of a statewide corruption investigation that has tarnished Stevens' son, Ben, a state senator. The FBI raided Ben's offices last August.

Stevens has denied he is the target of a federal investigation, but he acknowledged in June the FBI had asked him to preserve certain records.

In a prepared statement for the media, Stevens confirmed the raid on his Girdwood home but declined to comment on it, other than to urge his constituents "not to form conclusions based upon incomplete and sometimes incorrect reports in the media." 

In May, the Anchorage Daily News revealed the FBI was investigating whether the firm had paid for expansion work to Stevens' home in Girdwood, performed in 2000. Stevens has said he paid invoices for the work from his own pocket.

Stevens is the longest-serving Republican in the U.S. Senate -- and the master of its appropriations process. 

Alaska's sole congressman, Republican Don Young, who is also reportedly under FBI investigation for his dealings with VECO, is the man behind the "bridge to nowhere," the controversial $231 million earmark for a bridge from Ketchikan, Alaska to Gravina Island with a population of 50.

Click Here for Full Blotter Coverage.

Former VECO CEO Bill Allen pleaded guilty in May to making $400,000 in bribe payments to officials, and is cooperating with investigators.  Ben Stevens is not named in the plea agreement, but he has since been identified as "State Senator B."

The state's junior senator, Lisa Murkowski, R, recently drew criticism for a land deal from which she appeared to benefit by tens of thousands of dollars. Murkowski bought the land from an Alaska real estate developer, Robert C. Penney, who has also been asked to testify in the VECO investigation.  Murkowski has denied wrongdoing in the land deal, and announced last week she would divest herself of the land.

Today's raid in Girdwood was the third time in the last 11 months federal agents had served a warrant in the former gold-mining town in connection to their corruption investigation.

This post has been updated.

Justin Rood contributed to this report.

July 30, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (72)

Underwater Ticking Bomb?

July 30, 2007 1:17 PM

Alexandra Bahou Reports:

The oceans may have become ticking time bombs after years of U.S. military dumping have gone almost virtually unregulated, according to government documents. 

Legislation on the books for this fiscal year requires that the secretary of defense issue a yearly report naming the location and quantity of the dumped military munitions in U.S. waters. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007 also mandates sampling and water analysis be done around the disposal sites selected by the secretary. The size of the dump sites as well as the types and quantities of military munitions should also be identified.

"The U.S. Army and DoD (Department of Defense) are working deliberately with other federal agencies to verify locations and dates of military sea disposal operations," an Army spokesperson said of the upcoming report to Congress.

But the problem isn't new. From World War I to the early 1970s, the United States Army has admitted to dumping an estimated 64 million pounds of nerve and mustard agents into U.S. waters alone, according to military documents.

"You can think these munitions are glorified metal containers, but they are corroding and rusting out over time," said Cal Baier-Anderson, a health scientist with Environmental Defense. "When they're (munitions) on the shoreline, they can be unstable. You don't know what's in them."

The weapon disposal sites range from the New Jersey coastline, where the first dumping of the "Cut Holes And Sink 'Em" operation placed 4,577 one-ton containers of mustard agent and 7,380 rockets of nerve gas into the ocean, to the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Japan, according to U.S. Army Research.

Click Here for Full Blotter Coverage.

"The real issues have to do with corrosion and how long the containers remain intact," said Lenny Siegel, the executive director of the Center for Public Environmental Oversight. "It's more the older chemicals that are going to be the problem, such as lewisite, which tends to be persistent in the environment."

Countless amounts of chemical weaponry have been dumped and sometimes sank encased in large, sealed vessels, according to documents issued by the U.S. Army Historical Research and Response Team.

During one disposal event alone in 1946, 191,906 cans of imitation mustard agent were dumped into the Pacific Ocean. Another disposal event in 1955 accounted for one or two barges of "unspecified" toxic munitions into the Gulf of Mexico as stated by the Off-Shore Disposal of Chemical Agents and Weapons Conducted report by the United States in 2001.

"The depth and size of designated sea disposal sites makes locating individual munitions or containers particularly challenging," said an Army spokesperson. "Another complicating factor is that these sites were also often used by others for disposal of materials ranging from garbage to industrial waste."

There is also a worry that these ordnances will be fished up or collected unexpectedly, as in the case of the Delaware driveway incident, where Army munitions were inside clamshells which were dredged up and used to pave many driveways in the state.

"I think, from a human standpoint, one of the worst things that can happen is if this affects a fishery," said Craig McClain, a postdoctoral fellow at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute. "Fisheries used to be primarily confined, but now they are moving into deeper water. It begs the question as to the economic impact to these things too. If it [chemical dumping] affected a fishery, then the whole area could become a dead zone."

Despite growing concerns, some environmentalists say nothing is getting done in terms of inspection or clean-up along coastlines known to have once been used for military weapon disposal.

Bob Schoelkopf, the founding director of the Marine Mammal Standing Center in New Jersey, says he was shrugged off by an Army representative after asking the military to take a look at the Atlantic City coastline. 

"We thought it would be a good idea to get shorelines inspected," said Schoelkopf. "No one ever said they would look into it...our mission isn't to watchdog the government. We brought up the concerns, now it's up to someone else to carry the ball."

Carrying the ball may not be that easy, according to some environmental officials. Experts say trying to determine where the munitions have drifted over the years is a complicated task.

"Even if you can pinpoint where they were dumped, the shifting sand and water current moves stuff around," said Baier-Anderson. "It's a tough situation."

According to a spokesperson for the U.S. Army, the Department of Defense has been engaged in a "comprehensive research effort" for the past 20 months to try to assess the impact of sea disposed munitions and the potential consequences of the weapons on the ocean environment. The Army and Department of Defense are working with other federal agencies to provide an update on disposal site locations, according to the U.S. Army spokesperson.

But even if the munitions are located, some environmentalists say the recovery process can be extremely dangerous and not even worth the risk.

"The question always comes up that if there is no release of the munitions, is it worth the risk to pull it up and treat it," said Siegel. "The answer isn't clear. We don't want to risk exposing people to ordnances unless there is a fairly present risk of danger." 

The question of whether or not to pull up these sunken canisters continues to baffle and concern environmentalists, politicians, government officials and the general public.

"With the initial breach of these canisters, the local impact on the biological communities will be quite high," said McClain. "Do I think something should be done? Yes. Do I know what should be done about it? No." 

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July 30, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (18)

Scamming You Twice: New E-mail Scam Targets Past Victims

July 30, 2007 1:04 PM

Ben Wei Reports:

Hoping their victims will fall for their false claims twice, e-mail scammers are targeting past victims of similar frauds claiming their lost money will be refunded.

Posing as delegates of the "Nigerian Government Reimbursement Committee," online scammers are seeking out victims of Nigerian e-mail scams and promising them a $150,000 reimbursement award.

An e-mail circulating around the Internet claims the Reimbursement Committee is "under the strict supervision of the United Nations" and is working with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to repay scam victims.

In order to claim their $150,000 award, individuals are ordered to provide an upfront processing fee of $850. This tactic, called "advance-fee fraud," has been the signature mark of these scams. 

Once an individual provides the scammers with his or her personal information, he or she is sent a "Certificate of Victimization." 

One ABC News intern e-mailed the scammers and specifically stated he was not a victim. They still sent him the certificate.

ABC News investigated Nigerian e-mail scams, called "419 scams," last year. The scammers target wealthy Americans, or "mugus," asking them to pay thousands of dollars in "processing fees" before they can collect on the big payout. The victims eventually discover the promised riches are a fraud. 

Ed Mezvinsky, a former Democratic congressman from Iowa, is serving a seven-year sentence for fraud after getting caught up in a series of Nigerian e-mail scams. Mezvinsky traveled to Nigeria numerous times and ultimately lost more than $3 million as a victim of the scammers.

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July 30, 2007 in Nigerian E-mail Scams | Permalink | User Comments (25)

Stepping Up Hunt for Osama Bin Laden, Taliban and Al Qaeda Hideouts

July 27, 2007 3:42 PM

Mike Mitchell and JR Santo Report:

The U.S. Air Force plans to deliver its newest and deadliest unmanned aircraft, the Reaper, to the theater of operations in Afghanistan.

"The Reaper is an attack aircraft loaded to the hilt with weapons," Gen. T. Michael Moseley, a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told ABC News exclusively.

Four MQ-9 Reapers, defined by the Air Force as "hunter-killers," are expected to arrive within several months, according to Gen. Moseley.

While previous unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have largely served surveillance and reconnaissance functions, the Reaper is geared more toward weapon and attack purposes.

Click Here for Full Blotter Coverage.

Named for its lethal nature, the Reaper can carry as many as 14 air-to-ground Hellfire missiles, while its precursor, the Predator, only has the capacity for two. If necessary, the new aircraft can substitute 10 Hellfires with two 500-pound bombs. The Reaper can also remain airborne up to 14 hours fully loaded, with a maximum speed of 300 mph versus the Predator's 135. 

"It flies higher and carries more than our older systems, giving our skilled and experienced operators additional capability to find, fix, track and engage a target," said Gen. Moseley about the Reaper's capabilities.

"Not only do we give theater military commanders the capacity to surveil the battlespace and keep a vigilant eye on targets and insurgent activities," said Gen. Moseley, "we are also capable of striking those targets."

The Pentagon budgeted $349 million for Reaper- and Predator-related spending for the fiscal year 2007, according to the Air Force budget report.

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July 27, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (65)

Congress Serves Up 9/11 Bill with Pork Stuffing

July 27, 2007 3:24 PM

Justin Rood Reports:

Who says the age of the earmark is over?

Democrats swept into power on Capitol Hill last November promising to curb earmarks -- those one-line provisions federal legislators slip into bills to funnel money to their pet projects.

But earmarks have continued to thrive. Lawmakers of all stripes have requested an eye-popping 32,000 this year, according to House Appropriations Chairman David M. Obey, D-Wisc.  And they're popping up in unlikely, even daring, places.

Senior lawmakers and their colleagues managed to slip earmarks into the landmark Sept. 11 security bill, which the Senate approved late last night.

Click Here for Full Blotter Coverage.

Buried in the legislation, which is not a spending bill, Congressional Quarterly found language diverting $18 million for homeland security-related research at three universities: Mississippi's Tougaloo College, championed by House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss.; New York's Long Island University, thanks to House Homeland Security Committee ranking member Peter D. King, R-N.Y.; and the University of Connecticut, pushed by Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs ranking member Joe Lieberman, I-Conn.

The schools will be part of a "National Transportation Security Center of Excellence" consortium. The bill directs the schools to study transportation security and develop training methods for "transportation employees and transportation professionals."

"We know lawmakers like to make sure their schools are well-endowed, but they shouldn't be doing it with taxpayer funds," said Keith Ashdown of the Washington, D.C.-based watchdog, Taxpayers for Common Sense. "If there's any bill that should be sacrosanct from earmarking, it's a homeland security bill. This worries us."

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July 27, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (19)

U.S. Air Force Prepares for War in Cyberspace

July 26, 2007 2:18 PM

Anna Schecter Reports:

The United States Air Force is actively seeking "cyberspace attack scenarios," according to documents posted on a government Web site for contractors.

The attack strategies should "disrupt, deny, degrade, destroy or deceive an adversary's information system," according to the Air Force Requests for Information (RFIs) obtained by ABC News. 

Experts say this move marks a change in the traditionally secret world of cyber warfare. 

"This is a significant development," said Amit Yoran, former White House cybersecurity czar.  "Historically cyber warfare remained in the very classified arenas of government."

Marine Gen. James Cartwright told the House Armed Services Committee earlier this year that the Air Force's new Strategic Command is charged with conducting cyber attacks in support of assigned missions.

Click Here for Full Blotter Coverage.

"Cyberspace has emerged as a war-fighting domain not unlike land, sea and air," said Cartwright.

Experts say so much of military logistics are dependent on computer systems that any kind of disruption would give the attacker an advantage.

Richard Clarke, former White House counterterrorism czar and an ABC News consultant, said there is a fine line between cyber espionage and warfare.

"One is passive intelligence collection, which can be done by spy agencies; and the other is warfare which supposedly is to be done by the Air Force and others," he said.

Clarke said frequently the only difference between espionage and warfare is a couple of key strokes. 

"If you have broken into something in order to steal information from it, then you don't have to do much more in order to bring down that network," he said.

A spokeswoman for the Air Force's Cyberspace Command said they are still working out issues regarding what the military legally can and cannot do to adversaries' cybersystems.

Yoran said both Iraq wars had cyberfronts, but they were kept secret. Other countries have weathered cyber attacks attacks as well.

Earlier this year Estonia claimed that state-sponsored Russian hackers had attacked official Web sites in retaliation for the removal of a Soviet-era monument in its capital, Tallinn.

Russia has denied the allegation.

Government e-mail and private online banking had to be shut down temporarily while telecommunications companies and news organizations were also affected.

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July 26, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (14)

'08 Candidates' Disclosures Make Bush/Cheney Look Good

July 26, 2007 2:15 PM

Avni Patel Reports:

The major 2008 presidential campaigns have recruited more than 1,800 individuals -- known as "bundlers" -- to bring in tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars to their campaign coffers, according to whitehouseforsale.org, a new Web site launched today by the campaign finance watchdog group Public Citizen. 

But they're falling short on telling the public who those people are and how much they are raising, the group says. Even the Bush/Cheney campaigns -- whose administration has become notorious for its secrecy -- did a better job of disclosing where their money came from.

"The campaigns are being far less transparent about bundling than the 2004 field of candidates," says Laura MacCleery, director of Public Citizen's CongressWatch, which developed the site. "Anyone willing to be less transparent than, for example, George Bush, should realize we have a problem."

Bundlers are well-connected individuals who solicit contributions from friends and associates on behalf of a candidate after donating the maximum $2,300 individual donation.

While the major 2008 candidates have publicly released the names of their top fundraisers, only two, Democratic hopefuls Barack Obama, Ill., and Hillary Clinton, N.Y., have disclosed how much the bundlers have raised and published the lists on their campaign Web sites, according to Public Citizen.

Bundling has been a common campaign fundraising tool since the 1970s when post-Watergate reforms limited the amount individuals could directly contribute to federal candidates.

Click Here for Full Blotter Coverage.

The practice was taken to new levels when the 2004 Bush/Cheney campaign designated their top fundraisers as Bush "Pioneers" and "Rangers." The Bush campaign regularly updated the list of bundlers who raised $100,000 and $200,000 on their Web site with their state of residence.

While the major 2008 candidates have not publicly disclosed how much their top fundraisers have brought in, it's clear that they are keeping track of how much they are raising.

For example, Republican hopeful former Mayor Rudy Giuliani has taken a page from the Bush fundraising model, using baseball terminology to designate his top fundraisers as "Sluggers," "All Stars," "MVPs" and "Team Captains" for bundling $50,000 to $1 million, according to the New York Daily News. Giuliani thanked some of those top earners with a retreat in New York last weekend, where events included golf and a dinner yacht cruise (pictured above).    

Democratic Sen. Clinton has also set targets for her top fundraisers, known as Hillraisers, to funnel $25,000 to $1 million in donations to her presidential campaign.

Campaign finance reform advocates, like Public Citizen, say that the practice of bundling, while legal, goes against the spirit of campaign finance laws that seek to limit the influence of campaign donors.

"There is a reason for individual campaign contribution limits, it's supposed to create a more even playing field between someone who has a vote to give and someone who can max out donations," says MacCleery. "If you have bundlers who were influence peddlers who lobby on policy issues, like Ken Lay or Jack Abramoff, those individuals have a disproportionate influence over policy."

Calls to the Giuliani, Edwards, Romney and McCain campaigns were not returned.

This post has been updated.

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July 26, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (14)

Black Youth Facing 22 Years for Schoolyard Fight

July 26, 2007 1:53 PM

JR Santo Reports:

The FBI, Justice Department, and the U.S. attorney's office are set to meet in Jena, La., today to discuss possible civil rights violations revolving around a racially-charged schoolyard beating.

The case involves the assault of a white student, Justin Barker, at Jena High School by six black schoolmates. Mychal Bell, the first of the six students to be tried in court, was convicted of aggravated second-degree battery and faces up to 22 years and six months in prison. The remaining five students have not yet faced trial.

Critics have called the charges outrageous, citing the facts that Barker only received minor injuries and was released from the hospital that same day so he could attend a school ceremony. Civil rights leaders say the black defendants, now known as the "Jena 6," have received unequal treatment compared to white defendants charged with similar crimes.

"Justice in La Salle Parish is not meted out equally," said Tory Pegram, development and public education associate for the Louisiana chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.

The attack on Barker was the latest incident in a series of conflicts between white and black students sparked when black students found three hangman's nooses dangling from a tree on school property. Robert Bailey, one of the Jena 6, was assaulted at a local party by white students using bottles and fists. Those who assaulted Bailey were only charged with simple battery by the district attorney in La Salle Parish, the district in which Jena lies.

Bell's attorney, Louis Scott, said, "Actions by black students were treated more harshly than actions by white students."

Click Here for Full Blotter Coverage.

Unable to post the $90,000 bond, Bell has remained in prison since his arrest. His attorney has delayed sentencing from the scheduled July 31 court date until September 20 to exercise all available legal options.

The Justice Department would not comment on the meeting because it is part of "ongoing casework." The district attorney could not be reached for comment.

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July 26, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (136)

Spy Agency OKs Bloggers as Journalists

July 26, 2007 12:31 PM

Justin Rood Reports:

Are bloggers part of the news media?  The U.S. government -- led by two of its most secretive agencies -- is increasingly saying, "Yes, they are."

Despite the rap that bloggers simply "bloviate" and "don't try to find things out," as conservative newspaper columnist Robert Novak once sniffed, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the National Security Agency (NSA) have altered policies to indicate they're taking blogs seriously, and a growing number of public offices are actively reaching out to the blogosphere.

The CIA recently updated its policies on Freedom of Information Act requests to allow bloggers to qualify for special treatment once reserved for old-school reporters. And last August, the NSA issued a directive to its employees to report leaks of classified information to the media -- "including blogs," the order said.

Experts say it's part of a trend. Earlier this year, the criminal trial of former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby was the first time a federal court had issued press credentials to bloggers. A rotating pool of five to 10 bloggers sat alongside dozens of traditional media reporters to hear the government try and convict one-time aide to Vice President Dick Cheney on perjury and obstruction of justice charges stemming from the leak of an undercover CIA operative's identity.

Click Here for Full Blotter Coverage.

"'The press' has been expanded," said New York University journalism professor (and blogger) Jay Rosen. "It's not fundamentally different than other moments in earlier eras," Rosen explained. "Radio reporters had to be added to newspaper reporters, which were originally 'the press.' Public institutions had to make accommodations for television cameras when they became part of 'the press.'"

While some agencies are changing their policies -- in the CIA's case, they are granting bloggers a waiver on fees for copying the documents it releases to requesters once available only to traditional media -- many press offices still dismiss bloggers' inquiries, Rosen said.

The political world, however, has embraced bloggers, according to Rosen. Presidential campaigns hold lunches and meetings with their candidates and popular bloggers, and congressional offices regularly hold conference calls to share information with bloggers and answer questions.

The CIA's new fee waiver for bloggers, first reported by Government Executive magazine, may be more of a symbolic gesture than anything else, however: the spy agency released a mere 344 complete documents as a result of FOIA requests in 2006, according to an April study by ScrippsNews. A CIA spokesman noted his agency had also made 1,000 "partial" releases of information to FOIA requests during that period.

This post has been revised.

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July 26, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (8)

Spanish Terror Group Targets Tour de France

July 25, 2007 5:32 PM

Richard Esposito and Krista Kjellman Report:

The Basque separatist group, ETA, was behind the two explosions today along the Tour de France route in northern Spain, Spanish intelligence sources tell the Blotter on ABCNews.com.

The small explosions caused no injuries when they were detonated along kilometer 51,450, about half a mile inside the Spanish border.

At the time of the blasts, the main part of the race had passed, and the rest of the riders passed a half-hour later without any interruptions or problems.

Blotter Summer Terror Reigns in Spain: Cease-fire Ends, Bomb Campaign Expected

The explosions followed a telephone bomb threat and only caused small rock slides.

As previously reported on the Blotter, the terror group called off its March 2006 cease-fire with Spain and declared it was resuming its violent campaign for independence last month.

Just more than two weeks after that, Spanish authorities seized a carload of explosives with a "manual on bomb making written in the Basque language" inside Spain's border, apparently showing the terror group was making good on its promise to step up its campaign for independence.

Despite the explosions, Tour de France, a favored target of the ETA, was once again embroiled in controversy when a second rider in as many days failed his doping test.

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July 25, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (6)

U.S. Kills Plans to Build Embassy in Hezbollah Area of Beirut

July 25, 2007 4:14 PM

Brian Ross Reports:

The Blotter has learned that plans for a controversial new U.S. Embassy in Beirut have been put on hold indefinitely, and effectively killed, according to a U.S. State Department spokesperson.

The news came just hours after we reported the State Department had been pushing ahead with plans to build the new embassy in a part of Beirut controlled by the militant anti-American group Hezbollah, despite strong protests from the U.S. ambassador in Lebanon.

A U.S. official tells the Blotter on ABCNews.com that Ambassador Jeffrey Feltman, in a May 31, 2007 classified cable to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, registered his strong objections, saying his staff "unanimously opposes construction" of the embassy on the proposed site.   

Photos  What Was the Controversy Behind Plans to Build a U.S. Embassy in Beirut?

Feltman also said in the cable that his local staff would be "an easy target" for Hezbollah and that U.S. diplomats would "be under siege" during any conflict.

Hezbollah is believed to be behind two attacks on the U.S. Embassy and an embassy annex in 1983 and 1984 that led to the deaths of 87 people, including eight CIA employees.

Last week, the National Intelligence Estimate on threats to national security cited Hezbollah, closely aligned with Iran, as a group that could potentially attack the United States.

U.S. officials say the proposed embassy site is just a few hundred yards from the scene of fierce fighting last summer between Hezbollah and Israeli forces.

Click Here for Full Blotter Coverage.

"It boggles the mind," says former State Department security official Tony Diebler. "Any reasonable person that looks at that site, does their homework and sees who controls the area would determine that it's a foolish, dangerous idea to build the embassy there," Diebler said in an interview to be broadcast on ABC News' "World News With Charles Gibson."

But officials say the State Department official in charge of embassy construction, Maj. Gen. Charles Williams (RET) is insisting the embassy be built on the site, which was purchased by the U.S. two years ago for more than $22 million.

In his cable to Secretary Rice, Ambassador Feltman said Gen. Williams maintained it was important to proceed with the proposed site in Baabda area of Beirut because of "the Department's relations with Congress and our global building objectives."

Gen. Williams declined requests from ABCNews.com to comment.

U.S. officials say Williams has ignored how conditions have changed in Beirut since the 2006 Israeli-Hezbollah war.

The officials say Hezbollah, not the government of Lebanon, controls the Baabda area and could sever access to the area at will.

State Department officials say they have been advised by the U.S. military that had the embassy been located at the Baabda site during the summer war, the U.S. military would have only come in once to evacuate the staff.

"Anytime Hezbollah wants to shut the place down," said former State Department security official Diebler, "they're capable of doing it and the loss of life would be tremendous."

The dispute between the U.S. Embassy in Beirut and the State Department in Washington has been simmering since late last year.

At one point, the U.S. Embassy refused to allow a State Department official from Washington, James Golden, managing director of the Emergency Projects Coordinating Office, permission to enter the country for the embassy project by denying normally standard "country clearance."

This post has been updated.

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July 25, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (52)

FBI Proposes Building Network of U.S. Informants

July 25, 2007 1:01 PM

Justin Rood Reports:

The FBI is taking cues from the CIA to recruit thousands of covert informants in the United States as part of a sprawling effort to boost its intelligence capabilities.

According to a recent unclassified report to Congress, the FBI expects its informants to provide secrets about possible terrorists and foreign spies, although some may also be expected to aid with criminal investigations, in the tradition of law enforcement confidential informants. The FBI did not respond to requests for comment on this story.

The FBI said the push was driven by a 2004 directive from President Bush ordering the bureau to improve its counterterrorism efforts by boosting its human intelligence capabilities.

The aggressive push for more secret informants appears to be part of a new effort to grow its intelligence and counterterrorism efforts. Other recent proposals include expanding its collection and analysis of data on U.S. persons, retaining years' worth of Americans' phone records and even increasing so-called "black bag" secret entry operations.

To handle the increase in so-called human sources, the FBI also plans to overhaul its database system, so it can manage records and verify the accuracy of information from "more than 15,000" informants, according to the document. While many of the recruited informants will apparently be U.S. residents, some informants may be overseas, recruited by FBI agents in foreign offices, the report indicates.

The total cost of the effort tops $22 million, according to the document.

Click Here for Full Blotter Coverage.

The bureau has arranged to use elements of CIA training to teach FBI agents about "Source Targeting and Development," the report states. The courses will train FBI special agents on the "comprehensive tradecraft" needed to identify, recruit and manage these "confidential human sources." According to January testimony by FBI Deputy Director John S. Pistole, the CIA has been working with the bureau on the course.

The bureau apparently mulled whether to adopt entire training courses from the CIA or from the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), which like the CIA recruits spies overseas. But the FBI ultimately determined "the courses offered by those agencies would not meet the needs of the FBI's unique law enforcement." The FBI report said it would also give agents "legal and policy" training, noting that its domestic intelligence efforts are "constitutionally sensitive."

"It's probably a good sign they are not adopting CIA recruitment techniques wholesale," said Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists, an expert on classified programs.  U.S. intelligence officers abroad can use bribery, extortion, and other patently illegal acts to corral sources into working for them, Aftergood noted. "You're not supposed to do that in the United States," he said.

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July 25, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (299)

Report: Security Issues Plague DHS Facilities

July 24, 2007 1:37 PM

Justin Rood Reports:

Despite its lead role in protecting the nation's critical assets, the Department of Homeland Security is three years late in developing a plan to protect its own facilities from terrorist attacks, according to a new report.

Instead, the department has relied on a patchwork of efforts by its many components, leading to uneven results, the congressional watchdog office finds.

A presidentially-mandated deadline of July 2004 came and went without a comprehensive plan from DHS on how it would protect its own buildings, according to the report released yesterday by the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

Without it, agencies that conduct sensitive work protecting the nation's borders, buildings and residents have made do on their own, often failing to conduct the kinds of comprehensive assessments needed to ensure they are safe.

In particular, the report cites the Transportation Security Administration for failing to adequately prioritize security issues at its facilities. TSA also failed to evaluate the effectiveness of security procedures already in place at its offices and other buildings, the report states.

Click Here for Full Blotter Coverage.

The agency told GAO auditors that it considers its efforts successful "because it has no known breach in its headquarters and Transportation Security Operations Center." It conceded it is difficult to demonstrate how many unauthorized attempts it has deterred "because it is typically not possible to know when such unauthorized attempts occur." It did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Blotter on ABCNews.com.

"We were very surprised to find many DHS facilities had no risk assessments or other important actions taken," said the GAO's Mark Goldstein, who directed the investigation.

What's more, one DHS component responsible for the security of other government buildings has trouble doing its job, GAO found. The Federal Protective Service (FPS) -- an arm of DHS whose mission is to protect U.S. government facilities -- reported a $60 million budget shortfall last year and lacks the number of inspectors it says it needs to ensure buildings for other federal government operations are safe.

"FPS cannot always provide basic security services requested" by government offices, GAO found.

When FPS makes security recommendations to DHS, the department has had trouble following them, according to the report. The service recommended the DHS Office of Citizenship and Immigration Services install garage barriers and other security measures at its building, but "it has not been able to prioritize funding" to pay for them, according to the report.

Other components have made progress: the document commends FEMA for installing pop-up ballards and surveillance cameras at its Washington, D.C. headquarters, and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for implementing a pilot "smart card" access program, GAO found.

"Given the start-up of the department and the unique and demanding nature of its mission, it is no surprise that there have been challenges in facility management," said department spokesman William R. Knocke. "Come back a year from now and you’ll get even more recognition by the GAO and others that we’re moving quickly and intelligently in the right direction."

In response to the report, DHS acknowledged to GAO its need for a comprehensive physical security plan and agreed to create one. No deadline was set for its completion.

This post has been updated.

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July 24, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (7)

New Playing Cards for Inmates Designed to Crack Cold Cases

July 24, 2007 12:04 PM

Anna Schecter Reports:

Florida's attorney general teamed up with state law enforcement to implement a new and innovative way to crack the state's unsolved cold cases.

Approximately 100,000 decks of playing cards featuring photographs and factual information about unsolved homicide or missing person cases will be distributed to prisoners throughout the state starting today.

The initiative was inspired by playing cards distributed to U.S. troops in Iraq featuring the country's most wanted fugitives.

In 2005, a group of law enforcement professionals in Florida's Polk County, impressed by the Iraqi fugitive cards, developed a deck of local unsolved cold cases and distributed them in the Polk County Jail. 

The cards led to the arrest of two individuals allegedly involved in the 2004 murder of Thomas Wayne Grammar after an inmate saw Grammar featured on the three of spades and provided a tip to authorities.

Click Here for Full Blotter Coverage.

The toll-free number for each case's local Crime Stoppers chapter is featured on each card, and every inmate will be given access to a phone in order to contact Crime Stoppers.

"If these cards help us crack even one cold case, the families and loved ones of the victim or victims will have some measure of closure in their lives," said Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum.

Click here to see the 104 cards on the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's Web site.

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July 24, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (5)

'Fishy' Land Deal Causes Problems for Lawmaker

July 24, 2007 10:42 AM

Justin Rood Reports:

Eyebrows are going up over a land deal between an Alaskan developer and a U.S. senator.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, says her deal with longtime friend and political supporter Robert Penney is entirely above board. Late last year, Murkowski paid Penney, a real estate developer, $179,000 for a 1.74-acre tract, although local real estate agents say it was worth as much as nearly double that figure.

Moreover, ethics law experts say the senator appears to have misreported the deal in her financial disclosures. Murkowski's spokesman, Kevin Sweeney, said Monday the Senate Ethics Committee had confirmed to the senator's office the filings were accurate and in order.

A spokesman for the committee declined to comment on the matter.

According to Sweeney, Sen. Murkowski paid "what the seller thought was a good price, what the buyer thought was a good price and what the Kenai peninsula has assessed as a fair value."

Click Here for Full Blotter Coverage.

The Anchorage Daily News disputes that assertion. In an editorial last week, the paper declared  the deal "fishy," saying that "anyone who sells Kenai River real estate at the assessed value is either a fool or doing somebody a favor. Anybody who buys it at assessed value knows -- or should know -- she is getting a sweet deal."

A 2006 property assessment reportedly valued the land at $120,000; this year it was increased to $214,000. Experts quoted by the paper and others have said the land was worth between $300,000 and $350,000.

Sweeney said that while Penney may have benefited from Murkowski's efforts on behalf of all her constituents, the senator "has never done anything at Penney's request that I know of that would personally benefit him." Penney did not respond to requests for comment for this story. 

The deal has received scrutiny and criticism from political pundits and bloggers since it was first reported on the Web site TPMmuckraker.com last week. According to the senator's husband, she expected it.

"When we signed the loan, Lisa signed on it and said, 'You know. This might come back to bite us,'" Murkowski's husband Verne Martell told a radio talk show host last week. "Well, you know, we'll deal with that when it comes."

Penney and his immediate family members have donated thousands to Murkowski's campaigns.

Now, ethics experts are raising questions about whether Murkowski properly reported the purchase in her public filings. The documents show her mortgage for the property but do not list the land as an asset.

"It's essentially lying," said Andrew D. Herman, an ethics lawyer with the Washington, D.C.-based Brand Law Group. Herman said at the very least, Murkowski should amend her filing to include the land. But there may be another problem: by accepting what experts say was a sweetheart land deal, Murkowski may have accepted a "gift" from Penney worth tens of thousands of dollars. It would be illegal for a lawmaker to accept a gift that large.

Murkowski is building her family home on the property, which is adjacent to Penney's own estate. The senator says she has known the developer for more than 40 years. Because the land is for personal use, the senator is not required to report it as an asset, Sweeney said.

Murkowski is not the only Alaska lawmaker who has seen financial benefit arise from knowing Penney. Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, reportedly made between $85,000 and $235,000 off a $15,000 real estate investment he made with Penney in 1998. Penney said at the time that including Stevens in the deal was "our way of giving him a thank-you and consideration for what he's done for us and all our kids."

Stevens did not respond to a request for comment on the deal.

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July 24, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (20)

Arrest May End 'Mad Hatter' Robbery Spree

July 23, 2007 12:43 PM

Krista Kjellman Reports:

The tea party may be over for the bank robber known as the "Mad Hatter."

The man who has robbed at least 17 New Jersey banks since September 2006 is in custody, according to federal authorities. The crook earned his name by donning a different hat for each heist.

"We believe we finally captured the Hat Bandit," a law enforcement official told The Star-Ledger, who first reported the arrest. 

Photos  See the "Mad Hatter" in Action

James Madison, 50, of Maplewood, N.J., was arrested less than 24 hours after his latest heist.

"We have a guy...who fits the general description of the Mad Hatter," FBI Special Agent Sean Quinn told The Star-Ledger this morning. 

The FBI did not immediately return a call from ABC News for comment.

The arrest came after at least the 17th hit for the man authorities have called the "Mad Hatter." He reportedly made off with $3,000 from a Bank of America located inside a Pathmark supermarket in Union, N.J.

The thief's seemingly endless array of headgear has included a powder-blue camouflage cap, a red hunter's hat with brim, a fisherman's hat, a Yankees baseball cap, a cap with a military insignia, a red-knit sky cap and a burnt-orange Texas Longhorn baseball cap, according to reports.

The hat-donning bandit is reportedly known for his nerves and discretion. He robs banks by quietly slipping a note to a teller demanding money, and then exiting the bank calmly. So far, he has reportedly netted more than $60,000.

This post has been updated.

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July 23, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (4)

The Nuclear Loophole: U.S. Still at Risk

July 20, 2007 6:24 PM

Brian Ross Reports:

Despite the more than $2 billion spent by the Department of Homeland Security on radiation detection devices, leading scientists tell ABC News the country remains wide open to terrorists who might try to smuggle nuclear material into the country.

In a familiar scene at the port of Los Angeles today, senior U.S. officials demonstrated yet another new, expensive machine that supposedly can detect nuclear material hidden in shipping containers.

The DHS has claimed this device is 95 percent accurate, and today Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff had high praise for it.

Photos Nuclear Material Bypasses Radiation Detection Devices at U.S. Ports in 2002

"This is great," he said. "This is the wave of the future."

Despite Chertoff's praise, a government investigation by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) concluded the new machines "fell far short of the 95 percent level of performance."

Click Here for Full Blotter Coverage.

At best, the GAO found the machines were 45 percent accurate, sometimes as low as only 17 percent accurate.

"It is very frustrating when we pour billions of dollars into our homeland security, and yet we see so many of those dollars being wasted," Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, the ranking member of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Emerging Threats, which has been a key oversight committee for the radiation detector program, said.

That's why Congress now wants a new round of tests before they will allow any more money to be spent on the system.

"Today we learned that in fact it is riddled with inefficiencies that could in fact make it possible for al Qaeda to bring a nuclear bomb into a post in the United States," Congressman Ed Markey, D-Mass., said.

It has been five years since ABC News first demonstrated the ease with which uranium, shielded in lead pipes, could be smuggled into the country in a shipping container, past supposedly state-of-the-art detection machines.

But today leading scientists say the new machines are just as ineffective. 

"There are many, many ways of defeating the system," said Dr. Tom Cochran of the Natural Resources Defense Council, "and they are ways that would be known to people who know how to manufacture an improvised explosive device."

In Los Angeles today, Secretary Chertoff acknowledged the need for more testing on this latest generation of equipment.

"As we're entering the field testing phase, we ought to kick the tires very hard," he said.

Scientists say about the only real proven improvement in the new machines is a lot fewer false alarms. The old ones would go off if they detected kitty litter or bananas.

That no longer happens, but they still can't detect well-shielded nuclear bomb material.   

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July 20, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (13)

U.S. Intel Chief: Tall Buildings and Mass Casualties Top AQ's Hit List

July 20, 2007 1:56 PM

Krista Kjellman Reports:

Chicago's Sears Tower and other iconic buildings in Seattle, Dallas and Los Angeles still top al Qaeda's target list in the U.S., according to the top U.S. intelligence official.

"Their intentions are mass casualties larger than 9/11 inside the United States," Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell said in an interview with the D.C. radio station WTOP. "A very large building. The Sears Tower, or some large building in Seattle or L.A. or Dallas."

McConnell also confirmed publicly what senior officials had told ABC News privately.

"In some cases they've got people positioned, more in Europe -- we suspect here in the United States, but we have no clear and compelling evidence they're in the United States," McConnell told WTOP.

ABCNews.com reported last week that senior law enforcement and intelligence officials had "multiple and credible" reports that an al Qaeda terror cell may be on its way to the United States or could already be in the country.

Click Here for Full Blotter Coverage.

The Library Tower in Los Angeles has always been on al Qaeda's hit list.

In February 2006, ABC News reported that al Qaeda's original plan for 9/11 was to use a fifth jet to bring down the 73-story tower on the West Coast.

And as previously reported on the Blotter on ABCNews.com, 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, in a written statement, admitted he was responsible for planning and financing a "second wave" of attacks targeting the Library Tower in Los Angeles, the Sears Tower in Chicago, the Plaza Bank in Washington state and the Empire State Building in New York.

Echoing the National Intelligence Estimate released earlier this week, McConnell said the safe haven al Qaeda enjoys in Pakistan has re-energized the terror group to pre-9/11 levels and said the group has stepped up its planning and training efforts for future attacks.

McConnell joins other officials, including Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, in voicing his concern of al Qaeda's threat against the U.S. 

"We do worry about whether they are rebuilding their capabilities," Chertoff told the editorial board of the Chicago Tribune last week. "We strike at them; we degrade them; but they rebuild."

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July 20, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (126)

Secret Report: No Iraq Oil Deal by September

July 20, 2007 8:45 AM

Brian Ross Reports:

A confidential intelligence report prepared for U.S. officials this week concludes a key U.S. benchmark of progress in Iraq, a law to divide oil revenues equitably among the provinces, "will not be agreed by September, even if cosmetic legislation is put in place."

An agreement on how to divide oil profits among Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish areas is one of 18 key benchmarks of progress to be reviewed by the U.S. in September.

More than 90 percent of Iraq's revenue comes from the export of oil.

Click Here for Full Blotter Coverage.

But the report, obtained by the Blotter on ABCNews.com, says the issues the three sides are too far apart to agree on are the "role of foreign companies in the oil sector" and the division of the oil profits.

The report also includes a grim assessment of the possibility of an increase of oil output in Iraq despite its huge reserves.

It concludes that security in Iraq is so unstable "it is unlikely that any major foreign oil company will be able to invest in Iraq during 2008 (unless they are heavily underwritten by the U.S. government)."

The report says the Kurds favor foreign oil companies playing a larger role, but that is opposed by many Shi'a in the south "because of a fear they will lose control of their assets to outsiders."

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July 20, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (44)

Deal in Works to Release Americans Detained in Iran

July 19, 2007 5:01 PM

Brian Ross and Richard Esposito Report:

A deal is in the works to gain the release of four American civilians being detained in Iran, U.S. intelligence officials tell the Blotter on ABCNews.com.

The officials say the appearance of two of the Americans on Iranian television this week was "part of the process."

A U.S. State Department spokesman said he was unaware of any deal but said, "I hope it is true."

Earlier this week, the State Department said it was "appalled at the mistreatment" of the two Americans who were "paraded" on state-run television.

Like almost every dealing between the U.S. and Iran, this one touches on the sensitive and volatile issue of nuclear weapons and sanctions.

Click Here for Full Blotter Coverage.

The U.S. officials told ABCNews.com that a European country is brokering the deal, which they say Iran hopes will help delay a third set of sanctions being considered by the United Nations Security Council over Iran's refusal to halt its nuclear program.

Three of the Americans are being held in an Iranian prison and a fourth, Parnaz Azima, of the U.S.-funded Radio Farda, has been released on a $50,000 bail.

Iran has previously admitted holding Haleh Esfandiari, of the Washington-based Woodrow Wilson Center; Ali Shakeri, a California businessman; and Kian Tajbakhsh, a consultant for the Soros Open Society Institute.

The officials say a fifth American, former FBI agent Robert Levinson, is not part of the deal.  Levinson disappeared in Iran in March. U.S. officials believe he is in a Tehran prison although Iran has never acknowledged he is in custody.

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July 19, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (14)

Iraqi-U.S. Smuggling Ring Busted in Peru

July 19, 2007 12:19 PM

Brian Ross Reports:

A criminal ring attempting to smuggle Iraqis into the United States has been busted in Lima, Peru, U.S. law enforcement officials tell the Blotter on ABCNews.com.

At least 10 Iraqis have been arrested over the last month there, some as they prepared to board flights to Los Angeles.

U.S. officials said the Iraqis were found with stolen Dutch and German passports which had been altered.

Blotter FBI: Iraqis Being Smuggled Across the Rio Grande

"Peru has a growing problem," a U.S. official said. "It has become a center for people trying to enter the United States illegally."

Peruvian police became suspicious when it was determined that none of the Iraqis spoke Dutch or German.

Dutch and German citizens do not require visas to enter the United States.

U.S. officials say three Iraqis, two brothers and a sister, were arrested on June 21 at the Lima airport.

Seven others, including the alleged ringleader of the group, were arrested this week, Peruvian police Col. Roberto Lujan told the Associated Press in Lima.

The AP said it was not immediately clear whether those arrested were Iraqi Chaldean Christians who frequently try to enter the U.S., claiming they face persecution in Iraq. California is home to a sizable Chaldean community. 

ABCNews.com reported earlier this week that the FBI had learned of another ring operating out of New Mexico that was smuggling Iraqis into the country across the Rio Grande River in New Mexico.

Click Here for Full Blotter Coverage.

July 19, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (23)

U.S.: 'No Options off the Table' to Target AQ in Pakistan

July 18, 2007 6:32 PM

Brian Ross Reports:

U.S. officials are mapping out new options of how to deal with what appears to be the gravest threat facing the United States: the resurgence of al Qaeda in Pakistan.

President Bush's top counterterrorism advisor told Diane Sawyer on "Good Morning America" today that the U.S. does not rule out sending in American soldiers if Pakistan allows the safe haven to continue.

"The answer...is what we want to do is work with our Pakistani partners," Frances Townsend said in response to Diane Sawyer's question about sending U.S. troops into the tribal areas. "But the president's been very clear. There are no options off the table because job No. 1 is protecting the American people, and nothing will get in our way."

But Pakistani officials reiterated today that U.S. troops are not and would not be welcome there.

And U.S. officials say they have little confidence that the Pakistani army will do the job.

Click Here for Full Blotter Coverage.

"It's gone in half-hearted, and it's been ineffective," said Bruce Riedel, a former CIA officer who now works at The Brookings Institution. "I think part of the problem is that a good part of the army and the intelligence services are actually sympathetic to the Islamic extremists."

The options for U.S. military action are limited in Pakistan, which boasts the same vast, rugged areas that have bogged down U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

But U.S. analysts do not rule out a pinpoint strike if there was hard intelligence on the location of Osama bin Laden or his top deputies.

"There are obviously certain risks you take if you undertake that kind of operation," Bob Grenier, a former CIA official who now works with the global security firm Kroll, said, "but that is something which is quite feasible. If we're talking about denying a safe haven, that's a very different thing."

Officials say hundreds of terrorists have been trained and dispatched for attacks against the U.S. and Europe from that safe haven.

As the Blotter on ABCNews.com reported last week, senior law enforcement and intelligence officials had "multiple and credible" reports that an al Qaeda terror cell may be on its way to the United States or could already be in the country.

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July 18, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (29)

Gen. Wayne Downing: Devoted, Dynamic, Smart

July 18, 2007 2:54 PM

ABC News Consultant Richard Clarke Reports:

Editor's note. For more than 30 years, ABC News consultant Richard Clarke worked closely with Gen. Wayne Downing who died yesterday.

A good friend died yesterday, Wayne A. Downing, or as we often called him, The Wad. 

I first worked with him in 1973 on the Arab-Israeli War. He was an Army major then. He went on to be a four-star general and our lives continued to cross.

We worked together on other wars, in Panama in '89, in Iraq in '90 to '91. I remember Norm Schwartzkopf fuming to me about "Downing and his snake eaters," but when the SCUDs started falling on Tel Aviv, Schwartzkopf agreed to send them in behind the lines in Iraq to hunt down the launchers.

After the attacks in Mogadishu in '93, Wayne flew in to Somalia and was almost killed by a mortar.

Shortly after he retired, after commanding Special Operations Command, Khobar was attacked by
terrorists, and I asked him to investigate what had gone wrong. His report was very frank about Air Force security lapses. That same year he declined to be the drug czar, but five years later he agreed to come out of retirement again to succeed me as terrorism czar.

I have known a lot of officers, but none as devoted, dynamic, smart and charismatic as Wayne Downing.  He lit up the room, and when he spoke, you knew you were getting the truth and the voice of experience.

I got a message today from the frontlines in Afghanistan, from a battalion commander whom Wayne had contacted recently. The e-mail reads:

"Wayne wrote me on the 4th of July -- "How are you, Mike?  How's the First Rock?"  And then he, my command sergeant major and I began a two-week correspondence that included e-mails and updates every day. We got along great -- at the NSC -- and then when he came to visit us in Iraq, then Afghanistan the last time...he was planning to come out again.

I know he valued your friendship tremendously...he told me in great detail chatting in his office.

Our flags at each one of my forward operating bases are at half mast. Sometimes seeing those flags at half mast doesn't hit you...this time it does, hard."

It has hit us all hard, very hard.

July 18, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (6)

White House Spy Sentenced to 10 Years

July 18, 2007 2:44 PM

Krista Kjellman Reports:

The former Marine at the center of the first case of espionage at the White House in modern history was sentenced to 10 years in prison Wednesday for stealing and passing on top secret documents.

"There's no doubt you did betray a position of trust that very few people are privileged to occupy," U.S. District Judge William H. Walls said to the spy, Leandro Aragoncillo, at the hearing.

Aragoncillo, a former U.S. Marine who worked in the White House and then for the FBI, pleaded guilty to four espionage charges last May, the most serious of which -- conspiracy to transmit national defense information -- could have carried the death penalty.

But under his plea agreement, Aragoncillo faced 15 to 20 years in prison heading into today's hearing in federal court in New Jersey. Judge Walls accepted a motion citing Aragoncillo's cooperation with the investigation to deliver a sentence below that range.

"Aragoncillo took the most solemn of oaths as a U.S. Marine and FBI analyst to protect his country and its security," U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie said at the time Aragoncillo pleaded guilty. "His betrayal is profound and a disservice to his country and all the men and women in military and security positions around the globe who take the oath and serve with honor and integrity."

Click Here for Full Blotter Coverage.

Aragoncillo worked at the White House for almost three years under both Vice Presidents Al Gore and Dick Cheney. Following his retirement from the Marines, he worked as an FBI intelligence analyst at the Fort Monmouth Information Technology Center in New Jersey.

According to court papers, Aragoncillo, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in the Philippines, used his top secret clearance to steal classified documents off White House and FBI computers. 

He was accused of passing those documents -- some of which were damaging dossiers on the president of the Philippines, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo -- onto opposition politicians planning a coup in the Pacific nation.

As first reported by ABC News' Chief Investigative Correspondent Brian Ross, Aragoncillo was recruited to spy during a July 2000 state visit to the Clinton White House by then-Filipino President Joseph Estrada.

Officials told ABC News Estrada and his aides enticed Aragoncillo, who was half a million dollars in debt, with small amounts of money and appeals to ethnic loyalties. Court papers also said Aragoncillo demanded the Filipino officials find jobs for his relatives living in the Pacific nation.

Even after Estrada was forced out of office for corruption,  authorities say Aragoncillo continued to funnel secret documents to him in an apparent attempt to start a coup.

Aragoncillo was arrested in September 2005 after trying to access a computer outside of his clearance.

One of his co-conspirators, Michael Ray Aquino, a former officer of the Philippine National Police who resided in Queens, N.Y., was sentenced to six years and four months for taking U.S. secret documents from Aragoncillo in an effort to undermine the Philippine government.

"I am sorry for what I did," Aquino, who had pleaded guilty one year ago to spare himself a life sentence, said at his hearing Tuesday. "I never had the intention to harm the United States. I love this country."

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July 18, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (24)

Dirty Tricks Dot-Com? Mystery Online Vids Slam GOP Hopefuls

July 18, 2007 1:58 PM

Justin Rood Reports:

A trio of edgy online videos attacking GOP presidential front-runners may comprise a new "dirty trick" in the 2008 presidential race -- if anyone can figure out where they came from.

One campaign and one consulting firm have denied purported links to the ads, which were posted to online video-sharing site YouTube.com and disseminated by a user of the MySpace.com social networking site in early July.

The spots feature a fast-talking young man in glasses tossing off a series of over-the-top observations about the Republican primary candidates, while driving a car. 

Video Watch Excerpts of the Online Videos Slamming GOP Presidential Hopefuls

"If you gotta stick a plunger up somebody's ass to reduce crime, you stick a plunger up somebody's ass," the man says in one spot, which appeared on the niche politics-and-sleaze-themed Wonkette.com blog.

The comment is a reference to one of the darker moments of GOP White House hopeful Rudy Giuliani's time as mayor of New York, the New York Police Department's bloody beating of Abner Luima in 1997. The police had arrested the Haitian immigrant on charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. At the time, Giuliani said the alleged abuse was "shocking" and "reprehensible."

The ads end by fading to black, and the Web address for  Giuliani's campaign appears.  The Giuliani campaign unsurprisingly denies any connection to the videos. In a July 11 letter, it asked YouTube to remove the videos, but the spots are still posted. YouTube did not respond to requests for comment.

Click Here for Full Blotter Coverage.

In other spots, the fast-talking driver makes more outrageous claims about GOP candidates.

"Mitt Romney? Now that's a good-looking man," he says in another. "Him and Fred Thompson, now that's an attractive gay couple...They don't call Fred Thompson 'Hollywood Fred Thompson' for nothing. And we all know what 'Hollywood means," the man says, as upbeat music plays in the background.

"That young hot wife they're all talking about?" he asks rhetorically, apparently referring to Jeri Thompson, Fred's wife.  "Oh, yeah. Transgender."

The ads "have nothing to do with us," Giuliani spokeswoman Maria Comella told the Blotter on ABCNews.com Tuesday.

Photos Check Out Pictures of the Mysterious Online Videos

Then who? The Daily Background blog noted the ads had been posted to several online forums by a MySpace account which appeared to belong to an employee of the Washington, D.C. political advertising firm Stevens, Reed, Curcio and Potholm. The firm gained prominence in 2004 by producing ads for the group "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth," attacking Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry for allegedly lying about his war record.

The firm now works for Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign. Executives there told ABCNews neither the firm nor its employee was involved in creating or disseminating the ads.

"This is a complete fabrication and a hoax," firm partners Rick Reed, Paul Curcio and Erik Potholm told ABCNews.com in an e-mailed statement. "No one at SRCP was involved in the creation or production of these ads or the personal content created and posted on MySpace which is attributed to one of our employees."

A campaign spokeswoman for McCain told ABCNews.com neither the candidate nor his team had any knowledge of the videos.

The MySpace profile that appears to belong to a firm employee boasts 91 friends and belongs to several Republican discussion forums. On July 13, after a blogger noted apparent connections between the ads and the firm employee, someone with access to the profile commented on another MySpace user's page, "Issues with the 'campaign' really heated up at work today; big time. I might have royally screwed something up. Though I could probably use a stiff drink, I don't think I should go out in public much in the next few weeks."

In a July 16 letter, the firm's lawyer asked at least one blogger to cease his "false assertions" linking SRCP to the ads. The firm said the lawyer had sent copies of that letter to MySpace and the online video hosting service YouTube, where an account was created to host the spots under a name similar to the firm's employee.

The first two ads did not mention Sen. McCain, R-Ariz. In the latest ad, posted July 12, the driving star rolls out a rambling screed on the former prisoner of war.

"Shot down in Korea? [He's a] Manchurian candidate," the driver surmises. "McCain was brainwashed by the Koreans, which could explain his flip-flopping on the whole immigration thing. ...You notice the blemishes" -- he gestures to his face -- "they say it's skin cancer? That"s not skin cancer. That"s the truth serum they injected into him."

This is the second time an anonymously-created YouTube video has caused a stir in the 2008 presidential race. In March, a video portraying Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., as an Orwellian dictator created a minor uproar. Once identified, the ad's creator, Philip deVellis, was fired from his job at a media firm employed by the presidential campaign of Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.

Both the Obama campaign and deVellis' old firm, Blue State Digital, said the candidate and his campaign had no knowledge of the ad.

MySpace.com did not respond to requests for comment on this story. As of Wednesday afternoon, the alleged "hoax" profile was still available on its site.

This post has been updated.

Do you have a tip for Brian Ross and the Investigative Team?

July 18, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (28)

Heimlich's Son Pushes to Discredit Famous Dad

July 18, 2007 1:34 PM

JR Santo Reports:

Dr. Henry Heimlich's name has been dropped from a prestigious humanitarian award following intense criticism of Dr. Heimlich's activities in recent years raised by his own son.

The H.J. Heimlich Humanitarian Award, given out since 1994 in recognition of the inventor of the life-saving Heimlich maneuver, has been renamed the Spirit of America Festival Humanitarian Award.

Award officials said they made the change in response to controversy generated about Dr. Heimlich by his son, Peter.   

A recent 20/20 investigation detailed Dr. Heimlich’s attempts to promote the use of his maneuver on near drowning victims and cystic fibrosis patients, which leading medical experts say is either useless or potentially dangerous.

Dr. Heimlich has also been criticized for supporting human studies into his theory that malaria can be used to treat AIDS patients. The application of so-called "malariatherapy" has been denounced by leading AIDS researchers as dangerous, scientifically unfounded and unethical.      

"The harm that he's caused overwhelms the good he accomplished," Peter Heimlich told ABC News about his father. "Any award named after Henry Heimlich is a contradiction."

Dr. Heimlich refused to speak to ABC News about his son's campaign. Speaking on behalf of Dr. Heimlich, spokesperson Bob Kraft said, "Peter harassed those poor people to change the name of their award."

Dr. Heimlich has also been released from his position as medical advisor for the Save-A-Life Foundation and disinvited as a speaker for a PanAfrica AIDS Conference.

In another significant setback, the use of the Heimlich maneuver on choking victims has been quietly downgraded by the American Red Cross. In new guidelines, the Red Cross recommends a series of five back slaps as the first course of action, followed by five Heimlich maneuver thrusts.

Back slaps had been the primary treatment used on choking victims until the Red Cross and the American Heart Association, following a joint medical conference in 1985, decided to abandon back slaps and instead promote only the Heimlich maneuver. That decision came about after a long and heated campaign during which Dr. Heimlich branded back slaps as "death blows."

The Heimlich maneuver gained widespread acceptance among the public when former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop denounced the use of other methods on choking victims.

"Today, there is universal agreement that these methods can be dangerous and should not be performed," Koop said. "The best rescue technique in any choking situation, doctors now agree, is the Heimlich maneuver."

"Every study in this shows that back slaps drive the food deeper and do not save lives, that only the Heimlich maneuver saves lives," eldest son Phil Heimlich told ABC News on behalf of his father.

At the 1985 Red Cross and AHA conference, however, only one study was