Official Documents Confirm Major Criminal Investigations of Turkish Operatives in Chicago
Wednesday, 17. March 2010
Recently released FBI documents prove the existence of highly sensitive National Security and criminal investigations of “Turkish Activities” in Chicago prior to September 11, 2001. These documents add further support to many of the allegations that former FBI translator Sibel Edmonds has claimed, in public and in Congress, since 2002. The documents were released under a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request into an organization called the Turkish American Cultural Alliance (TACA), an organization repeatedly named by Ms. Edmonds as being complicit in the crimes that she became aware of when she was a translator at the FBI.
The documents released under FOIA are almost completely redacted, but they do support many of Edmonds’ claims, including:
There were a number of very serious FBI investigations into “Turkish activity in Chicago” involving a number of targets, including TACA
These investigations were related to “National Security” among other things.
These investigations were regarded as so sensitive that no files were to be uploaded to FBI’s computer system.
Congressional corruption was involved.
The FBI repeatedly conducted actual “physical surveillance” against Turkish and American targets.
Some of these investigations were shut down in 2001.
The documents comprise primarily of internal FBI ECs (Electronic Communications) between FBI offices. Most of the ECs are titled “Turkish American Cultural Association” although one from Feb 2000 is titled “Turkish Investigations in Chicago” which indicates that there were at least seven different pending investigations into Turkish activity in Chicago, and another later document from July 2001 indicates that there were at least ten investigations into TACA alone.
The earliest document is a November 1999 EC from the FBI’s National Security Division (NS-2D) to FBI field offices in Chicago, Washington DC, Los Angeles and New York (although there is a reference to a September 1999 EC from NSD.) The timing is significant. In an article in The American Conservative by Phil Giraldi, Ms. Edmonds notes that although there were investigations into Turkish activity dating back to 1996, most of that activity was being monitored by Counter-Intelligence based on FISA warrants because the main targets were foreigners, however in 1999 investigations were opened into ‘US Persons‘ and “they wiretapped the congressmen directly.”
The FBI was obviously concerned about ‘campaign donations’ being paid to Congressional Representatives by these groups. Ms. Edmonds has repeatedly referred to certain groups making “different kinds of campaign contributions – legal and illegal, declared and undeclared” to various congressional members. Two days after an EC from the National Security Division, Chicago reviewed the Federal Electoral Commission (FEC) database which contains details of donations to congressional campaigns. Chicago was apparently interested in donations made by “three individuals who attended the meeting at TACA.”
The FBI was also interested in the leadership of TACA. One EC notes that TACA held elections in 2000 and provides a list of all the newly elected officials. The EC states “Most pertinent to the above investigations was the fact that REDACTED had been REDACTED.” We know that Mehmet Celebi was elected President of TACA at that meeting. Ms. Edmonds has previously referred to Celebi as a key player in the Turkish mafia in the US, noting that the Celebi family is involved in arms and heroin trafficking. Celebi was also Vice-President of the Assembly of Turkish-American Associations (ATAA), another organization named by Ms. Edmonds and others as being involved in various criminal activities.
In 2008, Celebi briefly received some attention when he was key fundraiser for Hillary Clinton, and was nominated as one of Clinton’s Chicago delegates to the 2008 Democratic National Convention. He was eventually kicked out of the Clinton campaign because of the scrutiny.
At the time, Ms. Edmonds said:
“In 2005, Vanity Fair reported that Dennis Hastert had been bribed by Turkish interests. If people want to investigate this further they should FOIA the FBI’s Chicago Field Office for information regarding Mehmet Celebi going back to 1997. If the FBI is honest, there will be boxes and boxes of files responsive to these FOIA requests.“
Famed whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg once said that “Sibel says that suitcases of cash have been delivered to the Speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert, at his home, near Chicago, from Turkish sources, knowing that a lot of that is drug money.”
The aforementioned Vanity Fair article, apparently trying to dodge some potential legal liability, suggested that “the reported content of the Chicago wiretaps may well have been sheer bravado, and there is no evidence that any payment was ever made to Hastert,” however a July 2001 EC regarding the “Statistical Accomplishments” of the TACA case notes that there were thirteen separate instances of actual ‘Physical Surveillance’ in the TACA case alone, suggesting that the FBI may very well have first-hand evidence of some of these crimes.
One fascinating feature of many of these documents is that many of them ominously warn about the sensitivity of the investigation. A typical warning reads:
“Extreme caution must be exercised in the handling of sensitive information contained within. No material pertaining to this investigation is to be computer uploaded. Information concerning this REDACTED investigation is not to be shared with CID (Criminal Investigation Division) absent FBIHQ/DOJ concurrence.“
Ms. Edmonds has often stated that these investigations into illegal Turkish activity were shut down by the White House and State Department in 2001 and 2002, but that the FBI Chicago Office fought to keep them open. Two of the ten cases related to TACA were officially closed by Chicago in July 2001, however even the documents relating to these ‘closed’ cases still warned that the information required ‘extreme caution’ and were not to be uploaded or shared with CID.
Asked to comment on these new documents, Ms. Edmonds replied:
“Finally! I’ve been saying this for years, and now we finally have documented proof from the FBI of this Turkish criminal activity based in Chicago.
This is fantastic, but even this is only the tip of the iceberg. The main question is this: Why has the White House and the State Dept been so determined to shut these investigations down? They shut down these investigations at the FBI, they shut me down with the State Secrets Privilege.
What are they hiding? Chicago was the center of it all, Chicago was the center of the foreign espionage activity, and the center for money laundering, and also a major heroin distribution center. Celebi was a key player, but Dennis Hastert, Mayor Daley, Robert Creamer and other US officials also helped facilitate these activities. When will we see some accountability?“
That is the ultimate question. We now have even more evidence of these crimes – but there is still no sign of any accountability. What will it take?
This site depends exclusively on readers’ support. Please help us continue by contributing directly and or purchasing Boiling Frogs showcased products.
Simon Says:
Well done. A long wait, but with the generals in danger, and threatening to release information of complicity with U.S. connections in Turkey, maybe the real story will surface.
jan Says:
Excellent work Luke.
hatchcar Says:
Hello Sibel. First and foremost, this is great. Although most of it was redacted, at least something has come up. Wonder when the Lame Stream Media will pick up on it. (Never)
Anyway, was reading in my local rag and someone had written in about the “genocide” resolution in Congress concerning the Armenian thing back in 1914.
Thought you’d like to see it. Heck, maybe a response.
Best wishes always to you, and will be sending cash for you sometime soon.
http://www.pressherald.com/opinion/letters/wednesday-opinion_2010-03-16.html
Scroll down a bit, you will see it.
JC
Bill Bergman Says:
Turkish criminal activity? We’ve learned to respect that criminals shouldn’t be identified as such until they are convicted.
But …
suitcases of cash? Hmm.
Chicago Tribune? Chicago Sun-Times? (at least, after the latter is no longer owned by Hollinger, and has lost its pre-Iraq war invasion CAPITAL LETTER HEADLINES ABOUT HOW WE SHOULD INVADE EVIL IRAQ) — Sibel or Luke, have you heard from either of them yet?
thewolfpacktravels Says:
letters@nypost.com
washington@nytimes.com
Send a letter asking them to cover this story. Only way it’s going to get picked up is if enough people bitch about not reading about it.
Ishmael Says:
Can YOU say Vindication? It seems the Truth always has a nasty way of coming out eventually. Now let’s see what AG Holder decides to do with it. This, once again, demonstrates that corruption and influence peddling are about the only bipartisan practices still extant in Washington. I posted a thread on the Randi Rhodes Message Board and will send an e-mail to Rhodes tonight to see if she picks up on it.
As for me, I finally got my back unemployment so I’ll drop a check for my humble $20 contribution into the mail tomorrow or Friday. Now, can you sue the authors of your gag order personally for libel and slander? If the gag order was issued expressly to cover up other criminal acts, then it becomes part of a larger conspiracy to obstruct Justice. I’ll be busy the next few days counting the nomadic people of America in a more RV parks but saw an news item in Headline News today about the FBI surveiling social networking sites. Well, I can think of a few Facebook pages in the Chicago area they may want to take a closer look at.
Kudos to you as a patriot and a fellow Countryman of the BEST kind.
Miguel Says:
The $64,000 question is: how did TACA act as a conduit for heroin money and why were they so interested in bribing Congressmen and Daley in the Chicago area? These are the missing pieces of the puzzle. We know the Armenian Genocide was only a small part of the picture.
SanderO Says:
Michale Moore stated precisely what has happened the this nation’s government yesterday and it’s the influence of money. Follow the money and you can see how it works.
For example in the health care debate there was $1,000,000 spent lobbying congress – that’s about a million dollars per representative. The same is basically true for all majory legislation. The congress responds to the lobbyists.
To get them elected you similarly through oddles of money into campaigns. Not only does this buy access on the media… but it ensures that once elected you do the bidding for those who paid for you to get there. And then there are the uber wealthy who run who represent THEIR class – people invested in large predatory corporations not the working people of America.
America’s government is know OWNED by a tiny percentage of the American population – the very very wealthy…who happen to be the most powerful to begin with. They are grabbing more wealth and power each day LEGALLY by congressional votes. America not only sanctions torture… but they sanction legal bribery. It’s as American as apple pie. Our representatives and government officials sold out for personal wealth and power… and when they leave congress… they go right to K street or to a corporate board room.
You don’t make the kind of wealth these people enjoy from hard work or being entrepreneurial. You get it from DEALS. Sure some people do get wealthy from hard work or genius… but most of them simply get it handed to them or steal it… like these huge bonuses… Wall Street deals… no bid bloated contracts and outright cooking of the books.
All this money is coming from hard working taxpayers or simply made up out of whole cloth by the financial sector. There was the myth that Wall Street was investing in business to grow American industry and create jobs. Nothing could be further from the truth.. that’s way too slow and offers a too low return on investment for capital. They would rather play with bets and other deals were they drive the price of assets down and buy them up cheap and sell them high.
Greed has truly destroyed American democracy. It drives to wasteful and aggressive MIC and their lust for empire and it keeps the entire economy addicted to fossil fuels instead of moving to a sustainable energy based economy… where there is little or no profits to be had and power plays to make.
Aside from the odd ideological and religious motivations, and the occasional battle over land it’s all about the money.
Capitalism is destroying the lives of billions of people and making a few thousands comfy and secure.
JamesLaffrey Says:
Morsels, again, from FOIA. Good morsels, yes. But as John Young of Crytome said here on Podcast 25, FOIA is an instrument of abuse by our federal government to deny, delay, tease, delay, trickle, on and on.
Who needed this news to know Sibel was telling the truth? Not me. Oh, I agree with all of you, it’s good evidence to add to the pile. But –
We need to raise our game.
I’ve raised mine. You haven’t heard from me for a while, though I’ve visited regularly. I’ve been researching for hours every day. Following the money. Following the power.
And I’ve been helped by some great independent historians and reporters who bravely post for the world to see. I’ve also been misled occasionally, so I had to compare info and sources.
Sibel has asked, “When will we see some accountability?”
The answer is: When we replace the criminal majorities in Congress and the criminals in the White House with Boiling Frogs.
As I said in previous comments here (months ago), we have a historic opportunity right now. And I said I was working on a Big Idea.
Here it is. I’ve launched a new website. This is the first time I’ve put this news anywhere on the www. With the website, I’ve also launched The EQUAL Party. For now, it’s on Wordpress. Later, with growth, we’ll go bigger and better. Link:
http://equalpartyusa.wordpress.com/
Thanks again, Sibel. You’ve been an inspiration.
JamesLaffrey Says:
Oops. John Young deserves to have his website name touted correctly. Sorry. It’s this:
http://www.cryptome.org/
Again, the BoilingFrogsPost Podcast 25 is a fine earful! His wisdom from experience and apparent sincerity are highly valuable.
theepitbull Says:
Hi FIVE!!!!
“tempus omnia revelat”
(((3)))
mmonk Says:
Thanks Luke. Hopefully, any remaining doubters will have to ask themselves why. We’ll have to find ways to tickle the mainstream out of its slumber.
Early Light Says:
Honesty, integrity and some real guts among our officials in Washington. (Don’t hold your breath waiting.)
remo Says:
[Paul Craig Roberts]“….public beliefs in a democracy run counter to suspicion of government as a terrorist agent. Professor Laurie Manwell of the University of Guelph says that “false flag” operations have the advantage over truth: “research shows that people are far less willing to examine information that disputes, rather than confirms, their beliefs.” Professor Steven Hoffman agrees: “Our data shows substantial support for a cognitive theory known as ‘motivated reasoning,’ which suggests that rather than search rationally for information that either confirms or disconfirms a particular belief, people actually seek out information that confirms what they already believe. In fact, for the most part people completely ignore contrary information.” Even when hard evidence turns up, it can be discredited as a “conspiracy theory.”[Dr. Roberts was Assistant Secretary U.S. Treasury, Associate Editor Wall Street Journal, Columnist for Business Week, Senior Research Fellow Hoover Institution Stanford University, and William E. Simon Chair of Political Economy in the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington, D.C.]
“… government as a terrorist agent”. Now, there’s a headline !
edit_mommies Says:
The average Chicagoan leaves the birth canal at the age of Clark Kent’s parents.