A China Connection?
Some writers have speculated that the real purpose of the "wall" erected by Jamie Gorelick and others that prevented intelligence agencies from sharing information with prosecutors was to protect the Clinton administration. In particular, some have speculated that the Clinton administration feared that its illicit dealings with the Communist Chinese, which may have included illegal technology transfers to China and illegal contributions by the Chinese to Clinton's campaigns, might be discovered by intelligence agencies. On this theory, the "wall" was erected to protect Clinton administration officials from prosecution, and Clinton himself from embarrassment should these dealings with China come to light.
I have no idea whether this theory has any validity, and my instinct is to be skeptical of it. I was struck, though, by the revelation in this morning's New York Post that the termination of the Able Danger project was related to its turning up information from China. The Post headlines the fact that Condoleezza Rice's name surfaced amid Able Danger's data, but that is a minor curiosity: the Clinton administration would not have cancelled the project because it turned up the name of an advisor to the chief Republican Presidential candidate. Here are the most significant paragraphs:
The private contractors working for the counter-terrorism unit Able Danger lost their jobs in May 2000. The firings following a series of analyses that Pentagon lawyers feared were dangerously close to violating laws banning the military from spying on Americans, sources said.The Pentagon canceled its contract with the private firm shortly after the analysts — who were working on identifying al Qaeda operatives — produced a particularly controversial chart on proliferation of sensitive technology to China, the sources said.
Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer, the veteran Army officer who was the Defense Intelligence Agency liaison to Able Danger, told The Post China "had something to do" with the decision to restructure Able Danger.
Sources said the private contractors, using sophisticated computer software that sifts through massive amounts of raw data to establish patterns, came up with a chart of Chinese strategic and business connections in the U.S.
A Pentagon official said last night that, while the canned contractors worked for Able Danger, the China project was separate from the counter-terrorism assignment.
The China chart was put together by James Smith, who confirmed yesterday that his contract with the military was canceled and he was fired from his company because the military brass became concerned about the focus on U.S. citizens.
"It was shut down in a matter of hours. The colonel said our service was no longer needed and told me: 'You just ended my career.' "
Very interesting.
