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

Notice: All comments are subject to moderation. Our comments are intended to be a forum for civil discourse bearing on the subject under discussion. Commenters who stray beyond the bounds of civility or employ what we deem gratuitous vulgarity in a comment — including, but not limited to, “s***,” “f***,” “a*******,” or one of their many variants — will be banned without further notice in the sole discretion of the site moderator.

Responses