Peltier and the 2008 election
Byrnzie
Posts: 21,037
First Campaign Barbs Tied to Jailed Man - President Bill Clinton's Decision Not to Pardon Leonard Peltier Lost His Wife a Key Supporter -- and Helped Gain Barack Obama a Friend
By DAVID SCHOETZ
http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=2895962&page=1
Feb. 22, 2007 — The sharpest political snipes among the Democratic 2008 presidential hopefuls can be traced beyond media mogul David Geffen to a jailed man named Leonard Peltier.
Peltier, convicted of murder in 1977 for allegedly gunning down a pair of FBI agents in a shootout at South Dakota's Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, was one of the primary reasons cited by Geffen for jumping ship from New York Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign in favor of fellow Democratic Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois.
Lawyers have been challenging Peltier's conviction for the past 30 years. He has become a cause celebre, with critics arguing that the government's successful prosecution was corrupt.
In 2001, Geffen, a key Democratic supporter with deep pockets and influence among Hollywood's elite, was one of many high-profile backers of a clemency campaign for Peltier, an American Indian activist, during the final days of Bill Clinton's presidency.
FBI supporters, however, fought back, launching an aggressive campaign of their own to keep a man who they believed killed two agents behind bars. Among their tactics were full-page newspaper ads and a march on the White House to influence Clinton's decision.
Ultimately, Peltier was left off a list of 140 people granted presidential pardons by Clinton during his second term.
"President Clinton looked at the facts and did not act," one agent said at the time. "That's all I've ever wanted out of this."
But the list of people who received clemency, teamed with the continued belief by many that Peltier was wrongfully convicted, left many angered by Clinton's decision.
"Up to the last minute, they were fully expecting that he would receive clemency," Barry Bachrach, Peltier's attorney, told ABC News. "But you end up seeing people like Marc Rich, a known felon, getting clemency instead."
"There was a mass outcry," Bachrach said.
Peltier remains in a Pennsylvania prison. He is scheduled for a parole hearing in December 2008.
Curt Goering, deputy executive director for Amnesty International in the United States, worked on the Peltier clemency campaign and recalls Geffen's contributions both in terms of time and money.
To him, Peltier's continued influence on Geffen does not come as a total surprise.
"It's another indicator that his case has achieved such substantial support from people for a long period of time," Goering said.
"The disappointment was so huge," he said. "People didn't forget and many even resolved to redouble their efforts."
That was clearly the case in comments made by Geffen in a lightning rod New York Times column Wednesday.
''Marc Rich getting pardoned? An oil-profiteer expatriate who left the country rather than pay taxes or face justice?'' Geffen told Times' columnist Maureen Dowd.
And then, referring to the Peltier case, Geffen continued, ''Yet another time when the Clintons were unwilling to stand for the things that they genuinely believe in.
"Everybody in politics lies, but they do it with such ease, it's troubling," Geffen said.
The column, which ran a day after Geffen hosted a California fundraiser for Obama that fetched $1.3 million and drew celebrities including Jennifer Aniston and Morgan Freeman, set off a day of bitter back-and-forth between the Obama and Clinton camps.
Clinton lashed out first, blasting Obama for being hypocritical.
"He decries the politics of 'slash and burn,' and yet his chief supporters in California are engaged in the politics of slash and burn," said Howard Wolfson, Clinton's spokesman.
Obama returned serve, saying, "The Clintons had no problem with David Geffen when he was raising them $18 million and sleeping at their invitation in the Lincoln Bedroom."
The Clinton campaign also erroneously referred to Geffen as Obama's "finance chair" when he actually has no official role with the campaign.
Geffen, having sparked the maelstrom, offered his own statement, confirming the accuracy of Dowd's reporting and denying a formal position in the Obama campaign. He also offered his "strongest possible" support for the candidate.
By DAVID SCHOETZ
http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=2895962&page=1
Feb. 22, 2007 — The sharpest political snipes among the Democratic 2008 presidential hopefuls can be traced beyond media mogul David Geffen to a jailed man named Leonard Peltier.
Peltier, convicted of murder in 1977 for allegedly gunning down a pair of FBI agents in a shootout at South Dakota's Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, was one of the primary reasons cited by Geffen for jumping ship from New York Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign in favor of fellow Democratic Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois.
Lawyers have been challenging Peltier's conviction for the past 30 years. He has become a cause celebre, with critics arguing that the government's successful prosecution was corrupt.
In 2001, Geffen, a key Democratic supporter with deep pockets and influence among Hollywood's elite, was one of many high-profile backers of a clemency campaign for Peltier, an American Indian activist, during the final days of Bill Clinton's presidency.
FBI supporters, however, fought back, launching an aggressive campaign of their own to keep a man who they believed killed two agents behind bars. Among their tactics were full-page newspaper ads and a march on the White House to influence Clinton's decision.
Ultimately, Peltier was left off a list of 140 people granted presidential pardons by Clinton during his second term.
"President Clinton looked at the facts and did not act," one agent said at the time. "That's all I've ever wanted out of this."
But the list of people who received clemency, teamed with the continued belief by many that Peltier was wrongfully convicted, left many angered by Clinton's decision.
"Up to the last minute, they were fully expecting that he would receive clemency," Barry Bachrach, Peltier's attorney, told ABC News. "But you end up seeing people like Marc Rich, a known felon, getting clemency instead."
"There was a mass outcry," Bachrach said.
Peltier remains in a Pennsylvania prison. He is scheduled for a parole hearing in December 2008.
Curt Goering, deputy executive director for Amnesty International in the United States, worked on the Peltier clemency campaign and recalls Geffen's contributions both in terms of time and money.
To him, Peltier's continued influence on Geffen does not come as a total surprise.
"It's another indicator that his case has achieved such substantial support from people for a long period of time," Goering said.
"The disappointment was so huge," he said. "People didn't forget and many even resolved to redouble their efforts."
That was clearly the case in comments made by Geffen in a lightning rod New York Times column Wednesday.
''Marc Rich getting pardoned? An oil-profiteer expatriate who left the country rather than pay taxes or face justice?'' Geffen told Times' columnist Maureen Dowd.
And then, referring to the Peltier case, Geffen continued, ''Yet another time when the Clintons were unwilling to stand for the things that they genuinely believe in.
"Everybody in politics lies, but they do it with such ease, it's troubling," Geffen said.
The column, which ran a day after Geffen hosted a California fundraiser for Obama that fetched $1.3 million and drew celebrities including Jennifer Aniston and Morgan Freeman, set off a day of bitter back-and-forth between the Obama and Clinton camps.
Clinton lashed out first, blasting Obama for being hypocritical.
"He decries the politics of 'slash and burn,' and yet his chief supporters in California are engaged in the politics of slash and burn," said Howard Wolfson, Clinton's spokesman.
Obama returned serve, saying, "The Clintons had no problem with David Geffen when he was raising them $18 million and sleeping at their invitation in the Lincoln Bedroom."
The Clinton campaign also erroneously referred to Geffen as Obama's "finance chair" when he actually has no official role with the campaign.
Geffen, having sparked the maelstrom, offered his own statement, confirming the accuracy of Dowd's reporting and denying a formal position in the Obama campaign. He also offered his "strongest possible" support for the candidate.
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments
No probs.
...are those who've helped us.
Right 'round the corner could be bigger than ourselves.
It's not very clear is it. At first the piece states that:
'Peltier, convicted of murder in 1977 for allegedly gunning down a pair of FBI agents in a shootout at South Dakota's Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, was one of the primary reasons cited by Geffen for jumping ship from New York Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign in favor of fellow Democratic Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois'.
And then it states that:
Geffen, having sparked the maelstrom, offered his own statement, confirming the accuracy of Dowd's reporting and denying a formal position in the Obama campaign. He also offered his "strongest possible" support for the candidate.
Depends on the meaning of the highlighted part. Is he saying there is no formal position from Obama with regarding the release of Peltier, or that there is no formal position with regard to Obama's overall campaign?
February 27, 2007
Contact:
Leonard Peltier Defense Committee
(915) 533-6655
info@leonardpeltier.net
Michael Kuzma, Esq.
(716) 822-7645-office
(716) 474-3824-cell
Kuzma_Michael@hotmail.com
COURTS DENY LEONARD PELTIER ACCESS TO THOUSANDS OF PAGES OF LONG-HIDDEN FBI DOCUMENTS.
In two separate decisions rendered this month, United States District Judge Donovan W. Frank and a threejudge panel for the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit refused to order the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to release thousands of pages of documents relating to Leonard Peltier.
Both Judge Frank and the Appeals Court upheld claims by the FBI that release of the sought-after information would, among other things, cause serious damage to the national security of the United States and the war on transnational terrorism.
In 2003, the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit declared that, "Much of the government's behavior at the Pine Ridge Reservation and in its prosecution of Mr. Peltier is to be condemned. The government withheld evidence. It intimidated witnesses. These facts are undisputed." Nevertheless, Judge Frank found that any evidence of prior FBI misconduct was "irrelevant."
Michael Kuzma, attorney for Leonard Peltier in both cases brought under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) said that, "The Courts are unwilling to dispense justice when it comes to Leonard Peltier."
Kuzma went on to state, "How can anyone claim that Leonard Peltier received a fair trial in 1977 when the government withheld and continues to withhold thousands and thousands of pages of FBI documents?"
Barry A. Bachrach, who served as co-counsel with Kuzma, indicated that he was, "disappointed, but not surprised that the Courts elected to summarily uphold the decision by the FBI to keep the documents hidden on dubious national security grounds." Bachrach went on to ask, "How can FBI documents generated over three decades ago possibly pose a threat to the national security of the United States?"
Judge Frank's decision will be appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Peltier attorneys have 30 days to file a Notice of Appeal.
Leonard Peltier, a member of the American Indian Movement (AIM), was convicted in Fargo, North Dakota, on April 18, 1977 for the shooting deaths of FBI Special Agents Jack Coler and Ronald Williams at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota on June 26, 1975.
Leonard Peltier Defense Committee @ http://www.leonardpeltier.net <http://www.leonardpeltier.net/>
Phone: 915 - 533-6655 Email: info@leonardpeltier.net
Its a shame politicians continue to focus on complete crap on the campaign trail but an innocent man sits convicted of a crime he didnt commit.
Free Peltier