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Former undersecretary of State for political affairs Marc Grossman has just been named as the new U.S. envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan.
There are serious problems with this:
(1) A federal court approved a subpoena for Grossman to learn to what degree he had shared classified information with AIPAC with the understanding that this would be passed on to Israel. Such an action is both illegal and treasonous. (The trial was then quashed. More.)
(2) An FBI whistleblower stated that the FBI had been investigating Grossman for many years, finding that he was doing special favors for Israel and Turkish interests, and that he was serving as a conduit to a group of congressmen who become, in a sense, the targets to be recruited as “agents of influence.”
Below is an excerpt from an interview by Philip Giraldi with former FBI translator Sibel Edmonds:
GIRALDI: …Basically, you map out a corruption scheme involving U.S. government employees and members of Congress and agents of foreign governments. These agents were able to obtain information that was either used directly by those foreign governments or sold to third parties, with the proceeds often used as bribes to breed further corruption. Let’s start with the first government official you identified, Marc Grossman, then the third highest-ranking official at the State Department.
EDMONDS:
Grossman became a person of interest early on in the investigative file while he was the U.S. ambassador to Turkey [1994-97], when he became personally involved with operatives both from the Turkish government and from suspected criminal groups. He also had suspicious contact with a number of official and non-official Israelis. Grossman was removed from Turkey short of tour during a scandal referred to as “Susurluk” by the media. It involved a number of high-level criminals as well as senior army and intelligence officers with whom he had been in contact…
GIRALDI:
So Grossman at this point comes back to the United States. He’s rewarded with the third-highest position at the State Department, and he allegedly uses this position to do favors for “Turkish interests”—both for the Turkish government and for possible criminal interests. Sometimes, the two converge. The FBI is aware of his activities and is listening to his phone calls. When someone who is Turkish calls Grossman, the FBI monitors that individual’s phone calls, and when the Turk calls a friend who is a Pakistani or an Egyptian or a Saudi, they monitor all those contacts, widening the net.
EDMONDS:
Correct.
GIRALDI:
And Grossman received money as a result. In one case, you said that a State Department colleague went to pick up a bag of money…
EDMONDS:
$14,000
GIRALDI:
What kind of information was Grossman giving to foreign countries? Did he give assistance to foreign individuals penetrating U.S. government labs and defense installations as has been reported? It’s also been reported that he was the conduit to a group of congressmen who become, in a sense, the targets to be recruited as “agents of influence.”
EDMONDS:
Yes, that’s correct. Grossman assisted his Turkish and Israeli contacts directly, and he also facilitated access to members of Congress who might be inclined to help for reasons of their own or could be bribed into cooperation. The top person obtaining classified information was Congressman Tom Lantos. A Lantos associate, Alan Makovsky worked very closely with Dr. Sabri Sayari in Georgetown University, who is widely believed to be a Turkish spy. Lantos would give Makovsky highly classified policy-related documents obtained during defense briefings for passage to Israel because Makovsky was also working for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). [Read entire interview]
The public should demand that Hillary Clinton investigate these charges, information from the FBI file on Grossman should be made public, and if sufficient evidence exists to indict Grossman, he should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
The first steps are for people to
(1) email and phone Secretary of State Clinton (202-647-5291) and ask when she is going to investigate these charges and provide information to the public on them (I just did this and Secretary Clinton’s assistant hadn’t yet even heard of them – hopefully, this ignorance will be significantly remedied by the end of the day);
(2) contact the media and ask that they cover these serious charges against this proposed U.S. envoy;
(3) share this information with everyone you know.
We can’t just sit on the sidelines and let this appointment proceed as “business as usual,” even though, sadly, it is, when Israel is concerned.
Update: Thursday, February 17, 2011 at 6:55AM
Even better than contacting the State Department about this is to contact your member of Congress (House or Senate) and ask him/her specifically about the cloud of suspicion that hangs over Grossman.