Tweet
I love possible conspiracies don't you?
Source
Theft of FBI files 'has makings of Kerry Watergate'
By Julian Coman in Washington
(Filed: 11/04/2004)
It has, according to the victim of a burglary in California, all the makings of a "west coast Watergate".
When Gerald Nicosia, a respected author and historian, returned to his home in the town of Corte Madera on March 25, it became clear that he had been the victim of an unusual break-in. Doors were ajar and there was evidence of a hurried departure, but no valuables had been taken: a Canon camera was still lying on the kitchen table.
The only items missing, Mr Nicosia realised, were three box files of politically-charged documents. They looked unexceptional but were filled with FBI surveillance records on a Vietnam veteran and anti-war activist by the name of John Kerry.
Mr Nicosia believes that the burglars were seeking papers that link Senator Kerry - the Democratic presidential candidate - to a controversial meeting of anti-Vietnam War activists in the early 1970s, at which a proposal to assassinate US congressmen was discussed.
"I think this was a political burglary," said Mr Nicosia, whose archives on Mr Kerry have been featured on national television. "It could have been a souvenir-hunter, but I think that's implausible. Whoever did this wanted to know something about John Kerry."
Although Senator Kerry has always denied attending the meeting in Kansas City, the FBI records stated otherwise. As a Democrat himself, Mr Nicosia felt that he should warn the Kerry campaign about his discovery. "I told the Kerry campaign that they could not continue to deny that Kerry was there," he said.
The senator's distinguished Vietnam record had become a prime focus of the presidential campaign. While supporters compared it to President Bush's unheroic stint in the National Guard, critics also pointed to the anti-war protests he led on returning from action in the Mekong Delta.
Within days of the tip-off, Kerry aides arrived in Corte Madera, just north of San Franciso, to collect photocopies of the 1971 document. Mr Nicosia believes that his discovery was also what later lured burglars to his home. "My hunch is that Republicans did this," he said last week. "I was co-operating with the Democrats. I warned them about what I had found and opened it up to them."
For their part, Republicans believe that the documents may have been stolen by Democrats anxious to avoid a scandal over the assassination meeting. Pat Buchanan, the former Republican presidential candidate, said: "What I smell is that John Kerry has not told the whole truth about his relationship with the Vietnam Veterans Against the War [VVAW]. I think he's not been forthcoming about that Kansas City meeting."
The FBI's monitoring reports on Mr Kerry from the early 1970s, which were studied in the Nixon White House, are a severe embarrassment for a would-be president. Mr Nicosia's papers seem set to spark the latest controversy in an increasingly bitter presidential campaign: so far, more than 300 journalists have requested access to his files.
The author had requested the FBI records under the US Freedom of Information Act while researching Home to War, a book about the Vietnam anti-movement. For 11 years, the FBI dragged its feet; by the time 20,000 pages arrived from the organisation in 1998, Mr Nicosia had finished most of his work on the book. "They put all kinds of obstacles in my way," he said last week. "They said they hadn't got the manpower to collect them, that they weren't properly categorised and so on."
He stored the 14 box files in his garage, not bothering to examine them in detail until earlier this year, when Mr Kerry's Vietnam record suddenly came under renewed scrutiny.
Combing through the papers, Mr Nicosia found the startling document, dating from November 1971. It said that Mr Kerry took part in the VVAW meeting in Kansas, at which the assassination of pro-war senators was openly discussed before being rejected as a tactic.
Campaign aides have repeatedly denied that Mr Kerry attended the Kansas meeting, claiming that the senator left the VVAW in July 1971. Other VVAW members have offered conflicting accounts. Randy Barnes, the organiser of the Kansas City chapter, initially said that Mr Kerry did attend, but later claimed that he may have confused the Kansas meeting with one in St Louis.
"Senator Kerry does not remember attending the Kansas City meeting," said a Kerry campaign spokesman. Yet aides now acknowledge that the FBI records indicate that he was, indeed, present.
Mr Nicosia, it appears, had stumbled on the truth - which is more than the burglars managed to do. Despite rifling through most of the historian's papers, and removing three box files, they failed to find the Kansas documents.
"They were still up by the photocopier," Mr Nicosia said, "away from the rest of the boxes. The three files that were taken were from 1976 to 1977, and the burglars also took bookmarked sheaves of files which were lying on the kitchen table. But I think they were disturbed as they were looking through the material. There is a dobermann next door with a very loud bark."
Local police officers are still investigating the break-in, which they are treating as a burglary, and have refused to comment on the case. The Kerry campaign has also refused to comment. "I think they are afraid of stirring up the whole Kansas debate," Mr Nicosia said.
By Julian Coman in Washington
(Filed: 11/04/2004)
It has, according to the victim of a burglary in California, all the makings of a "west coast Watergate".
When Gerald Nicosia, a respected author and historian, returned to his home in the town of Corte Madera on March 25, it became clear that he had been the victim of an unusual break-in. Doors were ajar and there was evidence of a hurried departure, but no valuables had been taken: a Canon camera was still lying on the kitchen table.
The only items missing, Mr Nicosia realised, were three box files of politically-charged documents. They looked unexceptional but were filled with FBI surveillance records on a Vietnam veteran and anti-war activist by the name of John Kerry.
Mr Nicosia believes that the burglars were seeking papers that link Senator Kerry - the Democratic presidential candidate - to a controversial meeting of anti-Vietnam War activists in the early 1970s, at which a proposal to assassinate US congressmen was discussed.
"I think this was a political burglary," said Mr Nicosia, whose archives on Mr Kerry have been featured on national television. "It could have been a souvenir-hunter, but I think that's implausible. Whoever did this wanted to know something about John Kerry."
Although Senator Kerry has always denied attending the meeting in Kansas City, the FBI records stated otherwise. As a Democrat himself, Mr Nicosia felt that he should warn the Kerry campaign about his discovery. "I told the Kerry campaign that they could not continue to deny that Kerry was there," he said.
The senator's distinguished Vietnam record had become a prime focus of the presidential campaign. While supporters compared it to President Bush's unheroic stint in the National Guard, critics also pointed to the anti-war protests he led on returning from action in the Mekong Delta.
Within days of the tip-off, Kerry aides arrived in Corte Madera, just north of San Franciso, to collect photocopies of the 1971 document. Mr Nicosia believes that his discovery was also what later lured burglars to his home. "My hunch is that Republicans did this," he said last week. "I was co-operating with the Democrats. I warned them about what I had found and opened it up to them."
For their part, Republicans believe that the documents may have been stolen by Democrats anxious to avoid a scandal over the assassination meeting. Pat Buchanan, the former Republican presidential candidate, said: "What I smell is that John Kerry has not told the whole truth about his relationship with the Vietnam Veterans Against the War [VVAW]. I think he's not been forthcoming about that Kansas City meeting."
The FBI's monitoring reports on Mr Kerry from the early 1970s, which were studied in the Nixon White House, are a severe embarrassment for a would-be president. Mr Nicosia's papers seem set to spark the latest controversy in an increasingly bitter presidential campaign: so far, more than 300 journalists have requested access to his files.
The author had requested the FBI records under the US Freedom of Information Act while researching Home to War, a book about the Vietnam anti-movement. For 11 years, the FBI dragged its feet; by the time 20,000 pages arrived from the organisation in 1998, Mr Nicosia had finished most of his work on the book. "They put all kinds of obstacles in my way," he said last week. "They said they hadn't got the manpower to collect them, that they weren't properly categorised and so on."
He stored the 14 box files in his garage, not bothering to examine them in detail until earlier this year, when Mr Kerry's Vietnam record suddenly came under renewed scrutiny.
Combing through the papers, Mr Nicosia found the startling document, dating from November 1971. It said that Mr Kerry took part in the VVAW meeting in Kansas, at which the assassination of pro-war senators was openly discussed before being rejected as a tactic.
Campaign aides have repeatedly denied that Mr Kerry attended the Kansas meeting, claiming that the senator left the VVAW in July 1971. Other VVAW members have offered conflicting accounts. Randy Barnes, the organiser of the Kansas City chapter, initially said that Mr Kerry did attend, but later claimed that he may have confused the Kansas meeting with one in St Louis.
"Senator Kerry does not remember attending the Kansas City meeting," said a Kerry campaign spokesman. Yet aides now acknowledge that the FBI records indicate that he was, indeed, present.
Mr Nicosia, it appears, had stumbled on the truth - which is more than the burglars managed to do. Despite rifling through most of the historian's papers, and removing three box files, they failed to find the Kansas documents.
"They were still up by the photocopier," Mr Nicosia said, "away from the rest of the boxes. The three files that were taken were from 1976 to 1977, and the burglars also took bookmarked sheaves of files which were lying on the kitchen table. But I think they were disturbed as they were looking through the material. There is a dobermann next door with a very loud bark."
Local police officers are still investigating the break-in, which they are treating as a burglary, and have refused to comment on the case. The Kerry campaign has also refused to comment. "I think they are afraid of stirring up the whole Kansas debate," Mr Nicosia said.
:rolleyes:
Comment