Kerry FBI files stolen

So this was a theft of $1 worth of paper?

Hardly seems worth news mention.
 
These papers were obtained via a freedom of information request, they were publicly available. If the purpose was to use them for political reasons it wouldn't be necessary to steal them. This is a big non-story as far as I'm concerned.
 
I disagree, WC. I think this would have a political motivation, though I can see two very real possibilities.

1. The Republican party (or a member thereof) stole them for politcal gain. This, as you say, doesn't make a whole lot of sense, given the FOI act.

2. They were stolen by Kerry supporters to implicate Bush supporters by default. The problem with that is that it is a very dangerous gambit to play.

Either way, the theft has the earmarks of a loony conspiracy theory.

When I say it's suspiscious to me, that does not imply that I think one party or the other is responsible, but I find it unlikely that this was done without any political motivation.
 
WildCat said:
These papers were obtained via a freedom of information request, they were publicly available. If the purpose was to use them for political reasons it wouldn't be necessary to steal them. This is a big non-story as far as I'm concerned.
Click to expand...


No, it's not a non-story. Nicosian's files have recently forced Kerry to back down from his earlier claim that he was not present at an antiwar meeting where the participants voted down a proposal to assassinate 7 pro-war legislators.

For a long time, he said he was not there. It turns out that he heard about the proposal, and then (admirably, IMO) quit the organization. What is not so admirable is the fact that he remained silent. He is lucky that members of the organization never acted on those plans, and that there was no re-vote after he (and others like him who opposed such action) left.

It's possible that the purpose of stealing them from Nicosia is just to get them out of his hands, force him to file FOIA requests again, and basically delay Nicosia's work until after the election. Depending on what's in the documents that he has, either side could want to slow down Nicosia.

Edit: I should also note that the originator of the assassination plan, Scott Camil, was offered a job (that he says he plans to accept) working for the Kerry campaign in Florida. One hopes that the Nicosia revelations would put a stop to that.


MattJ
 
aerocontrols said:



No, it's not a non-story. Nicosian's files have recently forced Kerry to back down from his earlier claim that he was not present at an antiwar meeting where the participants voted down a proposal to assassinate 7 pro-war legislators. MattJ
Click to expand...

Good points. I wasn't referring to the files themselves as a non-story, just their theft. I now see how this could be politically motivated, and it would appear that the Dems have far more interest in making them disappear (if only for a while) than do the Republicans.

I hadn't heard about the assasination plot before, this is astonishing to me that it was even considered.
 
This happened in my neck of the woods. I can guarantee that there were no conservatives involved with this... I had nothing to do with it, and I'm the only conservative within 500 miles of this guy.
 
The author seems to think the documents would also cast bad light on Republicans. I think it is impossible to speculate which side did it, if it was sanctioned by a major group. More likely than not it was a fringe or a crank thinking they were doing a favor- for someone. Could be to save embarassment for either side, could be to dig for dirt on either side- too many possibilities not enough information.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/West/03/27/kerry.documents/index.html

"Was it a thrill-seeker who wanted a piece of history? It could be," Nicosia said. "You'd think there was a very strong political motivation for taking those files. The odds are in favor of that."

Nicosia estimated that 20 percent of his documents are missing.

"It's heartbreaking, after 11 years trying to get them," he said.

....
"I hadn't gotten a chance to review them all. I am sure there were some things about John Kerry that weren't known," Nicosia said. "These files would also cast a bad light on the ... Republican Party. This surveillance happened under the Nixon White House and Nixon FBI."
...
Click to expand...
 
It might also be just a claim of burglary, since nothing else was taken, and no sign of a break in or other damage.

I did see mention of his book, and I don't think it will hurt sales one bit.
 
Uh... Has anyone considered that the documents might have been stolen for their historical value, rather than for their political value? It's been known to happen.
 
I'm sure there is an innocent explanation. Remember when the files went missing during the Clinton administration? Then it turned out that the maid had just misplaced them. A wacky misunderstanding!!
 
The Central Scrutinizer said:
I'm sure there is an innocent explanation. Remember when the files went missing during the Clinton administration? Then it turned out that the maid had just misplaced them. A wacky misunderstanding!!
Click to expand...

You're telling me Nicosia spent 11 years obtaining these documents and never thought of xeroxing them?

Christ, I can't go five minutes without hitting ctrl-S whenever I'm using Word. That's pretty damned careless, whether they were stolen or not.
 
What is not so admirable is the fact that he remained silent. He is lucky that members of the organization never acted on those plans, and that there was no re-vote after he (and others like him who opposed such action) left.
Click to expand...
The little group was talking about assassinating congressmen. Obviously if they would plan that, they would have had no problem with adding Kerry to the list had he said anything.
 
The theft may have been nothing more than getting some paper to burn in a garbage can to keep warm on one of those damp SF nights. In that city, you just never know...
 
Dorian Gray said:
The little group was talking about assassinating congressmen. Obviously if they would plan that, they would have had no problem with adding Kerry to the list had he said anything.
Click to expand...

yeah, sure.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom