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shawa
CNO
Joined: 03 Sep 2004
Posts: 2004
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 Posted: Wed Jul 12, 2006 7:30 pm Post subject: The Rest of Murtha's FBI Tape -Damning!! |
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I have very mixed feelings about this. To me, Murtha is a doddering old man who is gladly being used by the anti-war left. I have been angered by his statements and the harm that he causes to troop morale but I really think his mind is deteriorating.
He did serve his country honorably and I hate to see him smeared. But now that he has made himself a patsy of the Leftists, he has brought this upon himself. His portrayal of how he refused bribery looks pretty shaky according to this transcript.
http://www.theamericanspectator.com/util/print.asp?art_id=10077
| Quote: | The Rest of Murtha's FBI Tape
By David Holman
Published 7/12/2006 12:09:33 AM
What is on the rest of Congressman Jack Murtha's now infamous FBI tape? Much more than the available video reveals.
Thanks to the diligent efforts of conservative media and blogs in January and February of this year, many readers now know or remember that Congressman Murtha was an unindicted co-conspirator in the "Abscam" investigation of the late 1970s and 1980. (I wondered where the mainstream media's outrage was over Murtha's murky lobbyist relationships, besides the L.A. Times's lone, forgotten piece on the subject.)
In recent weeks, Murtha's Abscam past has enjoyed renewed attention in the higher echelons of conservative media, with even Rush Limbaugh and Bob Novak joining the chorus.
Still, only a brief, 13-second snippet of a tape of the FBI's undercover meeting with Murtha is widely available. The agent tells him, "I went out, I got the $50,000. OK? So what you're telling me, OK, you're telling me that that's not what you know...." Murtha replies, "I'm not interested. I'm sorry. At this point [emphasis Murtha's]."
In his column, Novak hinted at the content of the tape. "The videotape showed Murtha declining to take cash but expressing interest in further negotiations, while bragging about his political influence." We have seen him declining the cash and expressing interest, but not the bragging. What is on the rest of the tape?
An article from the August 6, 1980, Washington Post, inexplicably unavailable on LexisNexis, fills in some of the gaps. Written by Jack Anderson, the sometimes controversial yet Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative columnist, the article details Murtha's conversation with the investigators and sheds further light on his status as an unindicted co-conspirator. Anderson's reporter, Gary Cohn, apparently reviewed the tapes.
Anderson framed Murtha's performance as "perhaps the saddest scene on the secret Abscam videotapes.... He refused to take the money, but his reason was hardly noble." The column continued:
"I want to deal with you guys awhile before I make any transactions at all, period.... After we've done some business, well, then I might change my mind...."
..."I'm going to tell you this. If anybody can do it -- I'm not B.S.-ing you fellows -- I can get it done my way." he boasted. "There's no question about it."...
But the reluctant Murtha wouldn't touch the $50,000. Here on secret videotape was this all-American hero, tall and dignified in a disheveled way, explaining why he wasn't quite ready to accept the cash.
"All at once," he said, "some dumb [expletive deleted] would go start talking eight years from now about this whole thing and say [expletive deleted], this happened. Then in order to get immunity so he doesn't go to jail, he starts talking and fingering people. So the [S.O.B.] falls apart."...
"You give us the banks where you want the money deposited," offered one of the bagmen.
"All right," agreed Murtha. "How much money we talking about?"
"Well, you tell me."
"Well, let me find out what is a reasonable figure that will get their attention," said Murtha, "because there are a couple of banks that have really done me some favors in the past, and I'd like to put some money in...."
The dialogue continued as follows:
Amoroso: Let me ask you now that we're together. I was under the impression, OK, and I told Howard [middleman Howard Criden] what we were willing to pay, and [This is where the available videotape begins]I went out, I got the $50,000. OK? So what you're telling me, OK, you're telling me that that's not what you know....
Murtha: I'm not interested.
Amoroso: OK.
Murtha: At this point, [This is where the available videotape ends] you know, we do business together for a while. Maybe I'll be interested and maybe I won't.... Right now, I'm not interested in those other things. Now, I won't say that some day, you know, I, if you made an offer, it may be I would change my mind some day.
It is damning stuff. But the mainstream media has yet to question Murtha aggressively about that short snippet of tape, much less the full reel. After my February article questioned Murtha's ties to defense contractors while chairing the defense appropriations subcommittee, John McLaughlin interviewed Murtha on his obscure One on One program. Besides suggesting that my article originated with a "sinister genius at the White House," McLaughlin asked Murtha about the tape:
MR. MCLAUGHLIN: ...Murtha was approached by an undercover FBI agent, and you're on tape telling the agent, quote, unquote, "I'm not interested." Is that true?
REP. MURTHA: Not only that, John; they pulled a drawer out and they had $50,000 there and I said, "I'm not interested." I said, "I'm interested in investment in my district, period."
Not interested, period? The only "period" that Anderson reported Murtha using in the conversation was, "I want to deal with you guys awhile before I make any transaction at all, period." No wonder Murtha has kept a generally low profile through most of his political career. |
_________________
“I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. ‘Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.” (Thomas Paine, 1776) |
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Doc Farmer
LCDR
Joined: 07 Aug 2004
Posts: 442
Location: Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA
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| Posted: Wed Jul 12, 2006 9:55 pm Post subject: |
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Uh, I hate to pee on anybody's charcoal, but all of this is academic. ABSCAM happened over 25 years ago. The words "statute of limitations" spring unfortunately to mind...
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Fat, Bald and Ugly - And PROUD Of It! |
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DADESID
Seaman
Joined: 07 Jul 2004
Posts: 157
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| Posted: Wed Jul 12, 2006 10:06 pm Post subject: |
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| Doc Farmer wrote: | | Uh, I hate to pee on anybody's charcoal, but all of this is academic. ABSCAM happened over 25 years ago. The words "statute of limitations" spring unfortunately to mind... |
Yes... but I guess 30 year old DUI's count, not to mention National Guard service. 
I'd say, "what's good for the goose..." |
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Anker-Klanker
Admiral
Joined: 04 Sep 2004
Posts: 1033
Location: Richardson, TX
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| Posted: Wed Jul 12, 2006 10:25 pm Post subject: |
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I hate, really hate, to say this, but Murtha's past association with abscam isn't going to be worth a hill of beans.
| Quote: | | Yes... but I guess 30 year old DUI's count, not to mention National Guard service. |
Hope I don't have to remind you that John Kerry also had a past with a whole lot more that could embarass him (forget about all that the SBVFT brought up; stick with what was easily known), and the MSM didn't bother to report, or even mention, any of it! MSM has ruled on just about every issue consistently: Republicans are guilty (of whatever the left wants of charge), and Democrats are saints.
Until the media is brought back to neutral politics, or until the general public gets its collective head out of its a** and rejects the media, nothing is going to change.
(No, I didn't drink pickle juice for dinner, but I sure feel like I did  ) |
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DADESID
Seaman
Joined: 07 Jul 2004
Posts: 157
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| Posted: Wed Jul 12, 2006 10:35 pm Post subject: |
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| Anker-Klanker wrote: | I hate, really hate, to say this, but Murtha's past association with abscam isn't going to be worth a hill of beans.
| Quote: | | Yes... but I guess 30 year old DUI's count, not to mention National Guard service. |
Hope I don't have to remind you that John Kerry also had a past with a whole lot more that could embarass him (forget about all that the SBVFT brought up; stick with what was easily known), and the MSM didn't bother to report, or even mention, any of it! MSM has ruled on just about every issue consistently: Republicans are guilty (of whatever the left wants of charge), and Democrats are saints.
Until the media is brought back to neutral politics, or until the general public gets its collective head out of its a** and rejects the media, nothing is going to change.
(No, I didn't drink pickle juice for dinner, but I sure feel like I did ) |
No, you don't have to remind me. Everything you said is true.
It's just frustrating that, at my age, I probably won't live long enough to see this part:
>>>Until the media is brought back to neutral politics, or until the general public gets its collective head out of its a** and rejects the media, nothing is going to change.<<< |
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Doc Farmer
LCDR
Joined: 07 Aug 2004
Posts: 442
Location: Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA
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| Posted: Wed Jul 12, 2006 11:01 pm Post subject: |
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| DADESID wrote: | | Doc Farmer wrote: | | Uh, I hate to pee on anybody's charcoal, but all of this is academic. ABSCAM happened over 25 years ago. The words "statute of limitations" spring unfortunately to mind... |
Yes... but I guess 30 year old DUI's count, not to mention National Guard service.
I'd say, "what's good for the goose..." |
No, I just meant for prosecution purposes. Now, when it comes to persecution...
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Fat, Bald and Ugly - And PROUD Of It! |
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LewWaters
Admin
Joined: 18 May 2004
Posts: 4042
Location: Washington State
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| Posted: Thu Jul 13, 2006 12:31 am Post subject: |
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It never hurts to remind people of what our "leaders" have done, that's why the Democrats brought up Bush's 35 year old DUI. It also was a done deal, but they hope to use embarrassment to steal votes. Both parties have done it, but it seems the left has gotten much better at it each election.
As far as Murtha, I feel what is doing now is as damning as anything he was involved in with ABSCAM. Being a Veteran doesn't give one a pass to sell out the nation or our troops.
To me, Murtha has proved himself to be just another useless idiot of the left. While what happened over ABSCAM is worthy of keeping track of, it's what he is doing today that matters more.
Just my two cents. |
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Stevie
Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy
Joined: 25 Aug 2004
Posts: 1451
Location: Queen Creek, Arizona
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| Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2006 8:09 am Post subject: |
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problem is - the republicans don't pound, pound, pound it!
like the dems do. they are relentless... the republicans give up
to easily !
TG for Ann Coulter! we need to clone her! |
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