Government backs down on ACLU Document Subpoena
What?!? One week after the American Civil Liberties Union moved to quash an unprecedented government grand jury subpoena demanding “any and all copies” of a previously “secret” memorandum, the government today backed down from the fight, asking a judge to withdraw the subpoena and saying that the document in question has been declassified.
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The document at issue, which the government has now said is declassified as of last Friday, is a December 2005 memorandum, marked “Secret,” with the subject line: “The Permissibility of Photographing Enemy Prisoners of War and Detainees.” The memorandum concludes that the news media and members of the Public Affairs Office are allowed to photograph detainees “so long as the photography is done in such a manner that cannot be interpreted as holding the EPWs and detainees up to public curiosity.” U.S. soldiers, the memorandum says, are prohibited from photographing detainees and EPWs except as part of their official duties.
This is unconscionable! That the ACLU can so fragrantly violate the law, traffic in secret government document, and then force a Grand Jury to back down is unbelievable! Can any group be so far outside the law that the lawmakers themselves are afraid to take action? More importantly, this document which has now been declassified to avoid a confrontation pertains directly to our efforts in the war on terror. It was clearly marked secret, and the ACLU acted upon the information in that document without regard to the legality of doing so. The ACLUs actions where clearly criminal and, regardless of the current declassified state of the document today, should be prosecuted for their actions.
“This was a legal stand-off with enormous implications for free speech and the public’s right to know, and today the government blinked,” said ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero. “The Bush Administration’s attempt to suppress information using the grand jury process was truly chilling and is unprecedented in law and in our history as an organization. We could not be more pleased to have turned back the government from its strong-arm tactics, which were clearly aimed at silencing critics – both those from within the government and those outside, such as the ACLU and members of the media.”
The only part of the self righteous, propaganda Romero spewed above which holds any resemblance to the truth is the fact that the Government backed down. They blinked. This perceived attack against free speech is not even the workings of a delusional mind, but rather a conscious and intentional effort to mold the minds of the sheeple out there who would believe that ACLU is really interested in the public welfare. The bottom line is that the ACLU has acted illegally, then dodged a Grand Jury by applying pressure at some unknown point.
Perhaps the ACLU is closer to realizing its communist goals than we thought.
This is a sad day for justice and for our liberties. The liberties of the common man, though of us unmarred by extreme lifestyles and perversions, are directly in the sights of the ACLU.
The door is wide open now for people to get away with espionage with no charges. Our government secrets will be freely given to the enemy.
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