Intelligence Team Members Ordered Silent in 9/11 Probe

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Intelligence Team Members Ordered Silent in 9/11 Probe

Postby admin » Wed Nov 08, 2017 4:59 am

Intelligence Team Members Ordered Silent in 9/11 Probe
by Shaun Waterman
United Press International
September 21, 2005

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Pentagon prevents Anthony Shaffer from testifying and accuses him of stealing pens - after he said the alleged 9/11 hijackers were under US surveillance a year before Sept. 2001. (Alex Wong/USA Today)

Defense Department lawyers have blocked members of a data-mining intelligence team from testifying today before a congressional panel probing their claims that they identified the September 11 ringleaders as terrorists more than a year before the attacks.

The Senate Judiciary Committee sought testimony from several members of the team -- code-named Able Danger -- as part of an investigation into claims that the project identified Mohamed Atta and three of the other 18 hijackers as tied to al Qaeda in early 2000.

Mark Zaid, an attorney for Army Reserve Col. Tony Shaffer, said his client, a Defense Intelligence Agency liaison to the Able Danger team, was told in a letter not to testify.

The letter, which gave no reason for the order, was signed by the principal deputy general counsel for the Defense Intelligence Agency, Robert Berry.

Mr. Zaid said the team members "were told verbally that they would not be allowed to testify" and that the order was put in writing only with regard to his client at his request.

He said that the team leader, Navy Capt. Scott Philpott, civilian analyst James Smith and other members of the team had been denied permission to testify. A Judiciary Committee aide said panel staff members already have interviewed Capt. Philpott and Col. Shaffer.

No one at the Department of Defense or the Defense Intelligence Agency returned calls for comment yesterday.

Rep. Curt Weldon, the Pennsylvania Republican who first put the Able Danger team in contact with journalists, was concerned about the order, his staff said.

"It is unfortunate that we're trying to get answers ... and the people who could help us get them are not going to testify," said Russ Caso, the congressman's chief of staff.

At the center of the Senate committee's investigation is a computer-generated chart listing the names and connections of about 60 people thought to be linked to al Qaeda.

Capt. Philpott said that chart, produced in January or February 2000, bore the name and likeness of Atta and linked him to a Brooklyn mosque that has been a center of Islamic extremism for more than 20 years.

Capt. Philpott was the special operations officer who ran the effort, an intelligence-led initiative to use data mining on massive amounts of "open source" information culled from the Internet, purchased from credit rating bureaus or other data brokers, or by other means that remain classified.

http://washingtontimes.com/national/200 ... -2046r.htm
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Re: Intelligence Team Members Ordered Silent in 9/11 Probe

Postby admin » Wed Nov 08, 2017 6:25 am

Pentagon Revokes Clearance of "Able Danger" Officer
by Associated Press
October 1, 2005

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WASHINGTON (AP) — An officer who has claimed that a classified military unit identified four Sept. 11 hijackers before the 2001 attacks is facing Pentagon accusations of breaking numerous rules, charges his lawyer suggests are aimed at undermining his credibility.

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Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer, a reserve officer in the U.S. Army, at a recent hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. By Alex Wong, Getty Images

The alleged infractions by Army Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer, 42, include obtaining a service medal under false pretenses, improperly flashing military identification while drunk and stealing pens, according to paperwork from the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency shown by his attorney to The Associated Press.

Shaffer was one of the first to publicly link Sept. 11 leader Mohamed Atta to the unit code-named Able Danger. Shaffer was one of five witnesses the Pentagon ordered not to appear Sept. 21 before the Senate Judiciary Committee to discuss the unit's findings.

The military revoked Shaffer's top security clearance this month, a day before he was supposed to testify to a congressional committee.

Mark Zaid, Shaffer's attorney, said the Pentagon started looking into Shaffer's security clearance about the time in 2003 he met in Afghanistan with staff members of the bipartisan commission that studied the Sept. 11 attacks and told them about Able Danger.

Zaid said he can't prove the Pentagon went after Shaffer because he's a whistle-blower, but "all the timing associated with the clearance issue has been suspiciously coincidental."

Citing concerns with the Privacy Act, Cmdr. Terry Sutherland, a Defense Intelligence Agency spokesman, declined to release any information on Shaffer.

According to papers provided by Zaid, the Defense Intelligence Agency is questioning whether Shaffer deserved a Defense Meritorious Service Medal he was awarded. Shaffer, who is supported by a retired colonel who has praised his work, says those challenging the medal do not have firsthand knowledge of his actions.

Shaffer says he showed his government credentials during two incidents in 1990, when he was drunk, and 1996, when he was pulled over by police. The military says he misused his credentials, but Shaffer says he was not told he should not have used them. He also said he has joined Alcoholics Anonymous and has been sober for 13 years.

As for the pens and other office supplies taken, he blamed that on "youthful indiscretions" more than 20 years ago.

According to the paperwork, the alleged infractions against Shaffer also include:

• Falsely claiming $341.80 in mileage and tolls fees. He said he filed travel expenses based on what he was told by human resources staff.

• Obtaining $67.79 in personal cellphone charges. He said the amount was a legitimate expense accrued so he could forward calls.

• Going over his chain of command to do briefings. Shaffer said he was providing briefings to higher-ups on projects even his direct superiors did not know about, and he received superior review ratings for that time.

• Showing irresponsibility with $2,012 in credit card debt. He said he paid off the debt, and Zaid said DIA dropped the issue.

Zaid provided a letter from a special agent saying she stands by a favorable investigation she did on Shaffer's actions from 1988 to 1995. During that time, he was accused of one instance of improperly flashing his military ID, and taking office supplies.

Shaffer, now a member of the Army Reserves, has been on administrative leave since March 2004. During the same time, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel on Oct. 1, 2004.

Shaffer has said he tried three times to meet with the FBI to convey the Able Danger unit's findings before Sept. 11, but was ordered not to by military attorneys.

Shaffer's assertions on Able Danger have been supported by Rep. Curt Weldon, R-Pa. If correct, they would change the timeline as to when authorities first learned of some of the Sept. 11 hijackers.

The Sept. 11 commission has dismissed the claims. The Pentagon has acknowledged some employees recall seeing an intelligence chart identifying Atta as a terrorist before the attacks, but said none have been able to find a copy of it.
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