Classified Woman (25 page)

My attorney submitted the subpoena together with their letter notifying the Justice Department. The FBI responded immediately by objecting to the request. In return, my attorneys sent a two-page letter to both the FBI and DOJ stating that the objections raised so far by the agency were not sufficient to block me from “truthfully answering questions while under oath pursuant to a lawful subpoena” on Saturday morning, August 8, in Washington, DC, as scheduled. The letter also requested that they be provided with a copy of my employment agreement, “as this document may impact on Ms. Edmonds’ ability to testify”; and that “if the documents are not received by close of business today we will interpret this failure as a release of the government’s right to suppress Ms. Edmonds’ ability to truthfully answer questions while under oath pursuant to a lawful subpoena.” The letter continued,

“In any event, consistent with my understanding of the Agency’s pre-publication clearance rules, oral disclosure, including oral testimony, is permitted without prior review. Consistent with the Agency’s pre-publication rules, Ms. Edmonds will attempt, to the best of her ability, not [to] disclose classified information. However, Ms. Edmonds’ recollection and judgment as to what information may be subject to lawful non-disclosure would, at best, be imperfect. As such, the FBI has at least three avenues available to guard against such inadvertent disclosure: 1) file a request for a protective order with the body that issued the subpoena; 2) file a motion to quash the deposition; and 3) dispatch legal counsel to the deposition capable of rais[ing] appropriate objections.”

My attorney also issued a public statement to the press that strongly accused the FBI and DOJ of attempting “censorship” and trying to “silence a whistleblower.” Of course, almost no one in the mainstream media picked up these publicly announced developments or press releases.

Interestingly—and alarmingly—my (by now) more visible blog was mysteriously suspended and taken down by Google. All of a sudden, as I started to counter the media blackout by posting recent developments and the notice of my deposition, my website disappeared from the Internet. After dozens of e-mails and inquiries, I was told by Google that my site was taken down due to anonymous complaints filed on its content. They would not say who these “complainers” were or what they had shown as “inappropriate” content. Google appeared to be using U.S. government–style classification and censorship, and just as with the government, there was not a thing I could do to overcome it in time to make what was happening public.

With the clock ticking and less than forty-eight hours to the scheduled deposition, the Justice Department and the FBI went into a sudden and mysterious silent mode. They did not file any motion to quash the subpoena, and they did not issue further threats or response of any kind. Just silence. Soon, on the day of the deposition, we would find out if their attorneys would be present. Meanwhile, we could see that the government had been quite successful in keeping the media at bay.

On Saturday, August 8, I met with the attorneys, as scheduled, at Steve Kohn’s law office in Georgetown. True to form, with the exception of a handful of activist bloggers and alternative news media, not a single reporter from the mainstream media was present. No government legal representative showed up for the deposition. I was free to provide my testimony under oath—for the first time in eight years trying. I had fought long years for just this opportunity.

I spent over four hours in a conference room with my attorneys, David Krikorian and his attorney, Bruce Fein (the attorney who represented Jean Schmidt), a court stenographer, a videographer, and a few legal aids and assistants for the parties involved. Fein acting as Schmidt’s legal counsel spoke volumes in itself, as evidenced by the expansive and protective ring formed around Schmidt by powerful and shady Turkish operatives and lobbyists. Fein had been a crusty beltway foreign agent and lobbyist himself for nearly two decades. I knew him as an errand boy for the FBI’s criminal and counterintelligence targets. I refused to be intimidated by the likes of him.

For four straight hours and with only one brief break, I answered questions for both parties under oath. I told the truth and held back very little, since only very little of my case could be arguably classified. I would never jeopardize an ongoing investigation, informant’s identity or sensitive intelligence-gathering methods. By the same token, I would never hold back in exposing criminal operations against my country, espionage, political corruption and related cover-ups. They asked and I answered: on record, under oath.

The deposition included criminal allegations against specifically named members of Congress; among those I named as part of a broad criminal conspiracy were Representatives Dennis Hastert, Dan Burton, Roy Blunt, Bob Livingston, Stephen Solarz and Tom Lantos, as well as an unnamed, still-serving congresswoman who had been secretly videotaped, for blackmail purposes, during an affair.

Those high-ranking officials from the Bush administration named in my testimony as part of the criminal conspiracy on behalf of agents of the Government of Turkey included Douglas Feith, Paul Wolfowitz, Marc Grossman and others. I discussed covert “activities” by Turkish entities “that would involve trying to obtain very sensitive, highly classified U.S. intelligence information, weapons technology information, classified congressional records … recruiting key U.S. individuals with access to highly sensitive information, blackmailing, bribery.”

At the end of the intense four-hour session, the video and transcript of my deposition became a public document. In over two hundred pages of transcript, the public at long last would have the true account of blackmail, bribery, espionage, infiltration and criminal conspiracy by current and former members of the U.S. Congress, high-ranking State and Defense Department officials, and agents of the Government of Turkey. This was far from a complete report, since I was only able to provide answers sought by the Krikorian legal team, which pertained specifically to the area of illegal foreign lobbying activities, bribery, corruption and activities related to espionage cases that were already public. My testimony was certainly not the whole story, but the first under oath and in public; it was the only one—so far. Predictably, the media, collectively, censored and blacked out the deposition and all it contained.

Yet, as disheartening as all this seems, a flicker of hope for real change refused to be snuffed out. As Samuel Adams put it over two centuries ago, “It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people’s mind.” Thus it boiled down, at least for me, to the question of how to inform others, how to set brush fires in their minds. Not necessarily the majority, but just enough outraged people who then would work tirelessly to bring about needed changes. The answer as to “how” was sitting before me: the Internet, of course.

In less than a few months, the little blog diary I had started in May 2009 had kindled that flicker of hope, and in time turned into a decent-sized flame. It was my starting point. It was where I rushed to at the end of my deposition session in the case of
Krikorian v. Schmidt
; I was intent on fanning it into a full-blast fire.

Having gone through being blocked and taken down by Google, I immediately went about finding a decent hosting company, setting up a “real” website, and putting together a plan to make this website a place for the sorely needed irate minority to help bring about those changes. I named the site Boiling Frogs Post: a sly reference to the legend (whether or not true) that if you put a frog in a pot of water and slowly, by degrees, gradually increase the temperature, the frog just sits there and never tries to jump out—until it’s cooked, as the water boils. Here, the creeping implementation of police state practices that systematically deprive us of our rights one by one is the water; the increasingly desensitized American public, powerless in a bubbling cauldron of fear, is the frog. Some of us need to jump out—now.

My website was really taking off. Within the first few months I received an e-mail from a reader that contained a powerful, brilliantly executed cartoon related to my latest article. The author kindly complimented my work, encouraged my efforts, and offered the attachment as a complimentary addition. I checked out his name on the Web: Paul Jamiol, a nationally and internationally recognized cartoonist. Here he was, one of my regular readers, an activist and obviously a fellow supporter. Another e-mail from Jamiol with a brilliant toon followed within a week and another after that. Paul Jamiol became Boiling Frogs Post’s editorial cartoonist with regular weekly presentations. His work made the website shine, and was cheered and welcomed by our expanding readership.

During this initial stage with the website, I also wanted to have a podcast program, interviews with those silenced or ignored by the government and media, as well as relevant audio and multimedia links for news, information and discussion—particularly on topics long censored by the mainstream and quasi alternatives alike.

With little familiarity and zero expertise in hosting a talk show or interview forum, I needed a partner with savvy and skills, someone like-minded, independent, whom I could trust. I racked my brains. Finally, Matthew came to me and said, “Forget about the details of how you’d arrange, learn, and execute a podcast interview program for Boiling Frogs. First, answer one question: If you could have anyone as a partner for a weekly radio-podcast show—and I mean anyone—who would you pick?” Almost instantly, I replied, “Peter B. Collins.”

I’d known Peter since 2004. He was one of the first three alternative radio talk show hosts who had braved inviting me on for a lengthy, comprehensive interview. He has integrity and a tenacious adherence to ethics; fiercely independent, impossible to manipulate or sway in any way. He was my people.

Matthew asked, “Why don’t you call and ask Peter B. Collins? Just ask him. If he says no, then you’ll know …” Good idea.

I called Peter, and his enthusiastic yes came without pause or hesitation. He came on board as a partner.

Slowly but surely we added to the roster, with independent authors and analysts contributing articles and editorials to Boiling Frogs Post. We did not shy from controversy nor did we shun taboo topics. Whether the facts on Afghanistan and our escalating wars, the Israel lobby or the CIA’s role in such criminal activities as narcotics and more, we tackled our topics without any external or internally imposed barriers. Our audience has come to expect nothing less.

Boiling Frogs Post is complementary to and, in many ways, an extension of my National Security Whistleblowers Coalition. How many mainstream publications can claim to have over one hundred experts and sources from key intelligence and law enforcement agencies, each of whom, in turn, have their own network of government insiders and sources? (Answer: None.) The website also provides a platform for whistleblower issues and cases, and acts as a trusted channel for anonymous disclosure by those still inside government agencies.

By summer 2011, a new partner came aboard. Known for his brilliant and independent video report production from Japan, Canadian reporter James Corbett joined Boiling Frogs Post and we began a weekly series of investigative video reports on such issues as the CIA, the nuclear black market, Afghan heroin, Eurasia and the new Silk Road Project. These groundbreaking, original productions brought large international audiences to our site.

For clear and obvious reasons, as far as funding went, Boiling Frogs Post would rely solely on its readers’ support and contributions. This is non-negotiable. There simply is no other way to remain independent. Another written-in-stone pledge for Boiling Frogs Post is the resolve to remain completely nonpartisan. This too is non-negotiable. The political news and activism landscape is littered and poisoned with partisanship—of the most toxic variety—and with that comes bias, bickering and attacks, distraction, futility, divisiveness; none of which have positive consequences. Partisanship acts as a cloak over truth and real causes; it is the single most effective way for the establishment to divide and rule—and therefore win. It is a sure way for the people—the majority—to lose.

My first objective is to help shed light and to inform. My other objective is to unite: to unite the irate minority in needed numbers. Partisanship stands in the way of both; and my ultimate objective—to bring about necessary change, whether gradually from within or drastically from outside—conflicts with the establishment’s partisan divisiveness. As proven once again with Barack Obama’s presidency, partisanship acts as an illusion of difference: when there is one establishment presented in two colors, red or blue, in two brands. Scratch the surface and see.

I held onto my pledges. My partners at Boiling Frogs Post happen to be my most trusted friends. Our readership and support has been steadily (albeit slowly) growing. Together we share the same objectives: inform, unite, and change.

In 1988, before I left Turkey for the United States, I had taken the required university entry exam. Everything was based on this score. This was how the public system operated. I could list my preferred subject areas along with five or six universities around the country, prioritized and ranked according to my preference, but ultimately my score would determine my fate, to which of these places I would go. In spite of my mother’s warnings and threats, induced by the country’s political climate of fear, the life-threatening risks all journalists faced, and our particular family’s history, my top two choices were journalism schools at two universities, both in Istanbul. I could have had either one, but I didn’t want to choose between my family and my passion. I didn’t want to live in a nation and climate where people faced choices like that. So I left.