CONSPIRACY AT THE WASHINGTON POST
Charles Zeps
Ambrose Evans-Pritchard has been accused of 'conspiracy
theorism' over the death of the White House aide,
Vincent Foster. Keeping silent, he says, is even worse
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FROM: The Electronic Telegraph (TM) Mon. 10 July 1995
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MY STRAITJACKET is buckled tight. The foam is wiped off my mouth. A
bottle
of sedatives sits at hand. I am cool, calm and ready to answer on
behalf of
all "conspiracy theorists". And I say to the powers of the Washington
Post:
"J'accuse."
Last week the Washington Post attacked the Sunday Telegraph in a
front-page
article on the "Foster conspiracy theorists". It was an unflattering
piece
on the tiny band of critics who have raised questions about what is
increasingly looking like the cover-up of the 1993 death of Vincent
Foster.
In normal circumstances it would be inappropriate to dispute this, but
weighty matters are in the balance here and the Washington Post has
quasi-monopoly power - a duopoly, perhaps, shared with the New York
Times -
in setting the political agenda for the entire American media.
Foster, the deputy White House counsel, was the highest-ranking
official to
die in violent circumstances since President Kennedy. He was also the
intimate friend of both Bill and Hillary Clinton and looked after
their
personal finances at the White House. The decision by the Washington
Post to
run such a piece at this late stage - in the face of overwhelming
suspicions
of foul play - comes perilously close to complicity in a cover-up.
The argument has nothing to do with ideology. The Washington Post
ceased to
be a newspaper of liberal activism a long time ago, if it ever really
was.
"Its anti-establishment image is one of the most absurd myths in
journalism
today," said Jeff Cohen, from Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting in
New York,
a liberal group that monitors the Post closely and accuses it of an
incestuous relationship with the governing elite. "It has been an
instrument
of state power for many years."
The question is whether the Washington Post is sitting on the stories
that
really matter.
The team that led the fight against the Nixon Administration and
turned the
Post into the most fashionable newspaper in the world is mostly gone.
Kay
Graham, the Queen Bee, retired in 1991 after 28 years in charge of the
family
heirloom. Ben Bradlee, immortalised in All The President's Men as the
swashbuckling and incorruptible captain of Watergate, is now a
semi-detached
editor at large. Both, incidentally, have regrets about their role in
the
great regicide. Neither want to see the same thing happen again in
their
lifetime.
There is talent, still. The coverage of the US occupation of Haiti, by
Douglas Farah, has been outstanding. The editorial pages have the
finest
mix in the business. The Style section is beautifully written. But the
question is whether the Washington Post is sitting on the stories that
really matter, just as the Mexican daily, El Excelsior, a vibrant and
authentic newspaper to the untutored eye, serves - wittingly or
unwittingly
- as a mouthpiece and a subtle tool of disinformation for the ruling
regime.
Allegations of drug use, sexual shenanigans and misuse of state
resources
were there for the plucking during Bill Clinton's presidential
campaign in
1992. Yet the Post's inquiries only skimmed the surface of the
charges.
Admittedly, it is hard to get people to talk about these things in
Arkansas.
But not that hard. The Post has subsequently refused to make amends.
Instead,
it has insisted on ever-higher standards of "proof" or, alternatively,
down-played the importance of the accusations.
Take the case of Paula Jones, who accused Clinton of sexual harassment
when
he was Governor of Arkansas. In early 1994 the Washington Post was
given
exclusive access to Jones and to other witnesses who could corroborate
parts
of her story. The newspaper went through her background with a
toothcomb.
Weeks went by. The lead reporter, Mike Isikoff, found her claims to be
credible and wanted to run the story. The editors refused. In the end
there
was a shouting match in the newsroom between Isikoff and the national
editor,
Fred Barbash. Isikoff was suspended for two weeks and later left the
newspaper.
The Post never ran the original story. I emphasise this point because
the
paper is now trying to claim that it was just waiting for the
appropriate
moment. The Post was overtaken by events. Paula and Steve Jones were
so
disgusted by the failure of the paper to publish that they decided to
file
a sexual harassment suit against the President, forcing the issue into
the
news pages.
Failure to report the news is one thing. Active disinformation is
another.
It is worth noting too that the Washington Post ignored the series of
well-researched pieces by the American Spectator alleging that Bill
Clinton
used Arkansas state troopers to solicit women on a routine basis, and
then
played rough to silence leaks.
One might choose to treat that as unimportant. A private matter.
Beneath the
Post. But what about the story of gun-running and drug-smuggling
through the
Mena airport in Arkansas in the 1980s? As reported by The Sunday
Telegraph
in January, the managing editor, Robert Kaiser, intervened at the last
moment
to spike a story by Sally Denton and Roger Morris that was backed by
an
archive of 2,000 documents.
The story had been cleared by the lawyers. It was typeset and ready to
go
to the printers. Since then there have been fresh developments in this
story.
Sworn testimony taken from a court case in Arkansas has linked Bill
Clinton
directly to this cloak-and-dagger operation, which has possible ties
to US
intelligence. Not a word about these depositions has been written in
the
Washington Post.
But failure to report the news is one thing. Active disinformation is
another.
Last week's article in the Post insinuated that The Telegraph had
fabricated
a story about clandestine trips to Switzerland by Vince Foster. The
author,
Susan Schmidt, who is the Post's full-time reporter on Whitewater,
said that
sources "with access to Foster's American Express receipts say they
show no
purchase of airline tickets to Switzerland".
But when confronted, she admitted that her sources did not in fact
have
access to information - that The Telegraph did have - about the two
flights
Foster made to Geneva in 1991 and 1992. Furthermore, she had no credit
card
numbers and she did not know which of Foster's American Express cards
may
have been involved. Nor did she have any records from the airlines.
"These
records are closely guarded," she said, by way of explanation.
You bet they are, and Ms Schmidt failed to get them. The only
information
she had, it turns out, referred to a single purchase in July 1993
conducted
through the White House travel office. We would surmise that her
"sources"
(plural) are in the Clinton White House. We rest our case.
Is the newspaper that broke Watergate now, intentionally or not,
aiding and
abetting a cover-up a generation later?
Ms Schmidt called me before she wrote her piece and asked what I
thought
about some of the wild allegations being made that Vince Foster had
ties
to Israeli intelligence and was under investigation by the CIA for
espionage.
I told her that it sounded pretty far-fetched and was not consistent
with
what I knew about Foster. She ignored this. In her article she implied
that
The Telegraph was advancing such claims. But this, broadly, is the
method
that has been deployed by the Washington Post to muddy the waters and
discredit anybody who has been asking legitimate questions about the
death
of Foster.
Is the newspaper that broke Watergate now, intentionally or not,
aiding and
abetting a cover-up a generation later?
As for key developments in the Foster case over the past few months,
the
Post has been silent. It failed to report that Miquel Rodriguez, the
lead
prosecutor looking into the death, had resigned in March because the
highly
politicised investigation was being obstructed.
It does not seem to be aware of enhanced photographs showing that the
gun
found in Foster's hand was moved around after his death, and that
Foster
had a wound on his neck that the authorities had tried to cover up.
Ms Schmidt, however, says that the Post is doing a terrific job. "The
Washington Post has broken every story about Whitewater," she said.
"At
least every story that's been true."
Electronic Telegraph is a Registered Service Mark of The Telegraph plc
Tenega
of Ambrose's own highly credible sources, I commend him for dogged and
meticulous reporting and am utterly amazed at the brainless blow-off
story by the illustrious Washington Post. This is not rocket science.
The sources -- good ones -- are out there. It just takes phone calls and
shoe leather. To write something like Ms. Schmidt has purveyed takes
willful ignorance.
gary cruse
your post, I webbed out to the Electronic
Telegraph, clicked on their Email address,
and wrote a thank-you for their coverage.
Never hurts to cheer the team, you know?
Gary
--
It costs me never a stab nor squirm Gary
To tread by chance upon a worm. Cruse
"Aha, my little dear," I say,
"Your clan will pay me back one day."
--Dorothy Parker
John Q. Public
>In article <3tsac1$3...@newsbf02.news.aol.com> ten...@aol.com (Tenega) writes:
>>As a fellow journalist, who has confirmed AEP's Swiss-trip story with two
>>of Ambrose's own highly credible sources, I commend him for dogged and
>>meticulous reporting and am utterly amazed at the brainless blow-off
>>story by the illustrious Washington Post. This is not rocket science.
>>The sources -- good ones -- are out there. It just takes phone calls and
>>shoe leather. To write something like Ms. Schmidt has purveyed takes
>>willful ignorance.
>>
>
Disagree. This newsgroup should get the Pulitzer, and HSprunt
should wear the symbolic crown.
Michael Rivero
Hmmm. There is indeed merit to your suggestion. My comment was made in
regards to the mainstream media and a Pulitzer prize which is NOT awarded
to persons on the internet.
There are many people here I consider modern patriots and heros of the first
war in cyberspace. Sadly, their accolades and medals must be "virtual", and
like the wilting laurel leaves of the fleeting glories of Rome, all too
transient.
But we know and will remember who they are.
--
=========== T H E A N I M A T I O N P L A N T A T I O N ============
| Michael F. Rivero - riv...@netcom.com - 16 years in the business |
| Award Winning Digital Effects for TV & Feature Films - 818-763-2800 |
| RECENT: Coneheads, Son of Pink Panther, Brainscan, Stargate |
| ftp site is at ftp.netcom.com in /pub/ri/rivero |
===========================================================================
John Q. Public
>In article <3tu4eq$i...@ns1.inxpress.net> "John Q. Public" <capm...@inxpress.net>
writes:
>>riv...@netcom.com (Michael Rivero) wrote:
>> >In article <3tsac1$3...@newsbf02.news.aol.com> ten...@aol.com (Tenega) writes:
>> >>As a fellow journalist, who has confirmed AEP's Swiss-trip story with two
>> >>of Ambrose's own highly credible sources, I commend him for dogged and
>> >>meticulous reporting and am utterly amazed at the brainless blow-off
>> >>story by the illustrious Washington Post. This is not rocket science.
>> >>The sources -- good ones -- are out there. It just takes phone calls and
>> >>shoe leather. To write something like Ms. Schmidt has purveyed takes
>> >>willful ignorance.
>> >>
>> >
>> > Ambrose Evens-Pritchard should get the Pulitzer.
>>
>>Disagree. This newsgroup should get the Pulitzer, and HSprunt
>>should wear the symbolic crown.
>>
>
> Hmmm. There is indeed merit to your suggestion. My comment was made in
>regards to the mainstream media and a Pulitzer prize which is NOT awarded
>to persons on the internet.
>
> There are many people here I consider modern patriots and heros of the first
>war in cyberspace. Sadly, their accolades and medals must be "virtual", and
>like the wilting laurel leaves of the fleeting glories of Rome, all too
>transient.
>
>
> But we know and will remember who they are.
I pray that others will remember too, as they find time to become penitent.
Michael Rivero
>As a fellow journalist, who has confirmed AEP's Swiss-trip story with two
>of Ambrose's own highly credible sources, I commend him for dogged and
>meticulous reporting and am utterly amazed at the brainless blow-off
>story by the illustrious Washington Post. This is not rocket science.
>The sources -- good ones -- are out there. It just takes phone calls and
>shoe leather. To write something like Ms. Schmidt has purveyed takes
>willful ignorance.
>
Ambrose Evens-Pritchard should get the Pulitzer.
--