feds going after Capitol Hill Blue?

[flyingfysh]

Doug Thompson published this today on www.capitolhillblue.com:

Just how widespread, and uncontrolled, this latest government assault has become hit close to home last week when one of the FBI's National Security Letters arrived at the company that hosts the servers for this web site, Capitol Hill Blue.

The letter demanded traffic data, payment records and other information about the web site along with information on me, the publisher.

Now that's a problem. I own the company that hosts Capitol Hill Blue. So, in effect, the feds want me to turn over information on myself and not tell myself that I'm doing it. You'd think they'd know better.

I turned the letter over to my lawyer and told him to send the following message to the feds:

Fuck you. Strong letter to follow.

[farmbo]

1. If the FBI wants to stop lying about govt officials, shut down Drudge!

And the Vice president's Public Information office.

[rodeodance]

2. the WH wants to know who Doug's friends are (the ones he claims to

have in the WH).

[HereSince1628]

3. So, does that help the credibility of CHB?

I mean the implication is that the FBI request is part of the Bush administration's crack down on leaks/bad publicity.

I am sure that CHB is giving Bush bad publicity, I was never sure that his stories were based on actual leaks.

[BuyingThyme]

6. Does with me.

(If it's true.) :rofl:

[0007]

4. Is this a another scare?

[babylonsister]

5. If CHB is deemed dangerous by the wh, perhaps

we should have given the site more credence. I do like Thompson's response!

[ChairmanAgnostic]

12. short, sweet, to the point. In that, I heartily join Thompson.

Two things can happen.

Freedom lovers of all stripes can unite due to our support of principles.
We sit back and watch as small groups get trashed because we may not agree with someone or something they say.

Frankly, I think that we are duty bound to go with the first choice. Nothing keeps them from coming after us, is there?

What if donating money here is later deemed treasonous? if that happens, I would quote thompson with both hands up in greeting, with the appropriate finger raised, as I shout, "FUCK YOU!"

[electropop]

65. If it's true, it does boost his credibility.

Nice going, FBI!

[Warpy]

7. I'd always dismissed CHB as a gossip sheet, an interesting read

but certainly no more reliable than supermarket tabloids.

Well, this certainly puts a different face on things, doesn't it?

[DS1]

10. No

Not, until he coughs up the warrant/subpoena.

[roguevalley]

57. he's been right many times. He's a libertarian and so he kicks

both sides. I take the truth where I can find it.

[KharmaTrain]

8. Developing...

Is there anything specific CHB has put out there that would get the hackles of the federales? They've printed some reliable poop...as have many other sites and has been in front on the "boooosh is drunk" stories. Is this what's got Gonzo's mantitties in a ringer?

This regime should know better but they're so myopic in their paranoia and power trip that they're opening up legal battles and challenges that in the long run will erode their power, not enhance it. Fools!

Keep us posted...more detail would be most appreciated.

[DoYouEverWonder]

9. Sounds more like a ploy

to get attention but that's what CHB does anyway.

[leveymg]

13. Doug has a vivid imagination. eom

[seriousstan]

11. Funny, they didn't print or show a photo copy of the "letter".

I'm calling B.S. until they show the FBI's National Security Letters.

[mattclearing]

14. Lovely...Doug Thompson martyrs himself.

Give me a fucking break. If this is for real, the feds are totally stupid.

[seemslikeadream]

15. sorry I don't see that statement

can you point me in the correct direction?

Thanks

[flyingfysh]

16. Here is the URL

On http://www.capitolhillblue.com/blog/2006/03/bush_declares_war_on_freedom_o.html, a few paragraphs down the page.

[BuyingThyme]

17. ...

http://www.capitolhillblue.com/blog/2006/03/bush_declares_war_on_freedom_o.html

[progressoid]

18. OK Dougie, show us the letter!

If you're so hell-bent on breaking open the government conspiracy, maybe you could show us something more than hear-say.

Do you know what a scanner is??

[trumad]

19. Exactly--scan the fucking letter and show us.

[npincus]

21. I believe it, but would like to see the letter as well

[flyingfysh]

22. people on Doug's site are also asking to see the letter

If Doug posts it, would this be the first actual example of a National Security Letter to be publicly available?

[npincus]

30. It's from the FBI

I don't think it would be considered classified. That's my guess.

[BR_Parkway]

45. Telling anyone about the letter violates the "Patriot" Act

[npincus]

46. for real?

[BR_Parkway]

48. That was one of the big ones that Russ Feingold was trying to get

modified or stricken - as it was originally written - you couldn't even tell your lawyer you'd gotten one - I think the final version allowed that much but no one else.

[druidity33]

27. my guess...

is that he won't post anything until he's talked to his lawyer about it. Remember, you're not supposed to tell anybody about the letter... i assume that especially means the public. But i say, damn the consequences and DO IT! Scan the Letter!

Let Doug give us all a reason to rethink his credibility...

[flyingfysh]

29. His lawyer may be yelling at him right now

It appears he may have put himself in legal jeopardy by posting this news. We'll see what happens. But I would love to see what an actual National Security Letter look like.

[Marie26]

50. If he's already violated it,

I say go all the way & show the letter. I'd like to see them try to defend this in court.

[pa28]

61. That's right.

Say he publishes the letter and charges result.

His credibility does a 180 and he likely becomes a national figure. Prosecution under these circumstances would be unlikely IMHO.

If you are listening Doug: this is a perfect place to make a stand.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

56. I don't know if...

...this claim is true either, but before we demand a copy of the letter we should understand the ramifications for Thompson if it does exist and he chooses to publish it. The Patriot Act covers this and essentially, when they come after you, let out so much as a whimper and you've already committed a serious crime. And this is, as another poster rightly pointed out, one of the things Feingold was objecting to.

[WePurrsevere]

20. If CHB is normally considered to be unreliable/BS by most DUers WHY should

we buy that this story is any more true then others this person has published without real proof?

Although it may not be the case in this instance, making oneself seem attacked is one tactic to "rally" folks to your side.. even if they know you're full of hooey.

[havocmom]

36. LOL and MSM is ALSO considered to be unreliable

Amazes me that we cast aspersions on Blue and clamor for validation of stories from the MSM. MSM has been a junta propaganda tool for years and still we don't believe anything Blue posts until we see/read/hear it in MSM.

Makes no sense to me. :rofl:

[WePurrsevere]

37. True that. The media is owned by corporations that want to make big money,

big money is to be made from government contracts so the media has to keep where the money flows from happy which in this case is the government.

For many MSM venues it's about making BIG money and not actually about journalistic integrity any longer. Sadly truly "independent news" is an endangered species and it's getting increasingly difficult to figure out what is factual and what is spin and/or pure horse puckey.

[meganmonkey]

23. The White House is actively investigating 'leaks' right now

so it makes sense to me, that CHB would be one of the targets.

:shrug:

[havocmom]

40. THIS WH 'actively investigating links' = intimidating & punishing

those who tell the truth. And they will send a tank to your hotel if you get insistant about spreading nasty truths around...

[Marie26]

24. How would he know?

I thought "National Security Letters" were so secret that the recepient couldn't even tell anyone they've received one. So how would Thompson know if his web server got a National Security Letter? Am I missing something?

[flyingfysh]

26. Thompson owns his server company

He's not supposed to tell himself that he got the letter.

[Marie26]

43. Okay

So if he owns the server company, why is he telling us? I thought that the receipient of the Nat. Sec. letters couldn't tell anyone else. It sounds like Thompson might be skating on thin ice w/the FBI if this is true - but good for him for doing it!

[izzybeans]

25. I'd like him to post the letter.

[TechBear_Seattle]

28. Can you say, "Fifth Amendment"

If you own the company that hosts your website, can you be forced to turn over "evidence" that might "implicate" yourself in a "crime" committed via your own website? (Quotes deliberate.) Or, because this is merely an order to turn over traffic data, payment records and other information without criminal charges, would the Fifth Amendment protections against self-incrimination even apply?

Not that the Current Regime gives a snake's fart about the Constitution; just go with me on this :hi:

[guruoo]

44. They'll end-run the 5th Amendment by...

holding off on formal charges until they have all the requested data in hand.

[Neil Lisst]

31. This administration ignoring the constitution and muscling people?!

Say it ain't so, Joe (McCarthy)!

[sattahipdeep]

32. Salam Zaeef is free and this guy is to turn over his records?

Ex-Taliban envoy released from Guantanamo Bay

http://www.afghania.com/printarticle7080.html

[flyingfysh]

33. more news from Doug

I just found this on his web site; it appeared a few minutes ago:

According to my lawyer, publishing the letter (or even quoting from parts of it) would be a one-way ticket to jail. I'll let him handle it from here. I'm on thin enough ice just admitting we got one of the damn things.

Doug

[BuyingThyme]

42. If that's what he's saying, fuck him.

[madokie]

34. I like reading CHB but don't mention it often, as i get older it takes

longer to heal. And i will say this, i don't believe everything i read no matter who the author is and very little of what i see. Having said that, i believe the man has a lot more 'inside info' than lots of folks here want you to think. I just don't understand i guess

[havocmom]

39. agree- Blue has been right about much and ahead of the cruve.

Most here know MSM is not only distorting truth, they are too often actually hiding it. Yet they will disparage CHB stories until they are 'confirmed in MSM'.

That makes no sense at all

[ripple]

47. The difference

is that CHB uses almost exclusively 'unnamed sources' and the more provocative stories posted there are never substantiated by anyone, MSM or otherwise. It kind of makes one wonder who in the hell their unnamed sources would be, since they lack any credibility as journalists.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not defending MSM, as they're notorious for omitting relevant information, while adding a lot of hyperbole and innuendo. The difference is that you can usually sift through the spin and glean some facts from MSM- something that's impossible with most CHB stories.

[havocmom]

49. Blue has been right on a lot

Taken with a grain of salt (which is wise, no matter what the source of a story is) I get as much good info from them as from MSM

[ripple]

58. Granted, I haven't looked there for a while

but when I used to check them out, they were only right about the obvious stuff that was already being reported by other media sources. It was their "shocker" pieces that turned out to be without much merit.

I do agree with the Bush mental illness thing they did quite a while ago. Not because of their 'source', but based on my own observations. Still, it wasn't a story that could be credibly quoted, other than for satire.

Maybe they're more credible these days, though. :shrug:

[RazzleDazzle]

35. Please post the permalink

I couldn't find the story you reference without a lot more study and research than I'm willing to do.

[Nye Bevan]

38. This guy would fake his own kidnapping

to draw more attention to his liberal fantasy/fiction site.

[happydreams]

64. OK now tell me what he's faked. Or

tell me what branch of the Intelligence Community you work for. }(

[NVMojo]

41. this is not the only site hit like this recently, just one of the better

known ones.

[FreedomAngel82]

51. Why are they going after them?

Their stories and reporting? If that's true could they sue?

[Bozita]

52. Thom Hartmann reported on this a few min ago

"We can't report the first two words of the message except to say that they are similar to words uttered by VP Cheney to Senator Leahy."

[Fridays Child]

53. I take anything and everything Thompson says with a grain of salt.

He has no credibility and this may be a ruse. The guy was a registered fr**pturd before he ever started writing articles about goings on inside the White House. And I've never seen a shred of documentation or other substantiation for any claim he's ever made. So, I don't know why I should believe this on his word alone.

[guruoo]

54. 'The FBI now issues more than 30000 national security letters a year,'

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/05/AR2005110501366.html

[lyonn]

59. WP article is way interesting

So here in the good ol' U.S. there are 30,000 suspicious people, a Year for the govt. to wallow in their personal life?

[nolabels]

69. You need to add a few zeros to that number

The whole effing federal government is going cowboy lately. They view every citizen as a potential problem needing to be fixed. They have gone to the next step beyond the famous saying 'We have seen the enemy and they are us'

[rucky]

55. That makes CHB a more legit source in my book! n/t

[flyingfysh]

60. another response from Doug

This is from his web site:

For those with concerns, please understand that we WILL NOT provide the federal government with ANY information regarding this website, those who visit it, or how we obtain the information we publish. We will fight this infringement on freedom of the press with all the resources I have at my disposal.

[Mr_Spock]

62. Interesting...

Lately I feel like it's the beginning of the Fascism (investigating reporters) - this may be a time of great concern.

[happydreams]

63. Counter sue the motherfuckers. Don't half-step. There are

laws against harassing the Press for political reasons. YOU KNOW that is what is going on. Find out to instigated the demands. DID THEY follow the normal course for an audit?

[eridani]

66. CHB reminds me of successful scientific cheating

Under what conditions do scientists not get caught faking data? When they guess right about the outcome of an experiment. If they guess wrong, then people will try to repeat their work and come up with different results, as in the recent stem cell flap. If their guess was right, they get the benefit of being first to publish, and the people who confirm their work get to be also-rans who don't become as well-known.

CHB does the same thing--a lot of guessing, some of which is bound to turn out to be true. Saves himself the trouble of not actually having to substantiate anything. Those reporters who do substantiate and source the same guess don't get to be first into print.

[grytpype]

71. Dougie just hypothesizes the worst-case scenerio...

... and then pretends that he has sources (which he can't identify in any way mind you) for his scenerio and publishes it.

Now in the Bush administration the worst-case scenerio often turns out to be true. But that doesn't change the fact that Dougie made it up and had no source for it, contrary to his claim.

[Oilwellian]

67. Just maybe....

if they piss off the press enough, they'll start reporting the truth. Now there's a novel idea. :D

[grytpype]

68. Hahahahahaha!!!! What bullshit!!!!

Douggie, you have to have real sources in the government leaking to you before you get in trouble! Your imaginary friends don't count.

Jebus.

[Ian_rd]

70. Stop recommending this garbage!

CHB is the Left's equivalent of Jeff Gannon and fucking Talon News. Stop posting this website's trash on DU and stop feeding the morons from CHB who post here.