False quotes shake up terror trial

[bemildred]

The mystery of how and why a government wiretap summary falsely attributed anti-Jewish slurs to officials of a Muslim charity remained unanswered Tuesday as federal prosecutors pledged to look into the matter.

In court papers filed late Monday, the U.S. attorney's office in Dallas said it was trying to determine how the recently declassified summary of a 1996 FBI wiretap of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development included vitriolic language that was not found in a verbatim transcript of a recorded conversation.

"The government is attempting to determine the reason for the discrepancy between the summary and the transcript," prosecutors said, adding that officials wanted to locate the language specialist who prepared the summary.

Meanwhile, the unexplained discrepancies have brought potential controversy to the government's biggest terrorism funding case to date.

LA Times

[maddezmom]

1. very interesting, hope they find the translator

[bemildred]

3. Does make one wonder how these things are verified?

When somebody makes a translation, is it checked somehow, of can they fudge things up and get away with it? How often does this sort of thing occur un-noticed?

[maddezmom]

4. I'm frightened to think about how many times errors like this might happen

[robinlynne]

9. I doubt errors have anything to do with it...

[w4rma]

12. Fixed: I'm frightened to think about how many times "errors" like this might happen. (nt)

[maddezmom]

13. thanks for fixing it for me

:hi:

[w4rma]

14. You're welcome.

:hi:

[whatelseisnew]

7. Sibel Edmonds Probably Told Them Already.

She blew the whistle on intentional mistranslating

[donkeyotay]

10. That's a thought. Ask Sibel Edmonds. Have her testify and remove her gag order.

[tonkatoy57]

2. Simple, really...

"...U.S. attorney's office in Dallas said it was trying to determine how the recently declassified summary of a 1996 FBI wiretap of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development included vitriolic language that was not found in a verbatim transcript of a recorded conversation..."

It would be easier to get a conviction. Evil terrorist Muslims talking trash. No need to even have any evidence to convict. Just let emotion inform the decision of the jury.

[yellerpup]

5. Our government doesn't have a very good record

of hunting down the real evil-doers, finding discrepancies, OR firing those responsible. Maybe it was one of those translators that Sibel was complaining about.

[librechik]

6. Hmmm-was Eliot Abrams involved? n/t

[rodeodance]

8. says they were NOT in the original (1996) FBI translated material:

......None of those comments was contained in a 13-page verbatim transcript of the conversation recorded April 15, 1996, by the FBI. In response, defense lawyers demanded declassification of large portions of the government's documents in the case.

On Monday, federal prosecutors argued that the discrepancies were not serious enough to justify such sweeping declassifications.

Five years ago, authorities shut down what was then the nation's largest Muslim charity on grounds that it was a fundraising front for the Palestinian group Hamas, which the U.S. considers a terrorist organization. In 2004, federal prosecutors charged seven former Holy Land officials, six of them U.S. citizens, with sending money to overseas charities controlled by Hamas, an accusation they deny.

Defense attorneys asked U.S. District Judge A. Joe Fish to declassify 10 years worth of wiretapped conversations and faxes after discovering the faulty summary among the first batch they reviewed.

[Supersedeas]

11. hmmm, a summary with more prejudicial detail than the detailed transcript--smells of Al Gonzo

[anotherdrew]

15. pathetic. Really pathetic. They've flushed every drop of credibility

the 'authorities' in this country all need to be dragged from their offices and sent to the unemployment lines.