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| 22205 | Jan 20 2009, 05:15 PM |
Arlingtonian
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thanks for posting bret. i had never heard of any of that stuff. i had heard about the name "able danger" but didnt know its significance. so it was informative to see and hear Weldon's outcries. as i was listening i simultaneously was researching weldon, cuz i hypothesized that (since i hadnt heard of him being dead) that he had surely taken some sort of a political fall for his persistence on the able danger issue. and wouldnt u know it, the fbi was sict on him and he was ran out of office (lost in an election after public smearing). but im on the fence about him man. where he ended up after office is a curious place, as were some of the committees he was part of while in office. plus he was steering clear of stating the more damning implications of what he had uncovered, when it comes to 9/11. me thinks he was letting the commission off a little light, pinning everything on the commission's now-gagged administrative clerk instead. and i think he works hard to validate the "intelligence failures" LIHOP scenario, so again im not sure he can be trusted. but it was a nice peek into what should be a much more controversial topic, so indeed it is surprising that more people havent delved into it. thanks for posting. *** what follows is some a raw compliation of my research on the matter, done while listening to the video you posted: timeline: http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:zvFpSYCpMcAJ:www.historycommons.org/entity.jsp%3Fentity%3Danthony_shaffer+%22Colonel+Anthony+Shaffer%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us June 11, 2008 - hit piece against Curt Weldon, but outlines some of the consequences weldon has sufferred: http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:Yu5RxOdzIbQJ:blog.wired.com/defense/2008/06/lawyers-nukes-a.html+Representative+%22curt+Weldon%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=10&gl=us Weldon, for those of you not familiar with the former lawmaker, was famous for securing funding for some Russian flying saucers, his conspiratorial belief that a classified program had identified several of the 9/11 terrorists, and his determination to insert himself in nuclear issues, ranging from North Korea to Iran. It was actually the Russians that got him in trouble. We'll get back to that. We wanted to see Weldon because we were trying to get access to Russia's closed nuclear cities, and frankly, Weldon was known for having good contacts with the Russian government. How close? Well, we'll get to that, too. Weldon, on hearing of our interest, was thrilled to talk, just thrilled. Because he wanted to tell us all about how he could single-handedly solve the world's nuclear problems. I mean, this is a man who kept a mock-up of a suitcase nuke in his office. This was in 2006. Not long after that,the FBI raided Weldon's office and he subsequently lost his seat in the House. It is suspected that Weldon may have helped secure funding for Russian companies that in turn, paid money to his daughter. Nowadays, it's tough to get Weldon, who is at the center of a corruption probe, to talk about Russia, let alone the International Exchange Group, or IEG, the nonprofit Russian corporation that appears to be part of the FBI's investigation into the former Congressman. The Kremlin-connected IEG, the Wall Street Journall notes, was dedicated to "promoting U.S.-Russia business exchange" and "removing bureaucratic obstacles to the implementation of U.S.-funded nonproliferation programs" in Russia. Weldon remains under investigation, though he has not yet been charged. Ken Silverstein at Harper's has been covering this issue for several years now, as has Laura Rozen writing at War and Piece. But the latest twist comes from the Journal, which reported that IEG may have paid money to the wife of a Weldon staffer. Many of the questions center on the mysterious figure at the head of IEG, Vladimir Petrosyan, and his relationship with Weldon. How close were Petrosyan and Weldon? hit piece above written by Sharon Weinberger and Nathan Hodge: http://www.nuclearvacation.com/ Nathan Hodge is a Washington, D.C.-based writer for Jane’s Defence Weekly. A frequent contributor to Slate, he has reported extensively from Afghanistan, Iraq, and the former Soviet Union. His work has appeared in the Financial Times, Foreign Policy, and Details, among many other newspapers and magazines. Sharon Weinberger is a senior reporter for Wired's national security blog, Danger Room. She is the author of Imaginary Weapons: A Journey Through the Pentagon's Scientific Underworld. Her writing on national security and science has also appeared in the Washington Post Magazine, Slate, Discover, Nature, and Aviation Week & Space Technology. more bloggers attacking weldon: http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:qlGwutgGbawJ:www.harpers.org/sb-curt-weldon-kim-employment.html+Representative+%22curt+Weldon%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=8&gl=us The Curt Weldon Employment Agency April 20, 2006 By Ken Silverstein Representative Curt Weldon (R., Penn.), a powerful member of the House Armed Services Committee, has been a good friend to the Italian firm Finmeccanica, and it appears that his good deeds on its behalf have been rewarded. Last year, Weldon was a key supporter of a long-shot bid by AgustaWestland, Finmeccanica's helicopter unit, to land a $1.6-billion contract to build the new presidential helicopter. With Weldon's help, an AgustaWestland partnership with LockheedMartin beat out a bid from United Technologies Corp., which had been favored. On November 29, 2005, AgustaWestland broke ground on an addition to its Philadelphia-area plant. The project, said Weldon, who was on hand that day, “provides a direct and sustained stimulus to the regional economy by way of increased investment and job creation.” One job at AgustaWestland has been filled by Weldon's daughter, Kim. Weldon's office declined to comment, but a source who declined to be identified but who is close to the Congressman said that Kim has worked in the firm's public relations office since the fall of 2005. “She got the job in the normal way,” he said. “The company [advertised the position] and she was among the tens or twenties or hundreds who applied. She went through a long process and was picked.” My source said that Kim has a formal agreement with the company prohibiting her from lobbying Congress or making any contact with her father or his office on the company's behalf. “The company,” he explained, “apparently believes that they have done everything conceivable to ensure that this hire was consistent with their own employment regulations and that it did not hinge in any way upon her father's position in the House.” Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, finds that account hard to swallow. “It seems incredibly unlikely that Weldon's daughter was the one candidate that they happened to pick,” she said. “The coincidence is overwhelming.” It doesn't stop there. Weldon's twenty-something daughter Karen was once hired by Boeing, one of the congressman's major campaign donors, and later became a high-powered lobbyist who built her company on her father's connections (a story I reported with a colleague in the February 20, 2004, L.A. Times). Weldon “family friend” and realtor-turned-lobbyist Cecelia Grimes was retained by Oto Melara, yet another subsidiary of Finmeccanica, and by several other firms with close ties to the congressman as well. Given all of this, Kim Weldon's new job looks less like an overwhelming coincidence and more like the continuation of a proud Weldon family tradition. more anti-weldon blogging (nice chronological timeline using a series of headlines): http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:LkC8uYIbDmsJ:www.citizensforethics.org/taxonomy/term/737+Representative+%22curt+Weldon%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=15&gl=us set of headlines: http://www.havenworks.com/people/a-z/w/weldon-curt/ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,220900,00.html WASHINGTON — The FBI is investigating whether Rep. Curt Weldon, R-Pa., used his influence to secure lobbying and consulting contracts for his daughter, two people familiar with the inquiry said Saturday. The inquiry focuses on lobbying contracts worth $1 million that Weldon's daughter, Karen Weldon, obtained from foreign clients and whether they were assisted by the congressman, they said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the confidentiality of the criminal investigation. Weldon, a 10-term Republican from the Philadelphia suburbs, long has denied any wrongdoing, and his top aide said Saturday no one had notified him of an investigation... Two people familiar with the investigation told the AP on Saturday that the inquiry was being handled by agents from the FBI's field offices in Washington and Philadelphia and was being coordinated by the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section. Spokesmen for the Justice Department and the FBI declined comment Saturday. Those two people familiar with the investigation confirmed that federal agents were examining Weldon's work between 2002 and 2004 to help two Russian companies and two Serbian brothers connected to former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. They had hired Solutions North America Inc., a company operated by Karen Weldon and Charles Sexton, a Republican ally of the congressman. Weldon, vice chairman of the House Armed Services committee, is a Russian speaker regarded by some as a foreign policy expert who has clashed at times with the Bush administration. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/04/AR2007120401395.html Ex-Staffer To Weldon Agrees to Guilty Plea Aide's Wife Was Paid By Boss's Pet Firm By Carol D. LeonnigWashington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, December 5, 2007; Page A02 Former congressman Curt Weldon's chief of staff has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy charges for allegedly helping a consulting firm championed by Weldon obtain federal funds and for concealing money the firm paid his wife, according to court papers filed yesterday. Russell James Caso Jr. and a top official at the unnamed nonprofit consulting firm met repeatedly with Weldon to seek the Pennsylvania Republican's help in obtaining federal funds for the organization's defense projects, according to the court papers. The "criminal information," a document filed yesterday in U.S. District Court in Washington, could not have been submitted without the defendant's permission. It indicates that a plea agreement has been reached. A federal judge has scheduled a hearing Friday on the charges against Caso http://wherearetheynow.sunlightprojects.org/109/Curt_Weldon/ Former Member Rep. Curt Weldon (R-PA) Curt Weldon was a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1987 to 2007, representing the Seventh District of Pennsylvania. In 2006, Democrats nominated Joe Sestak to face Weldon in his November 2006 bid for reelection. In a closely watched race, Sestak defeated Weldon to take over the seat. outline: http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Curt_Weldon Bio 1.1 Background 1.2 Congressional Career 1.2.1 Positions and Views 1.2.2 Iraq War 1.2.3 2006 elections 2 Meet the Cash Constituents 3 Controversy 3.1 Sun Myung Moon 3.2 Book Attacks CIA 3.3 Weldon and "Ali" 3.4 WMD search in Iraq 3.5 Boeing connection to son's racing career 3.6 Justice Department investigation 3.6.1 Itera 3.6.2 Karic Brothers 3.7 House Ethics Committee investigation 3.8 Support for an Italian arms maker 3.9 Hired by defense contractor 3.10 Former Chief of Staff agrees to plea deal 3.9 Hired by defense contractor In February 2007, Defense Solutions, an Exton-based company specializing in military services and sales, announced the hiring of Weldon as their chief strategic officer. His congressional experience, specifically his knowledge of "Armed Forces and emergency response communities work and what they need," was cited as the reason for hire. http://www.ds-pa.com/ Defense Solutions is an international project management, executive consulting, and business development firm headquartered in Exton, PA with branch and satellite offices on four continents. Established in 2001, Defense Solutions' founding corporate philosophy is to deliver the world's best solutions for our service members who deserve the best equipment, technology, and training, in performing their jobs with minimal risk to their lives and well being. Defense Solutions has consulted with and worked for US Federal and State departments and agencies to include, the White House, US Department of Defense, US Department of the Army, US Department of State, US Department of Homeland Security, US Department of Interior, and Pennsylvania General Assembly to devise and implement strategies supporting armed forces and civilian programs. Many of these programs directly support US and allied soldiers in combat and veterans in retirement. In direct support of US-led coalition efforts in Iraq, Defense Solutions has worked for international allied organizations like the Iraqi Ministry of Defense and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Defense Solutions' European office maintains exclusive agreements with the Hungarian Ministry of Defense and Ukrainian Ministry of Defense to deliver several world class technologies and capabilities to US and allied nations. Defense Solutions' principal offerings include new production and retrofit of armored and combat vehicles, spare parts, and ammunition, supported by end-to-end integrated logistics, training, and maintenance solutions. http://www.ds-pa.com/bio_weldon.shtml Congressman Curt Weldon retired after 20 years representing the Seventh Congressional District of Pennsylvania and as the most senior Republican in the Pennsylvania Delegation. A Member of the House of Representatives since 1987, Weldon took leadership roles on a wide variety of issues ranging from national security to the environment. A senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, Weldon served six years as the Chairman of the Military Research and Development Subcommittee overseeing the development and testing of key military systems, weapons programs, and technologies that fulfill military needs. Weldon used that position to become the leading House supporter of a national missile defense to protect America's families and communities. Weldon also served as the Vice Chairman of the full Committee as well as Chairman of the Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee. His role ensured that our service men and women are adequately prepared for duty in the high-tech world of the 21st century. Weldon, a major in Russian Studies, made improving relations with Russia one of his major efforts in the House. He worked with Russian leaders on a variety of issues, including efforts to improve Russia's energy supply, correct environmental damage, and protect both nations from ballistic missile attack. Weldon is the co-founder of the Duma-Congress Study Group, the official parliamentary exchange between the two legislative bodies. This bilateral relationship coordinates legislative efforts in the Russian Duma and the Congress to foster a better working relationship between the two nations. Prior to the terrorist attacks on America, Congressman Weldon was an outspoken advocate of bolstering defenses, assisting first responders, and improving intelligence gathering capabilities. As the former Vice Chairman of the Homeland Security Committee and founder of the Homeland Security Caucus, Congressman Weldon is a frequent keynote speaker at various defense and national security conferences across the country. He is a regular guest on national news and television programs, is the author of letters and opinion papers for various news sources, and teaches advanced courses at local colleges and universities. more: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22Defense+Solutions%22+curt+weldon |
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| Can't believe this has only been view 9 times · 9/11 Video Research Archive | |
5:36 PM Nov 26
