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PUBLIC PRESSURE GAINS ANOTHER VICTORY IN THE FIGHT
FOR 9/11 FULL DISCLOSURE

April 27, 2004 - FBI translator Sibel Edmonds has spoken to the press (including Amy Goodman's Democracy Now!) on several occasions, artfully navigating around a topic-specific gag order from the Justice Department.  But now her free speech has become critical to one of the major 9/11 lawsuits currently underway.  That case pits a group of 9/11 families against the Saudi overnment, and represents a major avenue of potential discovery. Subpoenaed by the plaintiffs, Edmonds had been scheduled to testify under oath today (04-27-04).  Earlier this month, the Justice Department took the unusual step of invoking the State Secrets Act, sealing Edmonds' eventual deposition behind the doors of this morning's closed hearing in U.S. District Court in Washington DC.

But before that hearing began, Bush-appointed Judge Reggie Walton yielded to public pressure when journalists and activists appeared at the court and confronted US Marshalls with their objection to the closed hearing. That's the good news: the hearing was opened to public and press scrutiny.  The bad news is that Edmonds' testimony was postponed to June 14th, and the question of whether Edmond's deposition will be allowed remains unresolved until further review.  This opens a significant opportunity for renewed public pressure, demanding that the Court grant a full and open deposition from a woman whose first-hand information could prove decisive.

The PARTY'S OVER
Oil, War and the Fate of Industrial Societies

By Richard Heinberg

Now Available!
HERE