ESPIONAGE IN THE WHITE HOUSE
It's hard to imagine that the White House security isn't better. If the White House is that insecure how secure are state capitols?Drudge is headlining an ABC News story on a deeply disturbing espionage case at the White House involving a naturalized American of Filipino descent who worked for Vice President Dick Cheney (and also Al Gore).
Both the FBI and CIA are calling it the first case of espionage in the White House in modern history.
Officials tell ABC News the alleged spy worked undetected at the White House for almost three years. Leandro Aragoncillo, 46, was a U.S. Marine most recently assigned to the staff of Vice President Dick Cheney...
...Officials say the classified material, which Aragoncillo stole from the vice president's office, included damaging dossiers on the president of the Philippines. He then passed those on to opposition politicians planning a coup in the Pacific nation.
"Even though it's not for the Russians or some other government, the fact that it occurred at the White House is a matter of great concern," said John Martin, who was the government's lead espionage prosecutor for 26 years. Last year, after leaving the Marines, Aragoncillo was caught by the FBI while he worked for the Bureau at an intelligence center at Fort Monmouth, N.J. According to a criminal complaint, Aragoncillo was arrested last month and accused of downloading more than 100 classified documents from FBI computers. "The information was transferred mostly by e-mails," said U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie at the time of Aragoncillo's arrest. Since that arrest, officials say Aragoncillo has started to cooperate. He has admitted to spying while working on the staff of Vice President Cheney's office.
It's actually more widespread than the ABC News story indicates. There was another Filipino arrested with Aragoncillo last month--Michael Ray Aquino. CI Centre has the details. Here's a PDF of the criminal complaint against the accused spies filed in US District Court in NJ.
More background on Aquino here.
And according to the Filipino press, the US is seeking extradition of three politicians in the Philippines connected to the spy cases.
I am not surprised such a grave breach of security was possible at the White House. Remember this? See also these posts.
A number of flippant liberals are e-mailing me now with calls for all Filipinos to be interned. Grow up. The safety of the president and the country was put at risk, and it may have been due in part to the blinders of political correctness and complacency. If it means now that the White House will be applying extra scrutiny to naturalized Americans of Filipino descent working at the top levels of government and in the military, well, yes, I support that. It's obviously overdue. And, as I argued in my last book, it's just one small step towards the kind of national security profiling we should have introduced aggressively after 9/11. But didn't.
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Bill Nienhuis at PunditGuy has a round-up.
10/6 800am EDT update. Philippines-based blogger John Marzan weighs in on the political implications in Manila...
Unfortunately, this will only help Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, a corrupt president (worse than estrada) who really did steal the last presidential elections in 2004. She will use this news to dismiss those who are calling for her resignation (since June because of GLORIAGATE) as "coup-plotters," "destabilizers," and "power grabbers."
Business as usual on the islands, unfortunately.
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