Today I went to a news conference on the MEK (which the State Dept. lists as a terrorist group) put on by the Institute for Democratic Strategies (which doesn't seem to have a webpage) at the National Press Club. Among the speakers:Ed Rendell, Former Governor of Pennsylvania
Tom Ridge, Former Governor of Pennsylvania
Col. Wes Martin (Ret.), Former Commander of Camp Ashraf
Michael Mukasey, Former Attorney General
Ramesh SepehrradThey have been criticized for their support of the MEK by Glenn Greenwald and others, see: "Leading Conservatives Openly Support a Terrorist Group." See also: "Words of Praise for an Iranian Exile Group Described as a Cult by Its Critics" and "Mujahideen-e Khalq: Former U.S. Officials Make Millions Advocating for Terrorist Organization." I asked Ridge about any financial arrangement between him or the other speakers and the MEK. He reacted with anger, questioning my motives and my affiliations. Rendell said in much calmer tone that no one was getting paid for today's event but that people there had been paid for other speeches at other events. One of the speakers indicated that Ridge had personally paid for today's event. Ridge in his remarks derided the notion that money would ever influence men of the stature of those speaking at the event. I asked if he was arguing that there was no problem of money influencing politics. Rendell cut that off. I asked if there were any other relevant financial ties besides speaking fees. Mukasey said "hell no." I'd really wanted to ask another question about potential hypocrisy, given that Americans have been prosecuted under the law for supporting humanitarian organizations which the government claimed were linked to terrorists, which I think is a much more interesting issue, but they would not come back to me. See David Cole in the New York Times:
At least two people in the audience were called upon for "questions" after me who were somehow affiliated with the event and who gave statements responding to or somehow deriding my question about funding. CNN and NBC were there, but said they could not share video with me. The organizers of the event said they would share a transcript and video with me. I will post if/when they do or if I find another way to get that. Note to self: Get handy audio and video equipment. Special thanks to Robert Naiman of Just Foreign Policy.
Tom Ridge, Former Governor of Pennsylvania
Col. Wes Martin (Ret.), Former Commander of Camp Ashraf
Michael Mukasey, Former Attorney General
Ramesh SepehrradThey have been criticized for their support of the MEK by Glenn Greenwald and others, see: "Leading Conservatives Openly Support a Terrorist Group." See also: "Words of Praise for an Iranian Exile Group Described as a Cult by Its Critics" and "Mujahideen-e Khalq: Former U.S. Officials Make Millions Advocating for Terrorist Organization." I asked Ridge about any financial arrangement between him or the other speakers and the MEK. He reacted with anger, questioning my motives and my affiliations. Rendell said in much calmer tone that no one was getting paid for today's event but that people there had been paid for other speeches at other events. One of the speakers indicated that Ridge had personally paid for today's event. Ridge in his remarks derided the notion that money would ever influence men of the stature of those speaking at the event. I asked if he was arguing that there was no problem of money influencing politics. Rendell cut that off. I asked if there were any other relevant financial ties besides speaking fees. Mukasey said "hell no." I'd really wanted to ask another question about potential hypocrisy, given that Americans have been prosecuted under the law for supporting humanitarian organizations which the government claimed were linked to terrorists, which I think is a much more interesting issue, but they would not come back to me. See David Cole in the New York Times:
I believe Mr. Mukasey and his compatriots had every right to say what they did. Indeed, I argued just that in the Supreme Court, on behalf of the Los Angeles-based Humanitarian Law Project, which fought for more than a decade in American courts for its right to teach the Kurdistan Workers’ Party in Turkey how to bring human rights claims before the United Nations, and to assist them in peace overtures to the Turkish government. But in June, the Supreme Court ruled against us, stating that all such speech could be prohibited, because it might indirectly support the group’s terrorist activity. Chief Justice John Roberts reasoned that a terrorist group might use human rights advocacy training to file harassing claims, that it might use peacemaking assistance as a cover while re-arming itself, and that such speech could contribute to the group’s “legitimacy,” and thus increase its ability to obtain support elsewhere that could be turned to terrorist ends. Under the court’s decision, former President Jimmy Carter’s election monitoring team could be prosecuted for meeting with and advising Hezbollah during the 2009 Lebanese elections.
At least two people in the audience were called upon for "questions" after me who were somehow affiliated with the event and who gave statements responding to or somehow deriding my question about funding. CNN and NBC were there, but said they could not share video with me. The organizers of the event said they would share a transcript and video with me. I will post if/when they do or if I find another way to get that. Note to self: Get handy audio and video equipment. Special thanks to Robert Naiman of Just Foreign Policy.