7.08.2005
Senator Slams National Guard on Spy Claim (Reuters.com)
Wed Jul 6, 2005 9:42 PM ET
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Reuters) - A state senator said on Wednesday a federal probe into the California National Guard may hamper his own investigation into allegations that the Guard spied on anti-war protesters.
"I fear that what may occur here is that the federal authorities, if they find damning evidence of the Guard acting outside the law, may very well take possession of that material and take it out of the state of California depriving us of any access to that information," said state Sen. Joe Dunn.
"If that's what's happening, it is a cover up, plain and simple and that's what we want to prevent."
Dunn, who controls funding for California's National Guard, plans to hold hearings into whether a Guard unit that analyzes terrorism threats spied on people at a May 8 anti-war rally.
Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Douglas Hart said the Guard would cooperate with Dunn's requests if they are coordinated with requests by federal investigators.
Hart said the threat assessment unit did not spy on the rally, but its joint-operations center had been asked to record the protest if it appeared on local television news.
The Guard had expected protesters to demand that troops be ordered home from Iraq, Hart said. "If we're the subject of a news story then we like to know about it."
(More ... Politics News Article | Reuters.com) ¶ 07:43
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Reuters) - A state senator said on Wednesday a federal probe into the California National Guard may hamper his own investigation into allegations that the Guard spied on anti-war protesters.
"I fear that what may occur here is that the federal authorities, if they find damning evidence of the Guard acting outside the law, may very well take possession of that material and take it out of the state of California depriving us of any access to that information," said state Sen. Joe Dunn.
"If that's what's happening, it is a cover up, plain and simple and that's what we want to prevent."
Dunn, who controls funding for California's National Guard, plans to hold hearings into whether a Guard unit that analyzes terrorism threats spied on people at a May 8 anti-war rally.
Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Douglas Hart said the Guard would cooperate with Dunn's requests if they are coordinated with requests by federal investigators.
Hart said the threat assessment unit did not spy on the rally, but its joint-operations center had been asked to record the protest if it appeared on local television news.
The Guard had expected protesters to demand that troops be ordered home from Iraq, Hart said. "If we're the subject of a news story then we like to know about it."
(More ... Politics News Article | Reuters.com) ¶ 07:43
