Loftus on 'Countdown with Keith Olbermann' for Oct. 23, 2003


The following is an excerpt from the transcript of John's appearance on "Countdown with Keith Olbermann". Read the full transcript here

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KEITH OLBERMANN, HOST (voice-over): Which of these stories will you be talking about tomorrow?
Abdurahman Alamoudi, tonight the man who helped set up the Muslim Chaplain Program, who met presidents Clinton and Bush, who tried to run $340,000 into Syria, is connected to Osama bin Laden’s nephew.
The Rumsfeld leak: He is appalled, but he is elaborating. When is a leak a leak? When is it an accident? When is it a trial balloon?
Niagara Falls: The really, really, really, really high diver, still says he did it because he’s depressed, but another resident of the psych ward said she hear him negotiating a movie deal.
“The Lion Sleeps Tonight?” “Who Let Dogs Out?” “Baby back, baby back, ribs.” If you ever heard these musical phrases repeat uncontrollably in your head, good news. You’re not nuts. You’ve got an ear worm.
And please say “Hello” to Sparky the beer drinking pony. Don’t mind my friend here, he’s just a little horse. Wonder if that’s Colt 45 that he’s drinking.
All that and more now, on COUNTDOWN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)

OLBERMANN: Good evening. He met with George W. Bush before Mr. Bush became president. He appears, smiling, in a photo op with the former president, Mr. Clinton. So, how is it that a man who has traveled in the highest of American political circles is also now suspected of secretly funding al-Qaeda and Hamas? And tonight, the dots are being connected and he appears to be tied also to the nephew of Osama bin Laden. Our fifth story on the COUNTDOWN: An indictment handed down against the man our military once turned to for Muslim chaplains. For the latest details on the case of Abdurahman Alamoudi, here’s NBC’s Lisa Myers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LISA MYERS, NBC CORRESPONDENT: Keith, tonight federal prosecutors have indicted the founder of the Chaplain Program on charge that he illegally dealt with Libya and laundered money. But, there are even more serious allegations about him in some new documents.
MYERS (voice-over): Abdurahman Alamoudi, a consultant to the Pentagon on the Chaplain Program for more than a decade, now accused of helping Osama bin Laden and Hamas. Court documents filed late last night, claim Alamoudi has provided “financial support to Hamas” and “financial support to fronts for al-Qaeda.” One of the groups allegedly tied to Alamoudi is a charity which gave this Virginia post office as its address. Alamoudi was vice president. Who founded it? Abdullah bin Laden, Osama bin Laden’s nephew. Also ringing alarms, Alamoudi’s palm pilot which the government claims included the names and numbers of six designated global terrorists.
STEVE EMERSON, TERRORISM EXPERT: The public face of Mr. Alamoudi was 180 degrees different from the private face. And, the private face clearly showed that he was involved or directing fundraising for Hamas, fundraising for other terrorist groups.
MYERS: The government also alleges Alamoudi had a Swiss bank account and $2.2 million in unreported income on which he failed to pay taxes. Today, Alamoudi’s lawyer says he never supported any terrorist group. And that Osama bin Laden has dozens of nephews who have nothing to do with al-Qaeda. Yet, in an audiotape of a conversation obtain by NBC News, he seems to embrace violence, suggest al-Qaeda should choose better targets.
ABDURAHMAN ALAMOUDI, ALLEGEDLY CONNECTED TO AL QAEDA (through translator): I prefer to hit a Zionist target in America or Europe or elsewhere.
MYERS: Alamoudi’s lawyer says her client doesn’t remember saying such a thing and questions the tapes authenticity. Over the year, Alamoudi has been a familiar face in Washington. The Pentagon chose him to help select Muslim chaplains. He met with President Clinton, made six trips to Muslim nations as a goodwill ambassador for the State Department, met with candidate George Bush. Last year FBI director Rob Mueller even spoke to an organization founded by Alamoudi over the objections of some agents.
EMERSON: Alamoudi, himself, was not only able to insinuate himself, but he put others in place.
MYERS (on camera): Now, these new allegations are contained in court documents arguing that Alamoudi should be held without bond until he go on trial-Keith.
(END VIDEOTAPE)

OLBERMANN: NBC’s Lisa Myers on this extraordinary story in Washington. Joining us now, with more on the purported double life of this prominent Muslim-American is John Loftus, host of “The Loftus Report” and frequent quest on this show. John, good evening.
JOHN LOFTUS, HOST, “THE LOFTUS REPORT”: Good evening, Keith.
OLBERMANN: Well, they sure vetted this guy. How-what happened here?
LOFTUS: Well, you know, it’s a funny story. About a year-and-a-half ago, people in the intelligence community came and said-guys like Alamoudi and Sami al-Arian and other terrorists weren’t being touched because they’d been ordered not to investigate the cases, not to prosecute them, because there were being funded by the Saudis and a political decision was being made at the highest levels, don’t do anything that would embarrass the Saudi government. So, of course I immediately volunteered to do it and I filed a lawsuit, against al-Arian charging him with being a major terrorist for Islamic Jihad, most of his money came from Saudi charities in Virginia.
Now, Alamoudi’s headquarters were in the same place, he was raided the same day, on March 20. An hour after I filed my lawsuit, the U.S. government finally got off its butt and they raided these offices. And, the stuff that they’re taking out of there now is absolutely horrendous. Al-Arian has now, finally been indicted, an along with Alamoudi, today.
But, who was it that fixed the cases? How could these guys operate for more than a decade immune from prosecution? And, the answer is coming out in a very strange place. What Alamoudi and al-Arian have in common is a guy named Grover Norquist. He’s the super lobbyist. Newt Gingrich’s guy, the one the NRA calls on, head of American taxpayers. He is the guy that was hired by Alamoudi to head up the Islamic institute and he’s the registered agent for Alamoudi, personally, and for the Islamic Institute.
Grover Norquist’s best friend is Karl Rove, the White House chief of staff, and apparently Norquist was able to fix things. He got extreme right wing Muslim people to be the gatekeepers in the White House. That’s why moderate Americans couldn’t speak out after 9/11. Moderate Muslims couldn’t get into the White House because Norquist’s friends were blocking their access.
OLBERMANN: How does this tie back into the thing that apparently pulled the stopper out of the drain, if you will-The developers at Guantanamo bay? How rotten is the system of the interpreters and the chaplains-the Muslim Chaplains that Alamoudi was involved in setting up?
LOFTUS: It’s as rotten as it gets. Think of the Muslim chaplain’s program that he set up as a spy service for al-Qaeda. The damage that’s been done is extreme. It wasn’t just sending home mom and dad messages from the prisoners. These guys, this network in Guantanamo, stole the CIA’s briefing books. Everything that the CIA knew about al-Qaeda is now back in al-Qaeda hands. That’s about as bad an intelligence setback as you can get.
OLBERMANN: John, how does this end up? How far will the investigation into this necessarily have to go to get to the bottom of it?
LOFTUS: There’s a lot more to go. Norquist had a lot of other clients. There’s a whole alphabet soup of Saudi agencies that funded terrorism in this country. They had an awful lot of protection. And, one of the things we may find about 9/11 is that people out in the field weren’t allowed to connect the dots and questions will be asked weather guys like Grover Norquist were part of the problem?
OLBERMANN: I got chills down my spine. The former Justice Department official, John Loftus of radio’s “Loftus Report.” As always John, many thanks.
LOFTUS: You’re welcome.


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