Bugs in Philly- One day after Ashcroft Visit: FBI expressed Regret

posted by ewing2001 on Wednesday October 22, @08:51PM

FBI: Agents Sorry Bug Found During Race

Bayarea.com -Wed, Oct. 22, 2003

PHILADELPHIA - Acknowledging for the first time that the FBI hid listening devices in the mayor's office, the bureau's top agent in Philadelphia expressed regret Wednesday that the discovery has created turmoil weeks before a mayoral election.

Speaking at an unscheduled news conference, Special Agent Jeffrey Lampinski offered an apology, but declined to discuss details of the federal investigation.

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"No one regrets more so than the investigators on this case that this device was uncovered in the midst of an election," Lampinski said.

An FBI bug was found on Oct. 7 in the office of incumbent Democrat John Street during a routine security sweep. Since then, agents have subpoenaed records from city agencies, searched the offices of at least two of the mayor's political allies and confiscated three of Street's computers.

Timing of Ashcroft’s visit seen as suspect by some

phila-tribune.com -Tuesday, October 21, 2003

By Monica Lewis

The federal investigation of Mayor John F. Street and his administration may have another major player involved.

According to reports, U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft will be in town tomorrow to discuss the investigation with Pat Meehan, U.S. Attorney for Eastern Pennsylvania. While the visit was not confirmed by spokespeople from Ashcroft or Meehan’s offices, it was confirmed that Ashcroft will address thousands of police chiefs and law enforcement officials gathering here this week for the 110th Annual International Association of Police Chiefs convention.

Ashcroft, who was named the nation’s top attorney following the election of President George W. Bush in 2000, was in town briefly yesterday. A spokesperson for his office would not comment on either of Ashcroft’s visits.

The IAPC convention, which will take place at the Pennsylvania Convention Center today through Saturday, was booked shortly after the Republican National Convention in 2000, according to Patti Spaniak, a convention center spokeswoman. However, the timing of Ashcroft’s visit is questionable, said A. Bruce Crawley, a Street supporter.

“It looks mighty suspicious,” Crawley said of Ashcroft’s Philadelphia visit. “(Street’s Republican opponent Sam) Katz’s whole campaign theme against Street is cronyism and pay-to-play. Then the FBI comes in and says we’re going to investigate cronyism.”

Crawley, whose public relations and advertising firm Crawley, Haskins and Sloan has created print and broadcast advertisements for Street’s re-election bid, does not put it past the Republican party to push an investigation against Street. A Katz victory, Crawley said, could make it a bit easier for Bush to win Pennsylvania in next year’s election, something he failed to do against then-Vice President Al Gore in 2000.

The current FBI probe – made public earlier this month when Philadelphia police discovered a listening device in Street’s City Hall office – has centered around a number of African-Americans, from Street and his family to close friends like attorney Ronald A. White and Imam Shamsud-din Ali. Federal agents have also taken documents from city agencies such as the Philadelphia Housing Authority and the Board of Pensions.

To Crawley, it’s not only an issue of politics; it’s now an issue of race.