Sibel Edmonds

"...we fear that the designation of information as classified in some cases [brought forth by Sibel Edmonds] serves to protect the executive branch against embarrassing revelations and full accountability... Releasing declassified versions of these reports, or at least portions or summaries, would serve the public’s interest, increase transparency, promote effectiveness and efficiency at the FBI, and facilitate Congressional oversight."

U.S. Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Charles Grassley (R-IA) in a Letter to Attorney General John Ashcroft

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http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/28/politics/28cnd-scotus.html

Court Turns Down Case of F.B.I. Translator

By DAVID STOUT -

Published: November 28, 2005

WASHINGTON, Nov. 28 - The Supreme Court declined today to consider the case of a former F.B.I. translator who contends she was fired after accusing the bureau of ineptitude in the handling of intelligence related to terrorism.

The justices refused without comment to take the case of Sibel Edmonds, who was a contract linguist for the Federal Bureau of Investigation for about six months, translating material in Turkish, Persian and Azerbaijani, before she was dismissed on April 2, 2002.

Ms. Edmonds had complained repeatedly that bureau linguists produced slipshod and incomplete translations of important intelligence before and after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. She also accused a Turkish linguist in the bureau's Washington field office of blocking the translation of material involving acquaintances who had come under F.B.I. suspicion. She said, too, that the bureau had allowed diplomatic sensitivities to impede the translation of some intelligence.

The F.B.I. said Ms. Edmonds's allegations were incorrect and that she was disruptive.

Ms. Edmonds's accusations had caused great discomfort within the bureau. Justice Department officials had complained that allowing the suit to proceed could expose intelligence-gathering methods and disrupt diplomatic relations. Former Attorney General John Ashcroft invoked a rarely used power and declared that the case fell under the "state secret" privilege.

Mr. Ashcroft's declaration persuaded a federal district judge to dismiss Ms. Edmonds's suit in July 2004. The dismissal was upheld by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit last May, and today's rejection by the Supreme Court is apparently the last legal word in the matter.

But while it lasted, the episode was highly embarrassing to the bureau. A classified investigation by the Justice Department's inspector general's office concluded in 2004 that Ms. Edmonds's assertions "were at least a contributing factor" in her dismissal.

In addition to raising questions about the F.B.I.'s treatment of whistle-blowers, the Edmonds episode focused yet more attention on the bureau's handling of terrorism-related intelligence. The bureau had already been under fire for its handling of intelligence before and after the Sept. 11 attacks.