Turkey and Turkish agents

Sibel Edmonds is still expecting to give her deposition on Saturday in Schmidt v. Krikorian.

The Krikorian campaign has issued a press release stating:

Ms. Edmonds is prepared to testify this Saturday in an open to the media deposition in Washington DC that during the time she was employed by the FBI she obtained evidence that:

1. The Government of Turkey had illegally infiltrated and influenced various U.S. government institutions and officials, including the Department of State, the Department of Defense and individual members of the United States Congress

2. The Government of Turkey had engaged in practices and policies that were inimical to American interests and had in fact resulted in both the direct and indirect loss of American lives

3. Turkish American cultural and business groups conduct operations with direct and indirect support from the Government of Turkey

The Krikorian campaign needs to be careful to differentiate between the Government of Turkey and other entities. Sibel's own statement says that her sworn declaration describes:

How certain Turkish entities had illegally infiltrated and influenced various U.S. government agencies and officials, including but not limited to the Department of State, the Department of Defense and individual members of the United States Congress.

How certain Turkish American cultural and business lobby groups conduct their illegal operations with direct and indirect support from the foreign governments.

Sibel has previously made it clear that the Turkish government is not paying the bills for Turkish lobbying firms such as former Speaker Bob Livingston's The Livingston Group. Livingston is featured in Sibel's Rogues Gallery. Livingston's actual clients are believed to be the American Turkish Council (ATC) and the Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA). The same is presumably true for former congressman Stephen Solarz's various lobbying firms.

Similarly, as Sibel stated in a recent interview with Brad Friedman, it was the ATAA and/or the ATC that bribed former Speaker Dennis Hastert. Again, the same is probably true for the other congressional members in Sibel's Rogues Gallery: Tom Lantos, Roy Blunt, Dan Burton and another unidentified female member (married, two adult children, still serving).

Further, it is these private groups, representatives of the military-industrial-complex, that have infiltrated the State Department and the Pentagon. Some reports, such as CBS 60 Minutes, and the New York Observer, suggested that a "Turkish intelligence officer" working out of the Turkish Embassy had spies inside the State Department and the Pentagon, however Sibel cleared up that issue, stating that this individual was not an "official" and that he worked "on behalf of a semi-legitimate organization," namely, the American Turkish Council.

Of course, the Turkish government has historically been involved in some of these activities, particularly under former PM Tansu Ciller, but note that Sibel refers to "foreign governments" in the plural, which includes Israel, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia as well.

In other news, the Krikorian legal team, featuring Mark Geragos, already has Sibel's written declaration. If the government somehow blocks Sibel's deposition on Saturday, will they also gag Geragos? Or is the cat out of the bag?