Day: October 5, 2005

This is not good.

While much of this story has been out for nearly a month (see links below), ABC News has been investigating a possible White House angle. That part of the story is breaking for the first time today.

ABC News: Espionage Case Breaches the White House

Matt Drudge: FBI CHARGES MARINE WITH STEALING DOCUMENTS AND GIVING THEM TO PHILIPPINES… WORKED FOR CHENEY; WORKED IN WHITE HOUSE FOR 3 YEARS… TOP SECRET CLEARANCE; STOLE FROM WHITE HOUSE COMPUTERS… 100+ DOCUMENTS…

Undetected for 3 years? Can you even imagine how much damage could be done in that amount of time?

In 2000, Leandro Aragoncillo worked as a staff member of then-Vice President Al Gore. When interviewed by Philippine television, Aragoncillo remarked how valued Philippine employees were at the White House.

Classified Material Transferred by E-Mail – Officials say the classified material, stolen from the vice president’s office, included damaging dossiers on the president of the Philippines. The suspect then passed those on to opposition politicians planning a coup in the Pacific nation.

I’m wondering if any other secrets were compromised beyond the dossiers mentioned above. Could this spy be working with yet another government?

United States District Court (NJ) Criminal Complaint (PDF)

Background  – Leandro Aragoncillo, 46

Home:  Woodbury, NJ
Birthplace:  Philippines, came to US in 1984
Citizenship:  US, in 1991
Family:  Wife and two children
Occupation:  FBI Intelligence Analyst
Hired July 2004, suspended 12 Sept 2005

• Retired US Marine with 21 years service, 1983-2004. Gunnery Sergeant. Stationed in Japan, Guantanamo Bay, Quantico, VA, Assignment to the White House between 1999 and 2002 as “administration chief” of the security detail assigned to Vice President Cheney.
• Six Good Conduct Medals and a Humanitarian Service Medal

Arrested:  Saturday, 10 September 2005

Charges  

• Knowingly communicating classified information by a government employee to an agent or representative of a foreign country (i.e. receiving classified information).
• Acting as an agent of a foreign official without notification of the Attorney General in violation of Title 18 of the US Code, Section 951
• Unauthorized use of a government computer to obtain and transmit classified information
• Conspiracy to commit all of the above offenses in violation of Title 18 of the US Code Section 371.

Dates of Spying:  January 2005 to August 2005

Possible Motivations:  $500,000 in debts, mostly mortgages on rental properties

— FBI Probes Ex-Marine on Classified Info (10/06/05)

Others: John Marzan | James Joyner | Ed Morrissey | Wretchard | Juliette Ochieng | Tom Elko | Joe Gandelman |  

Earlier: Philippine News.com | CI Centre | Manila Standard Today | INQ7 | Malaya | PCIJ Blog | Boston.com | WIRED | STAR – Washington Bureau | USAToday | TheRealityCheck.org | ABS CBN Interactive | The Manila Times |  9/12/05 ABC News Story | 9/12/05 US Dept. of Justice News Release |

Obviously, one of the Capos messed up and didn’t bury the police report in time.

Two days after he was placed on probation last month for taking classified documents, former national security adviser Sandy Berger was accused of reckless driving in Virginia by police who said he was traveling 88 miles per hour in a 55 mph zone.

On Wednesday, Berger appeared before the same federal magistrate who had sentenced him on Sept. 8 in the documents case. Deborah Robinson admonished Berger, and she will decide eventually whether to punish him further.

She’ll decide eventually whether to punish him further? What kind of decision is that?

He was stopped on Sept. 10, and two days later he informed the probation office of the U.S. District Court that he had been speeding because he was late to a meeting and was unaware of how fast he was traveling.

The probation office “reiterated to Mr. Berger” that all violations of the law and probation are taken seriously, the office said in a two-page report to the federal magistrate dated Sept. 28.

Yeah, taken seriously, just like the court took seriously the act of stealing classified documents, destroying said documents, and then lying about stealing and destroying said documents.

Last night I saw a report by Andrea Mitchell of NBC News focusing on the fight between Bush and Conservatives over his nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court. What bugged me about it was Mitchell’s sing-songy delivery. There was a certain amount of joy in her voice. It got me thinking about the temperature of the debate, and how important it is that Conservative Bloggers remain composed while they communicate their position on the matter. The distilling of opinion is great, and necessary, but if things get out of hand (as they often do), and the conversation becomes mean spirited, the MSM and the Left will eat it up. The focus will shift from the real issue over Miers to a story about GOP disunity. That’s something we don’t need one year out from mid-term elections.

The Democrats belong to the divided party. Republicans should be careful that we don’t inadvertently wrestle that characteristic away from them.

If you need to be brought up to speed on all sides of the debate over Miers, there are two good sources that I’ve found. One is Joe Gandelman at the Moderate Voice, and the other is Michelle Malkin, who’s been covering the twists and turns for a few days now.

A bogus story about a new Single-Play DVD technology from Microsoft was published yesterday in an obscure UK business magazine and promptly picked up by other major tech sites. Problem is, no one checked the facts behind the report until a flurry of email activity from within Microsoft uncovered the truth.

PunditGuy is one year old today.

When I started this little hobby, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I had no idea how much it would become a part of my life. I had no idea how much fun it would be.

I had no idea that one year later, blogging would become a love of mine.

Well, it has.

After 365 days, hundreds of thousands of typed words, roughly 584,000 unique sets of eyes, three different versions of blogging software, and three complete redesigns, I still wake up each day eager to learn something new, hopeful that I’ll write better today than I did yesterday, and grateful for each reader who stops by.

Blogging is a wonderful thing.

If you’ll indulge me a bit, there are a few people I need to thank. Each one has influenced me and in their own way, guided and encouraged me to keep going.

Stephen Green (Vodkapundit)
Hours before I wrote that first post one year ago, I was lucky enough to receive a kind word from Stephen. I asked a few simple questions in an email and he sent back honest answers. Most of all, he said, “Don’t get discouraged!” Thanks Steve.

Jeff Goldstein (Protein Wisdom)
Early on, when he probably should have, Jeff never told me to bug off. Even though I sent him link requests that weren’t always his cup of tea, he always replied with a nice word. Thanks Jeff.

Bill Ardolino (INDC Journal)
Although I’m sure he doesn’t know it, INDC Journal was the first blog to link PunditGuy. Thanks Bill. 

Ace (Ace of Spades HQ)
A good friend who has driven lots of new traffic to PunditGuy. Thanks Ace.

N.Z. Bear (Truth Laid Bear)
NZ taught me a lesson about sending out too many link requests. I respected that and I’ll always remember that bit of guidance. Thanks NZB.

Glenn Reynolds (Instapundit)
How can a one year old blogger not thank Mr. Reynolds? Thanks for the Instalanches Glenn.

Michelle Malkin (Michellemalkin)
She’s been generous and a great example for me. Thanks Michelle.

Kevin Aylward (Wizbang)
Wizbang has been a constant influence for me, and Kevin Alyward has directed many of his readers to articles I’ve written. Thanks Kevin.

Of course there are many, many others to mention. Too many, in fact. Every one of you have shaped this blog. I sincerely appreciate that.

And to the readers of PunditGuy…the ones who come back, day after day, contributing when I’ve had something interesting to say and tolerating me when I’ve posted complete nonsense…you are the fuel that keeps this engine humming.

Thank you.