Nobody Is Above The Law
Democratic Mayor John Street has accused the FBI of a political attack after covert listening devices were discovered in his office.
From the article:
NBC News correspondent Pete Williams said that several sources confirmed to him that
the device was placed in the office by the U.S. government.
However, a law enforcement official cautioned that the presence of the bug there does not necessarily mean that the mayor, himself, is under investigation. Officials confirmed to NBC News it was put in place by federal investigators, though they won't say specifically whether it was the work of the FBI or another agency.
Williams said it was unclear if the surveillance was directly related to two ongoing federal investigations in Philadelphia.
One current investigation involves a no-bid, $1 million-a-year airport-services contract between the Street administration and a company owned by the mayor's brother, Milton Street.
The other investigation is related to an alleged parking-ticket fixing scandal involving more than 125,000 parking tickets between 1997 and March 2003. News of the federal parking-ticket probe first surfaced in March 2003.
Mayor Street goes on to accuse Republicans of planting the listening devices in order to gain an advantage in the mayoral election polls, currently being led by Street.
This story is still developing but currently it doesn't really look all that sinister, though I'm sure the liberal media will spin it that way. There have been two major, federal investigations going on in Philadelphia concerning Street's administration. Those investigations were initiated over a year ago, well before any thoughts for this year's election.
Street's campaigners seem to have an odd look out on the situation as well:
"What the campaign does find incredibly curious is that the FBI could so quickly leap to the conclusion that this was not related to the mayoral campaign in any way, shape or form," said Street campaign spokesman Frank Keel. "The timing of the discovery of these listening devices seems incredibly strange, seeing that we are four weeks out of the election, and we have a Democratic mayor ahead in the polls, and we are on the eve of the first mayoral debate."
Isn't the timing in the discovery of these listening devices more damaging for Republicans then Democrats? It would seem that the situation would give Street's campaign ammunition with which to attack the Republican candidate. Let's not forget that it is, in reality, not that easy for the FBI to get the type of warrant needed to plant such devices.
How the devices were found, however, is somewhat odd. City law enforcement discovered the devices after a routine sweep of the mayor's office, something that has been going on for decades. One would assume the FBI would at least notify the city-level law enforcement of the presence of the bugs, especially since the routine sweeps were no secret. Given the nature of the investigation, however, it may not be that surprising. It would be hard to tell where corruption which starts in the mayor's office ended.
This isn't the first controversial occurrence in this election. In August a firebomb was thrown through the front windows of Street's opponent Sam Katz'scampaign offices. An aide to Street and a former city employee were charged with making threats after getting into a confrontation the same day.
Unless the planting was done illegally don't expect much to come of this.
NBC10.com - Politics - NBC News: Feds Planted Bug In Street's Office
From the article:
NBC News correspondent Pete Williams said that several sources confirmed to him that
the device was placed in the office by the U.S. government. However, a law enforcement official cautioned that the presence of the bug there does not necessarily mean that the mayor, himself, is under investigation. Officials confirmed to NBC News it was put in place by federal investigators, though they won't say specifically whether it was the work of the FBI or another agency.
Williams said it was unclear if the surveillance was directly related to two ongoing federal investigations in Philadelphia.
One current investigation involves a no-bid, $1 million-a-year airport-services contract between the Street administration and a company owned by the mayor's brother, Milton Street.
The other investigation is related to an alleged parking-ticket fixing scandal involving more than 125,000 parking tickets between 1997 and March 2003. News of the federal parking-ticket probe first surfaced in March 2003.
Mayor Street goes on to accuse Republicans of planting the listening devices in order to gain an advantage in the mayoral election polls, currently being led by Street.
This story is still developing but currently it doesn't really look all that sinister, though I'm sure the liberal media will spin it that way. There have been two major, federal investigations going on in Philadelphia concerning Street's administration. Those investigations were initiated over a year ago, well before any thoughts for this year's election.
Street's campaigners seem to have an odd look out on the situation as well:
"What the campaign does find incredibly curious is that the FBI could so quickly leap to the conclusion that this was not related to the mayoral campaign in any way, shape or form," said Street campaign spokesman Frank Keel. "The timing of the discovery of these listening devices seems incredibly strange, seeing that we are four weeks out of the election, and we have a Democratic mayor ahead in the polls, and we are on the eve of the first mayoral debate."
Isn't the timing in the discovery of these listening devices more damaging for Republicans then Democrats? It would seem that the situation would give Street's campaign ammunition with which to attack the Republican candidate. Let's not forget that it is, in reality, not that easy for the FBI to get the type of warrant needed to plant such devices.
How the devices were found, however, is somewhat odd. City law enforcement discovered the devices after a routine sweep of the mayor's office, something that has been going on for decades. One would assume the FBI would at least notify the city-level law enforcement of the presence of the bugs, especially since the routine sweeps were no secret. Given the nature of the investigation, however, it may not be that surprising. It would be hard to tell where corruption which starts in the mayor's office ended.
This isn't the first controversial occurrence in this election. In August a firebomb was thrown through the front windows of Street's opponent Sam Katz'scampaign offices. An aide to Street and a former city employee were charged with making threats after getting into a confrontation the same day.
Unless the planting was done illegally don't expect much to come of this.
NBC10.com - Politics - NBC News: Feds Planted Bug In Street's Office
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