On June 14, 2006 the Muckraker Report spoke with Arthur Schwartz, Staff Assistant with the DOJ Public Affairs Office. Schwartz fielded these questions over the phone:
1. Is the DOJ currently seeking an indictment by a federal grand jury of Osama bin Laden in connection with the events of September 11, 2001?
2. According to the FBI, Osama bin Laden is wanted by the U.S. government in connection with the August 7, 1998 bombings of the United States Embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya. Why, as of June 14, 2006, is Osama bin Laden not wanted by the U.S. government in connection with the events of September 11, 2001?
3. Why doesn’t the FBI or DOJ have enough hard evidence connecting Osama bin Laden to 9/11? Does the DOJ not want Osama bin Laden in connection with the events of 9/11?
4. On December 13, 2001, the Department of Defense released what has now become known as the “Osama bin Laden 9/11 confession video” within the mainstream media. How is it that this video isn’t sufficient “evidence” to gain an indictment by a federal grand jury – connecting Osama bin Laden to 9/11?
5. Does the DOJ have reason to believe that the so-called “confession video” is authentic?
6. Does the DOJ have reason to believe that the “confession video” is a fake?
7. Does the DOJ have any hard evidence connecting Osama bin Laden to the events of 9/11?
After reading these questions to Schwartz during our phone conversation, Schwartz asked that the Muckraker Report e-mail the questions to
Arthur.Schwartz@usdoj.gov, which is exactly what the Muckraker Report did at 2:21:17 PM on June 14, 2006. Since that time, the Muckraker Report has sent e-mail and called Schwartz on numerous occasions seeking answers to these valid and important questions. I have personally spoken with Schwartz on at least three different occasions since June 14, 2006, seeking status of the DOJ answers. Schwartz contends that he passed the questions onto “others” but refuses to give contact information that identifies exactly who these “others” are and when they might get around to doing their jobs by answering these questions – after all, they’re Public Affairs! Once Schwartz refused to divulge the name
of the government employee that are reportedly working on finding answers to the questions asked by the Muckraker Report, it became clear that the United States Department of Justice is unwilling to voluntarily answer these questions.
Not to be deterred, on August 15, 2006, the Muckraker Report called the DOJ Public Affairs to start anew, but this time, I decided to only ask one question, “Why has Osama bin Laden not been indicted by a federal grand jury in connection with his alleged masterminding of 9/11?” I spoke to a government employee that identified himself as Matt Lebaron. I asked if he could get back to me as soon as possible because I have been waiting over 60 days for an answer, from his office, to this simple question.
Five days have passed, and still no call from Matt Lebaron.