for what it's worth; from drudge

[barb162]

JUSTICE TO WEBSITE: SHOW US YOUR RECORDS
Sun Aug 29 2004 16:45:59 ET

"The Justice Department is demanding records on a liberal Internet site that lists delegates to the Republican National Convention and urges protesters to give them an unwelcome reception, the NY TIMES is planning to splash on Monday, newsroom sources tell DRUDGE.

Federal prosecutors said in a subpoena that the information was needed as part of a criminal investigation into possible voter intimidation.

But civil rights advocates argue that the Internet postings amount to political dissent, not threats or intimidation.

NYT repporter Eric Lichtblau set to detail how: "The grand jury investigation comes at a time when federal officials have mounted an aggressive effort to identify what they say could be violence by political demonstrators in New York and at other major political events."

[Sparkly]

1. What?!?

An "unwelcome reception?" What are they afraid of?

Any clue about which site it is?

[whistle]

2. Which sites could these possibly be, does "Dredge" say?

[barb162]

3. no, that's just what is so scary about it...the intimidation factor.

and Drudge is so GOP oriented it would not surprise me if this was purposeful to quiet web (and all other kinds of) dissent.

[barb162]

4. this is the complete article

[bluestateguy]

5. Their response should be:

"We are studying the request. Our lawyers will be in contact with your lawyers"

[blondeatlast]

6. It's been pulled as far as I know, but this was in an indymedia forum

last week. They pulled it once, it was replaced, then pulled again. It did NOT appear to have been posted as editorial content; it was on a forum.

I don't buy any of the Justice Department crap, though.

Edit: I saw the post, and I saw no direct call to harass delegates. Use of the information was left to the "user," so to speak. Drudge is 1% accurate, 99% full of poop, as per usual.

[barb162]

11. here's the article from NYTimes

Subpoena Seeks Records About Delegate Lists on Web
By ERIC LICHTBLAU

Published: August 30, 2004


ASHINGTON, Aug. 29 - The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation and is demanding records regarding Internet postings by critics of the Bush administration that list the names of Republican delegates and urge protesters to give them an unwelcome reception in New York City.



Federal prosecutors said in a grand jury subpoena that the information was needed as part of an investigation into possible voter intimidation. Protesters and civil rights advocates argued that the Web postings were legitimate political dissent, not threats or intimidation.

The investigation, conducted by the Secret Service, comes at a time when federal officials have begun an aggressive effort to prevent what they say could be violence by demonstrators at the convention this week and at other major political events. Large-scale demonstrations in New York began over the weekend.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has questioned at least several dozen would-be protesters about whether they knew of any plans for violent demonstrations, and it has directed agents nationwide to identify possible criminal plots. Some Democrats in Congress and civil rights advocates have criticized the efforts, saying the inquiries have had a chilling effect on free speech.The accusations are likely to intensify with the disclosure of the subpoena regarding the Republican delegates.


rest of story 2pp is under campaign2004

[Democat]

7. Don't investigate or count votes in Florida, but go after liberal speech?

Bush must be stopped.

[Kadie]

8. voter intimidation?

If posting on a website is voter intimidation then we could say that we get the same thing every day on the news when the republicans open their mouths.

[barb162]

9. LOL

when the NYC march was over today and CSPAN switched to some convention crap with Pataki or someone else like him blabbing the glories of the GOP, I just had to turn the TV off. It is worse than intimidation, it's enough to gag and sicken.

[barb162]

10. here is article from NYT'drudge correct

Subpoena Seeks Records About Delegate Lists on Web
By ERIC LICHTBLAU

Published: August 30, 2004


ASHINGTON, Aug. 29 - The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation and is demanding records regarding Internet postings by critics of the Bush administration that list the names of Republican delegates and urge protesters to give them an unwelcome reception in New York City.

Advertisement


Federal prosecutors said in a grand jury subpoena that the information was needed as part of an investigation into possible voter intimidation. Protesters and civil rights advocates argued that the Web postings were legitimate political dissent, not threats or intimidation.

The investigation, conducted by the Secret Service, comes at a time when federal officials have begun an aggressive effort to prevent what they say could be violence by demonstrators at the convention this week and at other major political events. Large-scale demonstrations in New York began over the weekend.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has questioned at least several dozen would-be protesters about whether they knew of any plans for violent demonstrations, and it has directed agents nationwide to identify possible criminal plots. Some Democrats in Congress and civil rights advocates have criticized the efforts, saying the inquiries have had a chilling effect on free speech.The accusations are likely to intensify with the disclosure of the subpoena regarding the Republican delegates.
see nYT for rest of 2pp article under campaign 2004 section of paper