On December 28th, I blogged about FBI Counterterrorism whistleblower Bassem Youssef, and his intention to speak at the American Library Association conference this Saturday, January 12. Since that time, Mr. Youssef has been informed by his managers that he should be very careful about what he says regarding the Bureau’s deficiencies and missteps in the War on Terror.
According to a letter sent to the Executive Director of the ALA’s Washington Office by Mr. Youssef’s attorney Stephen Kohn, The FBI has sent a "clear warning" to Mr. Youssef regarding the content of his speech, and further, has instructed Mr. Youssef to follow strict censorship rules — rules which he is not allowed to share with anyone outside of the Bureau. Due to threats from FBI managers and these secret censorship requirements, he is now unable to give a speech at the conference. Rather than give a prepared speech, Mr. Youssef will only be available to answer questions from the audience.
The National Whistleblower Center has issued an action alert, calling for supporters to email the Attorney General and demand that he end the senseless retalition and censorship of Mr. Youssef.
Mr. Youssef is scheduled to discuss this issue in an interview with NPR, airing tonight. Check back, I will post more information as it becomes available.
UPDATE: NPR is airing the Youssef story tonight on "All Things Considered." It will be available online at 7pm. (listen here)
**This issue was also covered in today’s Wall Street Journal and on the Raw Story blog.
(To view the entire WSJ piece, access it through a Google News search)