No pardons for officers of the law

Special counsel sought for imprisoned border agents
Head of union wants probe of case against 'innocent men doing their job'
Posted: January 18, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern By Jerome R. Corsi
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

The head of a union representing most Border Patrol agents is calling on President Bush and Congress to appoint a special counsel to investigate the case of agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean, who began prison sentences yesterday for shooting a Mexican drug smuggler.

TJ Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, which represents 60 percent of the nation's agents, called the convictions an outrage.

"This case involves two innocent men doing their job, trying to secure our borders," he told WND. "They were defending themselves against an armed drug smuggler, and yet they end up in prison. How is that possible?"

On Tuesday, federal Judge Kathleen Cardone of El Paso, Texas, denied Ramos' and Compean's contention they were not a flight risk and rejected their motion to stay out of prison on bond while they appeal their case to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.

Bonner told WND the agents' imprisonment will have a detrimental effect on the willingness of Border Patrol agents to go out and enforce immigration laws.

"The Bush administration is sending a message to all law enforcement officers," Bonner told WND, "that it is to be 'hands off the border, leave it wide open, don't you dare do your jobs or you too will end up in federal prison.' "After this travesty of justice," he continued, "why would any Border Patrol agent stick their neck out trying to apprehend a Mexican drug smuggler, especially when you realize that you could be the one who ends up behind bars?"

The Bush administration continues to argue on background that Ramos and Compean lied to Border Patrol officials and covered up evidence, asserting the Mexican drug smuggler was not armed and had attempted to surrender peacefully.

Bonner disagrees, arguing there were "only three people who saw what happened on the other side of that levee – Agent Ramos, Agent Compean, and the Mexican drug smuggler, Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila."

"The agents testified that the drug smuggler did not have his hands up, that he was running away, and that he pointed an object at them that they believed to be a gun. So, the agents opened fire," Bonner said. "Essentially, what the White House is saying is that they believe the word of a drug smuggler over the word of two sworn federal agents."

The Bush administration further charges Ramos and Compean failed to file a report that was required after their weapons had been discharged.

Bonner argues that under Border Patrol policy, Ramos and Compean were required to make an oral report, not a written report.

"The agents did fail to make an oral report, but under Border Patrol policy, that failure merits at most a five-day suspension. It is not a crime, it is an administrative violation."

Bonner said a lot of Americans are wondering why the Bush administration seems to be making an effort to represent the case the way the drug smuggler wants it seen.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53823

They don't throw this many charges at guys they've caught with over 2,000 pounds of marijuana," Ramos said. "There's murderers and child rapists that are looking at less time than me.

Ramos, 37, and Compean, 28, are set to be sentenced Aug. 22 for shooting Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila, a Mexican citizen, on Feb. 17, 2005, in the small Texas town of Fabens, about 40 miles south east of El Paso.

A Texas jury convicted the pair of assault with serious bodily injury; assault with a deadly weapon; discharge of a firearm in relation to a crime of violence; and a civil rights violation. Compean and Ramos also were convicted of four counts and two counts, respectively, of obstruction of justice for not reporting that their weapons had been fired.

The jury acquitted both men of assault with intent to commit murder.

But the conviction for discharge of a firearm in relation to a crime of violence requires a minimum 10-year prison sentence. The sentences for the other convictions vary.

On July 25, the El Paso U.S. Probation Office recommended to Judge Kathleen Cardone that each man get 20 years.

http://www.dailybulletin.com/news/ci_4141562

This is worse than unjust. What is up with president Bush? He pardons drug dealers during Christmas, but won't pardon the two federal border agents. Maybe if they had Euro-american sounding names, they would've been pardoned.

Provides links to info about Bush pardons of drug dealers...

http://www.nbpc.net/

Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean - America shames itself by your prosecutions.

Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos Jose Compean

http://agentramos.blogspot.com/

http://ramos-compean.blogspot.com/

Tom Tangredo was guest on O'Reilly Factor this evening.

http://tancredo.house.gov/irc/WYB.2006.06.22.html

O'Reilly didn't have a clue - he kept saying the two agents broke the law - they hid the facts, covered-up. He said he thought they'd be pardoned, eventually, but they needed to be made an example so we don't have more border patrol agents "breaking the law."

Right O'Reilly, let's make an example of them for an administrative mistake, but let the illegal aliens free reign.

O'Reilly spent a portion of the segment on the border agents, then moved on to Tancredo's presidential bid. He said, you won't win... you make too much sense.

That was extremely odd, wasn't it?

O'Reilly must have read this: http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/b/border-agents.htm

Devvy Kidd viewpoint

http://www.newswithviews.com/Devvy/kidd206.htm

Why is it Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean are held to a higher standard than Bush. This is what is puzzling.

We have yet to learn what President Bush knew about potential threats to U.S. before September 11, 2001. Was there a cover-up? Bush didn't even testify to the 9/11 Commission under oath or in public hearing. Was there a cover-up? We have yet to have any decent questions answered about when precisely Bush knew that a plane or more than one plane may have been hijacked that morning. Was there a cover-up?

We'll never know, because President Bush escapes accountability by the 9/11 Commission hearings, and there have been no Congressional hearings wherein President Bush has been required to testify under oath.

The inaction of Bush to pardon these two men is the downfall of Bush. It is all down hill from this point forward. Whereas many political conservatives supported Bush on the war on terror, they are leaving his camp in droves on this border security issue. They will leave quicker after Bush's failure to pardon law enforcement agents who faced death day in and day out.

We need our Congressional reps to do more than they are doing. Obviously, letters to President Bush and AG are not enough.

Dana Rohrabacher

http://rohrabacher.house.gov/news/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=50972

Phyllis Schlafly

...

How did the prosecution go from an administrative violation for failing to report a firearm discharge, with the penalty of perhaps a 5-day suspension, to prosecution for intent to commit murder?

After the trial, two jurors gave sworn statements that they had been pressured to render a guilty verdict and did not understand that a hung jury was possible.

A major argument used by the prosecution during the trial was that our government has a policy forbidding agents from chasing suspected drug smugglers without first getting permission from supervisors. That sounds like a no-arrest policy; by the time an agent gets permission, a smuggler can be out of sight and safely back over the border.

There were a couple of factual discrepancies between the smuggler's story and the agents' testimony, but the government chose to believe the immunity-motivated repeat drug smuggler rather than Border Patrol agents with clean records. Ramos was nominated for Border Patrol Agent of the year in 2005, and Compean served honorably in the U.S. Navy before joining the Border Patrol.

The Bush Administration tidied up Aldrete's wound at a U.S. hospital at our expense and opened the way for him to sue the U.S. government for $5 million for violating his civil rights, which he is now doing.

This case exposes the misplaced priorities of the Bush Administration. The case also reminds us that our Border Patrol agents are in daily danger from hardened criminals.

The Department of Homeland Security issued this Officer Safety Alert on December 21, 2005: "Unidentified Mexican alien smugglers . . . have agreed that the best way to deal with U.S. Border Patrol agents is to hire a group of contract killers." The alert cautions that, to perform the killings, the smugglers intend to use the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) street gang, known for its unspeakable atrocities and torture.

T.J. Bonner, national Border Patrol Council. said: "There is a palpable sense of outrage and betrayal. Here, you have five convicted drug dealers being pardoned, and two border patrol agents, who were doing their job, fighting the war on drugs on the front lines, and they're going to prison."...

http://www.eagleforum.org/column/2007/jan07/07-01-03.html

January 14, 2007 at 13:23:58

An Open Letter to All Border Patrol Agents by Doc Farmer

Dear Border Patrol Agents, Officers, and Employees,

excerpt

There have been many calls for the president to provide a pardon for these two gentlemen. Fifty-one congressmen signed a letter asking the president to intervene on their behalf. Well, George W. Bush did issue some pardons a short while back. However, he was apparently too busy pardoning convicted drug dealers to get around to pardoning two men who were wrongly prosecuted and persecuted for trying to stop a drug trafficker who was illegally in our country.

Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean are scheduled to report to prison on January 17, 2006. Illegal Alien and Drug Smuggler Osbaldo Aldrete-Davilla is laughing all the way to the bank.

If this isn't a perversion of justice, I don't know what is.

There are nearly 30,000 border patrol agents, officers and employees currently out there, doing a very necessary but very hard job.

Now I, as an American, am going to ask you to do something very, very hard.

I'm asking all of you, on January 17, 2006, to quit your jobs.

http://www.libertypost.org/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=173146

2 Border Patrol Agents to Turn Themselves in Today for Shooting Mexican Drug Runner
Wednesday, January 17, 2007 By Liza Porteus

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,244193,00.html

Border agents sent to prison
Angry Republican congressman calls President Bush 'disgrace'

http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53805

Pardon Border Agents, Mr. President By Mike Blair
Fifty-one members of Congress on Dec. 11 sent a letter to President Bush
asking that he commute the sentences of or pardon two U.S. Border Patrol officers sentenced to a combined 20 years for shooting a fleeing illegal alien drug trafficker they had caught smuggling 80 pounds of marijuana and 20 pounds of cocaine across the border from Mexico.

Presidential press secretary Tony Snow has called the pardon issue “nonsensical.” But the appeal to the president, headed by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.), urges Bush to issue “Christmas pardons.”

Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean encountered Osbaldo Aldrete-Davilla on Feb. 17, 2005, in a van containing drugs near a levee road along the Rio Grande River, near the Texas town of Febens...

http://www.americanfreepress.net/html/pardon_border_agents.html

Border Agents Plead for 'Christmas Pardon.'

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1759777/posts

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush issued 16 pardons Thursday and commuted the sentence of an Iowa man convicted of drug charges.

Six of the federal offenses were drug crimes, while others included bank fraud, mail fraud, the acceptance of a kickback, a false statement on a loan application and conspiracy to defraud the government over taxes.

Seven of the 16 received no prison or jail time, instead getting probation or a reduction in their military pensions.

The longest sentence was nine years, for aiding cocaine distribution, followed by a six-year term for conspiracy to possess marijuana.

With this batch, Bush has issued 113 pardons and commuted three sentences in his nearly six years in the White House, according to spokesman Tony Fratto.

http://edition.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/12/21/bush.pardons.ap/index.html

More

http://freedomfolks.blogspot.com/2006/12/remember-ramos-and-compean.html

http://www.cfiflistmanager.org/compeaniv1be.html

O'Reilly unbalanced

O'Reilly interviews Johnny Sutton, prosecutor of two border patrol agents, Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean.

Sutton said the two agents shot an unarmed man and instead of reporting the facts they covered it up.

O'Reilly fell for it. He didn't have anyone to speak on behalf of the agents.

Mancow was a follow-up guest a few minutes later, and he did not comment on the border agents! This is weird. Surely, Mancow would engage O'Reilly on the agents, but he didn't. The pair talked instead about the woman who died from drinking two gallons of water to win a contest.

This is puzzling, because Mancow I'm sure would take the side of the border agents. Yet, he isn't asked, nor does he offer an opinion on that issue.

O'Reilly neglected to have anyone representing the position of the two border agents.

http://agentramos.blogspot.com/

http://ramos-compean.blogspot.com/

He obviously didn't read World Net Daily today, either, or if he did, he ignored the article:

Special counsel sought for imprisoned border agents
Head of union wants probe of case against 'innocent men doing their job'
Posted: January 18, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Jerome R. Corsi
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

The head of a union representing most Border Patrol agents is calling on President Bush and Congress to appoint a special counsel to investigate the case of agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean, who began prison sentences yesterday for shooting a Mexican drug smuggler.

TJ Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, which represents 60 percent of the nation's agents, called the convictions an outrage.

"This case involves two innocent men doing their job, trying to secure our borders," he told WND. "They were defending themselves against an armed drug smuggler, and yet they end up in prison. How is that possible?"

On Tuesday, federal Judge Kathleen Cardone of El Paso, Texas, denied Ramos' and Compean's contention they were not a flight risk and rejected their motion to stay out of prison on bond while they appeal their case to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.

Bonner told WND the agents' imprisonment will have a detrimental effect on the willingness of Border Patrol agents to go out and enforce immigration laws.

"The Bush administration is sending a message to all law enforcement officers," Bonner told WND, "that it is to be 'hands off the border, leave it wide open, don't you dare do your jobs or you too will end up in federal prison.' "After this travesty of justice," he continued, "why would any Border Patrol agent stick their neck out trying to apprehend a Mexican drug smuggler, especially when you realize that you could be the one who ends up behind bars?"

The Bush administration continues to argue on background that Ramos and Compean lied to Border Patrol officials and covered up evidence, asserting the Mexican drug smuggler was not armed and had attempted to surrender peacefully.

Bonner disagrees, arguing there were "only three people who saw what happened on the other side of that levee – Agent Ramos, Agent Compean, and the Mexican drug smuggler, Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila."

"The agents testified that the drug smuggler did not have his hands up, that he was running away, and that he pointed an object at them that they believed to be a gun. So, the agents opened fire," Bonner said. "Essentially, what the White House is saying is that they believe the word of a drug smuggler over the word of two sworn federal agents."

The Bush administration further charges Ramos and Compean failed to file a report that was required after their weapons had been discharged.

Bonner argues that under Border Patrol policy, Ramos and Compean were required to make an oral report, not a written report.

"The agents did fail to make an oral report, but under Border Patrol policy, that failure merits at most a five-day suspension. It is not a crime, it is an administrative violation."

Bonner said a lot of Americans are wondering why the Bush administration seems to be making an effort to represent the case the way the drug smuggler wants it seen.

"If you go to the U.S. attorney's website and look at their version of the events, it looks like the drug smuggler wrote that statement himself," he said. "The U.S. attorney is relying on the drug smuggler's statements, and this drug smuggler has everything to gain by lying."

Bonner pointed out the drug smuggler is suing the federal government for $5 million.

"The government is aiding his case by prosecuting these Border Patrol agents wrongfully," Bonner said. "The U.S. government has virtually guaranteed that Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila is going to walk away."

A statement from U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton, published Oct. 23, 2006, on the U.S. Department of Justice U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas, claims Compean and Ramos "shot 15 times at an unarmed man who was running away from them and posed no threat. They lied about what happened, covered up the shooting, conspired to destroy the evidence and then proceeded to write up and file a false report."...


http://netthetruthonline.blogspot.com/search?q=border+agents

Meanwhile, newshounds says Hannity and Colmes featured one of the agents on the 16th without anyone from the opposite side.

A Biased, Unbalanced Report of Border Patrol Shooting
Reported by Ellen - January 17, 2007
Several weeks ago, I posted about a Hannity & Colmes segment in which Congressman Dana Rohrabacher became furious with Alan Colmes for questioning the actions of two Border Patrol agents convicted for shooting a drug smuggler from behind and tampering with the evidence. Rohrabacher was one of a number of Congressman seeking a pardon for agents. Last night (1/16/07), on Hannity & Colmes, FOX News did its part for the effort. The show featured one of the agents, due to start his jail sentence today, recounting the events from his side only. Not surprisingly, he left out a few bits of important information.

http://www.newshounds.us/2007/01/17/a_biased_unbalanced_report_of_border_patrol_shooting.php

Odder still

Unresolved Problems Segment
Securing the Mexican border

Guest: Sara Carter, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

The Factor described a case that has landed two border agents in very hot water: "U.S. border patrol agents Jose Compean and Ignacio Ramos have been convicted by a jury in Texas of trying to cover up the shooting of a suspected Mexican drug smuggler near El Paso. The two will be sentenced later this month, could get 20 years in prison." Sara Carter, a reporter for the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, relayed the most outrageous part of the prosecution of Compean and Ramos: "The smuggler, alive in Mexico, comes back and testifies against these two Border Patrol agents, given immunity by our own Department of Homeland Security. He comes back and testifies, and a jury convicts these guys." The Factor commented on the conviction: "This seems like a miscarriage of justice, prosecuting these guys. I don't think they're going to do any time, if they are, that's ridiculous."

http://www.billoreilly.com/show?action=viewTVShow&showID=932

More perspective

http://www.immigrationwatchdog.com/2006/12/24/bush-pardons-drug-dealers-and-sends-border-agents-to-prison/

Congress Bill Seeks Amnesty for Border Patrol Agents

Update Watching Developments.

Congressman tells Fox news on Saturday legislative Bill seeks amnesty for convicted and jailed border patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean.

Fox interviews U.S. Congressman Ed Royce, a Republican...

Host lays out the story saying the men were convicted of shooting a drug smuggler in the back... (actually, it was the buttocks)

Royce says Congress is considering a bill to give amnesty basically a pardon to Ramos and Compean who began serving 11 and 12 year sentences Wednesday.

Royce averred the incarceration of the agents in a federal prison was dangerous...

27 percent of the inmates are illegal aliens and with ties to the same cartels the border patrol agents are trying to battle.

At the end of the interview, the host says President Bush has also said he would consider a pardon.

Royce says they've asked President Bush for just such a pardon of the men.

Net the Truth Online January 20, 2007

More

House of Representatives press release re: Bill to pardon border agents

Subject: FW: HUNTER INTRODUCES BILL TO PARDON CONVICTED BORDER AGENTS
Date: Thu, 18 Jan 2007 16:10:40 -0500
Congressman Duncan Hunter
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington D.C. 20515

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 18, 2007

HUNTER INTRODUCES BILL TO PARDON CONVICTED BORDER PATROL AGENTS

Washington D.C. - Today, Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-CA) introduced the Congressional Pardon for Border Patrol Agents Ramos and Compean Act. The legislation pardons convicted Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, who reported to prison yesterday to begin serving 11 and 12 year sentences respectively. The conviction derived from an incident involving their efforts to apprehend a drug smuggler on the international border with Mexico...

http://www.dailybulletin.com/news/news/ci_5041029

Net the Truth Online has not been able to verify the original source for this story.

Bush to talk to border agents' families
Convicted border guards hoping for pardon in shooting
By Sara A. Carter, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 01/20/2007 12:00:00 AM PST
President Bush is expected to reach out to the families of two Texas Border Patrol agents convicted of shooting a Mexican drug smuggler.

White House staff contacted former agent Ignacio Ramos' family early Friday, assuring them the president would call them soon, said Monica Ramos, the agent's wife.

Ramos and fellow former agent Jose Alonso Compean were convicted last spring on multiple charges, including assault with a deadly weapon, for the nonfatal shooting of Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila on Feb. 17, 2005.
Earlier this week, the agents turned themselves in to U.S. Marshals to begin serving 11 and 12 years, respectively, in federal prison.

The pair has found support for a presidential pardon in the form of legislation sponsored by Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-El Cajon, and in petitions with more than 250,000 signatures.

More than 70 representatives have signed on to Hunter's legislation, making it the first time in American history that Congress has taken an active role in the pardon process, said Joseph Bessette, professor of government and ethics at Claremont McKenna College.

Bessette added that the decision to grant a pardon still rests solely with the president.

Bush indicated in a television interview Thursday that he would review the case, leaving open the possibility of a pardon...

http://www.dailybulletin.com/news/ci_5051275

find story posted at http://agentramos.blogspot.com/
World Net Daily publishes KFOX-TV verbatum without attribution - very odd

The Corsi interviews of U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton are a must read. But as the defense was not also interviewed concerning the facts of the case, the report remains one-sided.

Meet man who prosecuted jailed Border Patrol agents
'Reasonable people can argue about punishment, whether [it] was too harsh'
Posted: January 20, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern

Editor's note: WND's Jerome R. Corsi scored an exclusive in-depth interview with U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton and spoke with him regarding his prosecution of Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean, who went to prison Wednesday amid the protests of many Americans and angry lawmakers seeking a pardon from President Bush. Sutton agreed to talk to WND on the condition his interview was published in Q&A form and his remarks were unedited.

President Bush, while leaving the door open to a possible presidential pardon, has urged people to "take a sober look at the case," saying it has to work its way through the system.

"People need to take a tough look at the facts, the evidence a jury looked at, as well as the judge. And I will do the same thing," he said.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53856

Border agents' prosecutor responds to critics
U.S. attorney: 'I understand the public relations problem the case has caused'
Posted: January 19, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern By Jerome R. Corsi
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53837

also see Justice Department release

STATEMENT OF UNITED STATES ATTORNEY JOHNNY SUTTON REGARDING THECONVICTION OF FORMER BORDER PATROL AGENTS COMPEAN AND RAMOS

http://www.kvia.com/global/story.asp?s=5356653&ClientType=Printable

Special counsel sought for imprisoned border agents
Head of union wants probe of case against 'innocent men doing their job'
Posted: January 18, 2007 By Jerome R. Corsi
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53823

Jurors say they were misled to convict agents
Louie Gilot, El Paso Times
Article Launched: 10/18/2006

http://www.dailybulletin.com/ci_4508579

Yesterday, we posted a wealth of material including an unofficial transcript of KFOX-TV's Alison Burns face-to-face interview with President Bush in El Paso, Texas.

Our analysis proves the KFOX-TV proclamation Bush: Convicted Border Agents Could Be Pardoned is not only misleading, it is pure falsehood.

http://netthetruthonline.blogspot.com/2007/01/myth-of-border-agents-presidential.html

Watch the video for yourself... Bush does not say what the headliner states.

Convicted Border Agents Could Be Pardoned

http://www.kfoxtv.com/news/10785667/detail.html

Here's Ramos' version of what happened that day:

...PUZZLING ARGUMENT
Ramos said his pursuit of Aldrete-Davila was nothing different from what he's done in the past 10 years as a Border Patrol agent.

"How are we supposed to follow the Border Patrol strategy of apprehending terrorists or drug smugglers if we are not supposed to pursue fleeing people?" he continued. "Everybody who's breaking the law flees from us. What are we supposed to do? Do they want us to catch them or not?"

Ramos also said that both supervisors who were at the scene knew shots had been fired but did not file reports.

"You need to tell a supervisor because you can't assume that a supervisor knows about it," Kanof countered. "You have to report any discharge of a firearm."

Mary Stillinger, Ramos' attorney, and Maria Ramirez, Compean's attorney, said during the trial that every other Border Patrol agent at the scene also failed to report shots had been fired.

"Every single witness has a reason to lie," Ramirez said, referring to the immunity granted to Aldrete-Davila and the other agents in exchange for testifying against Ramos and Compean.

According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Table of Offenses and Penalties, failure to report that a weapon has been fired in the line of duty is punishable by a five-day suspension

...

http://www.dailybulletin.com/news/ci_4141562

Myth of Border Agents Presidential Pardons

It is imperative to sign the petition at grassfire.org first, if you have not already done so, and/or contact President George Bush and demand a pardon for Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean.

http://www.grassfire.org/142/petition.asp?PID=11534548&NID=1

White House Phone: 202-456-111
White House Fax: 202-456-2461
White House E-mail: comments@whitehouse.gov
Congress and Pelosi: 866-340-9281
Attorney Albert Gonzales: 202-514-2001
Prosecuting Attorny Office (Johnny Sutton & Debra Kanof): 210-384-7400
Tony Snow: 202-456-2673

Link from http://ramos-compean.blogspot.com/ contains information and material and a link to form to send email

Urgent Appeal for Presidential Pardon
Two Border Patrol Agents Being Railroaded for Political Purposes

http://capwiz.com/usbc/index_frame.dbq?url=http://capwiz.com/usbc/issues/alert/?alertid=9177571&type=PR

The following was compiled by Net the Truth Online which alone takes full responsibility for tagging KFOX-TV headline Bush: Convicted Border Agents Could be Pardoned a myth.

Friday's KFOX-TV news breaking interview with President George W. Bush in El Paso, Texas produced the astonishing headline
Bush: Convicted Border Agents Could Be Pardoned which we'll show has been manufactured to create the hype and hope that President George W. Bush may pardon Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean, two border patrol agents prosecuted by U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton and convicted by a Texas jury for pursuing and shooting a fleeing illegal alien, and smuggling suspect, Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila of Mexico.

The idea that Bush may pardon the two border patrol agents quells resounding and growing criticism of President Bush for his continued inaction in the case since their trial which began in March 2006 and ended after two weeks. According to World Net Daily a federal jury convicted Compean, 28, and Ramos, 37, in March after a two-week trial on charges of causing serious bodily injury, assault with a deadly weapon, discharge of a firearm in relation to a crime of violence and a civil rights violation.

Wednesday, January 17, 2007, the men entered federal prison to begin serving sentences of 11 and 12 years for those charges.

Before the conviction, supporters of Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean began an effort to obtain justice, including seeking a pardon from President George W. Bush.

According to http://ramos-compean.blogspot.com/ ...For months multiple organizations have been working with members of Congress to raise awareness of this case. One member who has been leading the charge is Congressman Walter Jones (R-NC). Over the past four months, Congressman Jones has written seven letters to the Bush administration regarding the Ramos and Compean case: three to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, one to Press Secretary Tony Snow, and three to President Bush himself.

Indeed, one of the letters sent to Attorney General Gonzales was signed by 22 members of Congress; another by six members.

However, during the Christmas holiday, President George W. Bush reportedly began the process to pardon, and therefore exonerate several persons, but Ramos and Compean were not among the commutation and pardons...

Bush pardons 16, commutes sentence in drug case
POSTED: 7:20 p.m. EST, December 21, 2006

President Bush issued 16 pardons Thursday and commuted the sentence of an Iowa man convicted of drug charges.

Six of the federal offenses were drug crimes, while others included bank fraud, mail fraud, the acceptance of a kickback, a false statement on a loan application and conspiracy to defraud the government over taxes... The longest sentence was nine years, for aiding cocaine distribution, followed by a six-year term for conspiracy to possess marijuana...

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/12/21/bush.pardons.ap/index.html

Following the leniency for those who were convicted of drug crimes, but continued neglect of Ramos and Compean, criticism of President George W. Bush's inaction on the case swelled, spreading as quickly as a Malibu fire.

23. To: fitz, all (#1)

Will he pardon those two innocent border agents?

No...

But he has "pardoned" 25,000,000 illegal Mexican invaders.

liberator posted on 2006-12-22

http://www.libertypost.org/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=170453

Border agents plead for 'Christmas pardon'
Congressman hosts rally asking Bush to stop 'miscarriage of justice'

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53448

The day the two men entered federal prison to begin 11 and 12 year sentences, one Congressman, a Republican, called President Bush a disgrace according to WND's January 17, 2007 article, Border Agents Sent to Prison

Border agents sent to prison
Angry Republican congressman calls President Bush 'disgrace'
Posted: January 17, 2007 By Art Moore © 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53805

What has a majority of American citizens upset is the nonchalance of the Bush Administration towards protecting our borders and enforcing existing laws regarding illegal aliens.

Fox News cable network programming featured the Bush pardon item throughout the course of the Friday, starting with Fox 'n Friends early morning, spiraling onward with Bill Hemmer, and continuing through Hannity and Colmes late evening.

Oddly, Hannity and Colmes had family of the men in one segment, apart from the next segment which featured the one person the family would have wanted to grill, publicly, U.S. Attorney, Johnny Sutton!

Hannity introduced the segments with the Bush pardon, and then never once asked the family or Sutton what their thoughts were on that!

Hopefully, the family will notice our blog and watch the KFOX-TV video of the Bush interview.

All is not as it appears to be, as we show herein. President Bush did not - we repeat - offer to consider a pardon during the interview by KFOX-TV reporter Alison Burns.

Even skeptical World Net Daily, whose editor, Joseph Farah blasted Bush January 17, 2007 in his article "Presidents Must Obey Law Too" unquestioningly picked up the Fox News AP headlines and linked to the then breaking news:

Bush Considering Pardon for Border Agents Convicted of Shooting Mexican Drug Runner

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0%2C2933%2C244938%2C00.html

AP President Bush Would Consider Pardoning Border Agents Convicted of Shooting Drug Runner Friday, January 19, 2007

All day long, nobody questioned the KFOX TV news report and headlines.

Mythical Morning

According to Fox 'n Friends trio Carlson, Doocy, and Kilmeade discussing the issue:

President Bush may pardon the two federal law enforcement agents.

"There's a process for pardons, says President Bush...

It’s got to work its way through a system here in the government. I just want people to take a sober look at the case.”

The announcement departs from indications by Tony Snow, Gretchen Carlson said, the other day, when according to Snow, the agents didn't know the man had drugs on him and it was daylight... they retrieved spent shells and didn't report they'd discharged firearms...

"Border guards must obey the law, too," said Snow.

http://www.google.com/search?q=border+guards+must+obey+law+too&hl=en&sourceid=gd&rls=GGLD,GGLD:2006-40,GGLD:en

We will show President George W. Bush did not say what he's quoted as saying:

I just want people to take a sober look at the case.

In fact, Bush said "I just want people to take a sober look at the reality ."

That is far different than using the word "case," which President Bush does not use.

Just review the video posted to the right on the http://www.kfoxtv.com/news/10785667/detail.html site.

Another AP headline: Bush open to idea of pardon for former U.S. Border Patrol agents who shot Mexican drug dealer

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/01/19/america/NA-GEN-US-Border-Agents-Shooting.php

Maybe if it's repeated often enough - all day long on the Fox News network - people will begin to believe it. If it shows up in worldwide news reports, people will begin to believe it. Even the family of Ramos and Compean, apparently believe it, according to CNN report included in a discussion of the case on Lou Dobbs Tonight.

But here at Net the Truth Online, we're checking deeper, reading the reports closer because, after all, it's a day after the two border patrol agents are sent to prison, it's after Congressman Rohrbacher calls President Bush a "disgrace," and it's months after rallies and activism of supporters to do right by these two border patrol agents.

A mere day after Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean entered federal prison, January 18, along comes El Paso-based KFOX TV's interview with President George W. Bush.

Bush: Convicted Border Agents Could Be Pardoned

http://www.kfoxtv.com/news/10785667/detail.html

Is the KFOX TV astonishing headlined news announcement of a possible pardon by President George W. Bush accurate?

No, it is not accurate.

Is the KFOX TV report misleading?

Yes, the report is misleading.

Note reporters for the article:

Alison Burns, Catherine Reynolds and Scott MacFarlane, KFOX-TV

Notice, Alison Burns conducted the interview of George W. Bush.

http://www.kfoxtv.com/news/10785667/detail.html

We submit the KFOX TV report and headline are in error. Burns in fact paraphrases wording the President of the United States never uttered during the interview.

View the videotape posted on the site to the right, entitled KFOX TV Exclusive.

Bush did not say as the KFOX TV headline announces Bush: Convicted border agents could be pardoned.

After a careful rereading of the original KFOXTV report as posted and on which all subsequent news reports are based, including AP and Fox News, and CNN, we found the article does not quote President Bush saying he will consider pardons.

In fact, note what is in quotes, what Bush actually said as indicated by quotation marks:

a White House review will take place. “People need to take a tough look at the facts, the evidence a jury looked at, as well as (the) judge. And I will do the same thing,”

Bush said the cases of Compean and Ramos have “got a lot of emotions”.

“Border Patrol and law enforcement have no stronger supporter than me,” he said.

Notice. None of that is saying he would consider pardons at this point. But that's what is the headline of the piece, and the lead sentence portray.

President Bush on Thursday indicated that a presidential pardon for two Texas Border Patrol Agents remains a possibility.

http://www.kfoxtv.com/news/10785667/detail.html

We reviewed the actual video provided on the KFOX TV site. And we followed the actual chronology of questions and responses. Doing so reveals an entirely different interpretation than what is being reported nationwide, on Fox and as we found later, also on CNN. See below.

KFOX Exclusive: Bush to consider Pardon for Border Patrol Agents

Listen to President Bush's exact words from the KFOX TV video of Alison Burns interview of President Bush

Alison Burns reporting

Bush tells me he is carefully considering the case and a pardon is still a possibility but he seems skeptical of letting the two border agents off the hook.

Bush: just want people to take a sober look at the reality.

Burns: President Bush tells me he realizes it's an emotional issue but he's relying on facts what do you think about their situation and how do you decide to grant a pardon?

Bush: there are standards that need to be met in law enforcement and according to a jury of their peers, these officers violated some standards, on this case people need to take a hard look at the facts, the evidence the jury looked at as well as the judge. I will do the same thing. Border patrol or law enforcement has no stronger supporter than me.

http://www.kfoxtv.com/news/10785667/detail.html

The bottom line here is people need to do more than take a sober look at the reality, they need to act to support the two unjustly convicted border agents.

The KFOX TV interview exchange does not show President Bush stating in any way he is at this time considering a possibility of pardoning the two border agents, Ramos and Compean.

In fact, carefully reviewing the video, it seems more likely that Bush may want to provide the case for vindication of how the United States Justice Department prosecuted the two border agents!

Review the video again and match it against the AP report posted on the Fox News website and the KFOX TV report. The report extracts only part of what President Bush said, and lays that out as if it was said chronologically, all together.

Bush said "there's a process for pardons" and the case has to work its way through the system. In an interview with KFOX-TV in El Paso, Texas, Bush said the White House will review the case, and he urged people to "take a sober look at the case."

"People need to take a tough look at the facts, the evidence a jury looked at, as well as the judge. And I will do the same thing," he said.

Mythical Afternoon

Bill Hemmer on the afternoon Fox on line report repeats the same headlines and wording. The news reporter ___ said partially... supporters of the two convicted border patrol agents are encouraged this morning by news of a potential presidential pardon... yesterday the president seemed to leave open the possibility of a presidential pardon.

The clip shown is only that portion where Bush says he'll do the same as the jury and the judge. The segment did not include the whole portion of what Bush said!

Worse, the jury convicted the agents and the judge after a review refused to grant the men bond while seeking an appeal!

Mythical Evening

This evening, Sean Hannity introduces the topic of the Presidential pardon at the beginning of Hannity and Colmes.

President Bush is considering a pardon of the two agents... he has said he will take a sober look at a pardon for the agents...

Hannity and Colmes are interviewing family of border patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean. We're listening. Mary Stillinger, agents' attorney... and father-in-law. Following them was Johnny Sutton.

Sutton says they shot at him 15 times... they didn't report to their supervisor, they covered up...

The prosecutor defended his prosecution. Hannity asks whether he disputes that the suspect had a gun.

Colmes asks if he had a gun.

Sutton says the jury determined he didn't have a gun.

Then Sutton said other agents were nearby at the top of the levee, why didn't the two warn them if the suspect had a gun.

They knew they shot at an unarmed man and they covered it up...

Again, where did Hannity get the quote that Bush is taking a sober look at a pardon for the agents?

Fox News/AP picked up the KFOX TV report and all the network anchors do is reiterate without checking the actual videotape of the KFOX TV interview and the myth of President Bush possibly pardoning the border agents is born and put into action.

The myth could continue not only into Tuesday, January 21, 2007 State of the Union address by President Bush, but for another year or two, then President Bush is out of office.

Those pesky naysayers are meanwhile given hope, the family is given hope, just as we initially had, for pardons sooner rather than later. But that may not ever happen.

Meanwhile, President Bush isn't likely to set the record straight, ever. Nor is Tony Snow, White House Communications Director.

Bill O'Reilly also needs to be criticized for his handling of this situation over the past few days. On Thursday, O'Reilly interviewed Johnny Sutton, the prosecuter in the case without having a guest who could point by point rebut Sutton. That segment was not fair and balanced. O'Reilly even asked Sutton about regulations regarding a "fleeing" suspect, can the agents shoot at them, he asked, then he answered his own question - and he let Sutton slide since Sutton DID NOT ANSWER THE QUESTION. With anyone else, O'Reilly would not have let them off the hook, he'd have said, No Spin Zone here, Sutton. But O'Reilly had his own viewpoint and comments to back up from a previous segment.

O'Reilly even had Mancow on shortly after Sutton, and failed to ask Mancow anything about the conviction of Ramos and Compean and the statements of the U.S. Attorney, Johnny Sutton, who'd just preceded Mancow.

Surely, Mancow would have had an opinion on it.

Why wasn't Mancow his usual obnoxious self? What a disservice to The Factor viewers to have Mancow on the program and neglect to ask him about Sutton's comments.

That's ridiculous!

Not that Mancow was always right on the issues, and his style when he got his own program Planet Mancow on Fox got more outrageous than his usual Fox appearances, which many times had to be bleeped, but Mancow did not shirk from controversy with anybody, even a Bill O'Reilly. Yet, that's exactly what he did face-to-face with O'Reilly on Thursday's The Factor. Very odd. It was as if there was a pact - a code - of silence between them on the two border agents' conviction.

See our previous post O'Reilly Unbalanced

http://netthetruthonline.blogspot.com/2007/01/oreilly-unbalanced.html

Agent Ramos blogspot picks up the Bush pardon story, but carefully words its link:

Bush Allegedly Eyes Pardon for Border Patromen

http://agentramos.blogspot.com/

Bush eyes pardon for Border Patrolmen
1/18/2007, 6:48 p.m. CT By SUZANNE GAMBOA
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush on Thursday said a pardon was possible for two Border Patrol agents serving prison sentences for shooting a Mexican drug dealer as he fled and then covering up the crime...

http://www.nola.com/newsflash/topstories/index.ssf?/base/politics-9/1169168045313870.xml&storylist=topstories

Daily Bulletin says it obtained a transcript, yet still portrays the same interpretation - spin - as KFOX-TV none using Bush's words in chronological order...

Bush will review border agents' court case
Action gives families hope that sentences will be reduced
By Sara A. Carter, Staff Writer

http://www.dailybulletin.com/ci_5042815

For detailed background and accurate material to take immediate action visit:

http://ramos-compean.blogspot.com/

http://agentramos.blogspot.com/

Related Material

CNN's Lou Dobbs programming just as unbelievable as Fox News network.

It is revealed in passing on Dobbs program

WIAN: The president spoke about the case for the first time this week with CNN El Paso affiliate KFOX. So KFOX is a CNN affiliate, interesting.

Notice how the report of the President's interview by CNN is all out of order as far as the chronology of what was actually said in the actual interview!

CNN's Wian even goes so far as to state:

WIAN: The president spoke about the case for the first time this week with CNN El Paso affiliate KFOX. While federal prosecutors have sought to portray the agents as rogue law enforcement officers, the president engaged in no such rhetoric.


Next, the CNN report has the right words and sentences spoken by Bush, but not in chronological order!

What a mess in my opinion.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The Border Patrol or law enforcement have no stronger supporter than me. There are standards that need to be met in law enforcement, and according to a jury of their peers, these officers violated some standards.

I -- on this case, people need to take a hard look at the facts, at the evidence that the jury looked at, as well as a judge. And I'll -- that's -- I will do the same thing.

CNN
Lou Dobbs Tonight
Aired January 19, 2007 New Developments In Case Of Two Imprisoned Former U.S. Border Patrol Agents; New Indications That Border Fence Project Is Losing Support;
...

DOBBS: New developments tonight in the case of the two imprisoned former U.S. Border Patrol agents, Jose Compean and Ignacio Ramos. And new indications that the border fence project is losing support both in Washington and in some towns near the border with Mexico.

Casey Wian tonight reports that President Bush says he'll take a hard look at the Ramos and Compean case -- a major development.

Bill Tucker reports on new concerns tonight being voiced about the building of that border fence.

But first, let's turn to Casey Wian in Los Angeles -- Casey.

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lou, family members of imprisoned former Border Patrol agent Ignacio Ramos say they've been in telephone contact with the White House, pleading for a presidential pardon. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WIAN (voice-over): For the first time since former Texas Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean were convicted of shooting and wounding an illegal alien Mexican drug smuggler, their supporters are hopeful President Bush will intervene in a case many lawmakers of the president's own party say is an outrageous miscarriage of justice.

MARY STILLINGER, IGNACIO RAMOS' ATTORNEY: We were very excited to hear that the president will be looking into this case. I know he probably doesn't know the facts of the case right now. In our opinion, there's been a lot of misinformation issued by the U.S. Attorney's Office about this case, and we're looking forward to correcting it.

WIAN: The president spoke about the case for the first time this week with CNN El Paso affiliate KFOX. While federal prosecutors have sought to portray the agents as rogue law enforcement officers, the president engaged in no such rhetoric.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The Border Patrol or law enforcement have no stronger supporter than me. There are standards that need to be met in law enforcement, and according to a jury of their peers, these officers violated some standards.

I -- on this case, people need to take a hard look at the facts, at the evidence that the jury looked at, as well as a judge. And I'll -- that's -- I will do the same thing.

WIAN: While he refused to rule out a pardon, the president did attempt to deflect the issue.

BUSH: Now, there's a process for pardons. I mean, it's -- and it's got to work its way through a system here in government. But I just want people to take a sober look at the reality.

WIAN: The reality is there's no requirement a pardon must go through that lengthy process.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: President Bush is well within his rights if he wanted to pardon them tomorrow.

WIAN: Meanwhile, Ramos and Compean remain in protective custody. The U.S. Marshal Service says that's because they are former law enforcement officers.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WIAN: Family members, however, say they have already received death threats, and they are very worried about the former agents' safety. Federal prisons, of course, are loaded with drug traffickers and human smugglers, the very same people Ramos and Compean dedicated their career to stopping -- Lou.

DOBBS: Casey, as you talked with the family, are they more hopeful that this president actually meant what he said when he said he would take a hard look at it, along with the rest of us, as we examine it very carefully, and as -- and have examined it carefully over these many months?

WIAN: Absolutely. They are very encouraged that White House officials who they are talking to are taking their calls. They say they are going to be relaying the messages to the president.

At one point today, Agent Ramos' family thought they were even going to get a call from the president. That didn't happen, unfortunately. But they are a lot more optimistic than they were just two or three days ago -- Lou.

DOBBS: And have we received any indication that the White House has now responded to those 55 U.S. congressmen who have sent their entreaties to the White House requesting that this White House examine this case very carefully, as they have?

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0701/19/ldt.01.html

Snow: Immigration laws not enforced Presidential spokesman admits problems are obvious

Excerpt

The reference to border agents obeying the law was to Snow's response several days ago, when Snow told WND that those lobbying for a presidential pardon or other intervention from the government on behalf of two former agents sentenced to prison should review the evidence.

"They (agents Jose Alonso Compean, 28, and Ignacio Ramos, 37) eventually went before a … jury – and were convicted on 11 of 12 counts, by a U.S. attorney who has prosecuted any number of cases. But the facts of this case are such that I would invite everybody to take a full look at the documented record," Snow said.

"This is not the case of the United States saying, we are not going to support people who go after drug dealers. Of course we are. We think it's incumbent to go after drug dealers, and we also think that it's vitally important to make sure that we provide border security so our people are secure," he continued.

In the past he's deflected questions about the president enforcing the laws that the U.S. already has to secure its borders and deport illegals who break the law to enter the United States.

Snow said the White House believes "that the people who are working to secure that border themselves obey the law. And in a court of law, these two agents were convicted on 11 of 12 counts by a jury of their peers after a lengthy trial at which they did have the opportunity to make their case," he said.

He said questions about the fact that the government brought the man back from Mexico and gave him immunity on charges – including a subsequent attempt to bring drugs into the United States – to testify against the agents would have to be answered by a lawyer.

Snow followed up after the press briefing by faxing 12 pages of comment about the case of the border guards, including the statement from U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton, as well as a guest column he wrote for the El Paso Times in October.

"Agents Compean and Ramos were not railroaded by some over-zealous prosecutor, they were unanimously found guilty by a jury in a United States federal district court after a trial that lasted more than 2 ½ weeks," he wrote in the newspaper. "The problem for Mr. Compean and Mr. Ramos is that the jury did not believe their stories because they were not true."

"In America," he wrote, "law-enforcement officers do not get to shoot unarmed suspects who are running away, lie about it to their supervisors and file official reports that are false. That is a crime and prosecutors cannot look the other way."

Snow also faxed a six-page analysis of the case, with a list of unsigned myth-fact comparison statements...

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53802

Border agents' prosecutor responds to critics
U.S. attorney: 'I understand the public relations problem the case has caused'
Jerome Corsi January 19, 2007

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53837

AP: President Bush Would Consider Pardoning Border Agents Convicted of Shooting Drug Runner Friday, January 19, 2007

WASHINGTON — President George W. Bush left open the possibility of a pardon for two U.S. Border Patrol agents serving federal prison sentences for shooting a Mexican drug dealer as he fled and covering up the crime.

Bush said "there's a process for pardons" and the case has to work its way through the system. In an interview with KFOX-TV in El Paso, Texas, Bush said the White House will review the case, and he urged people to "take a sober look at the case."

"People need to take a tough look at the facts, the evidence a jury looked at, as well as the judge. And I will do the same thing," he said.

Several lawmakers have urged the president to pardon former Border Patrol agents Jose Alonso Compean and Ignacio Ramos for the shooting of Osvaldo Aldrete Davila, who retreated to Mexico after he was shot and later admitted he was transporting marijuana while in the U.S. illegally.

The agents began serving their sentences Wednesday — 11 years and one day for Ramos and 12 years for Compean. Both were fired after their convictions on several charges, including assault with a deadly weapon, obstruction of justice, and a civil rights violation.

Rancor over the convictions and sentencing of the agents has been simmering for months, and the two have become a cause celebre among conservatives and on talk shows. Their supporters have said they were defending themselves and have called them heroes. The agents' prosecution occurred as the issue of illegal immigration was being debated in Congress and amid campaigns for last November's midterm elections.

Rep. Duncan Hunter, a California Republican, introduced a bill Thursday calling for a congressional pardon of the agents. Congress has never issued pardons to anyone convicted of a crime, said Joe Kasper, Hunter's spokesman. But Kasper said Hunter believes there is enough ambiguity in the law on pardons to give it a try.

"Agents Compean and Ramos fulfilled their responsibilities as Border Patrol agents and rightfully pursued a suspected and fleeing drug smuggler. It is irresponsible to punish them with jail time," he said in a news release.

U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton took the unusual step of issuing a five-page document of the "myth vs. reality" of the case as the agents began serving their sentences.

The document covered everything from the claims that the former agents were just doing their jobs to reports that the shooting was at night when it actually happened about 1 p.m. on Feb. 17, 2005.

White House spokesman Tony Snow also seemed to support the agents' conviction, listing details of the case in a briefing with reporters Thursday. He said an officer hit Aldrete in the chest with a gun after he got out of his car and that "a lot of the allegations about a scuffle and discovering drugs at the scene and all that, they're simply not supported by the fact record of the case."

Texas Sen. John Cornyn said the Justice Department should have the chance to explain why the agents were prosecuted. Cornyn sent a letter to Vermont Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, asking for a hearing...

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,244740,00.html

More

Lawmakers, Advocacy Groups Launch Last-Ditch Effort to Save Two Border Patrol Agents From Jail Wednesday, January 17, 2007 By Liza Porteus

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,243921,00.html

Cornyn wants U.S. taxpayers to fund Mexican development
'North American Investment Fund' billed as answer to illegal alien influx
World Net Daily July 13, 2006

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=51036

Sleazy Shock Jock Gets Fox Show By Cliff Kincaid December 26, 2006
NewsWithViews.com

http://www.newswithviews.com/Kincaid/cliff127.htm

http://newsbyus.com/archives.php?id=A2006121

http://www.covenantnews.com/blog/archives/2006_12.html

Fox news

http://search2.foxnews.com/search?ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&client=my_frontend&proxystylesheet=my_frontend&output=xml_no_dtd&site=fnc&filter=0&sort=date%3AD%3AS%3Ad1&q=Tony+Snow+border+patrol+agents

Special counsel sought for imprisoned border agents
Head of union wants probe of case against 'innocent men doing their job'
Posted: January 18, 2007 By Jerome R. Corsi
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53823

For more information and treatment of this subject put key words into the search feature on this site located top left corner.

State of Union Rally Poster Free Ramos and Compean

250,000 have already signed petitions to pardon ramos and compean...

Sunday Lou Dobb

Jeffrey Toobin: pardon office will only entertain pardon five years after sentence, but preisent Bush is well within his poer to pardon them.

Dobbs weekend programming

Three Congressman, Many Other Legal Experts Decry The Severe Sentencing Of Border Patrol Agents For Wounding A Mexican Drug Smuggler, China Tests Anti-Satellite Missile Aired January 20, 2007

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0701/20/ldtw.01.html

New Developments In Case Of Two Imprisoned Former U.S. Border Patrol Agents; New Indications That Border Fence Project Is Losing Support;

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0701/19/ldt.01.html

Ginkgo Biloba Memory Aid for George Bush
At the outset let me suggest a brand of Ginkgo Biloba be created especially for legislators, public elected officials, and presidents, you get the idea. The brand name could be along the lines of whatever the official promised, but has yet to deliver, if ever delivered.

There could be a string of names for promises of George W. Bush. The most recent promise is one concerning the families of border patrol agents, Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean.

The men were convicted last March in federal court by a jury and sentenced to 11 and 12 years imprisonment.

The public, families, United States legislators numbering over fifty, net petition signers have clamored for a pardon of the men since their conviction. World Net Daily's Joseph Farah wrote a scathing article after Tony Snow appeared to publicly defend the Justice Department's prosecution of the border patrol agents and said law enforcement agents must obey the law, too.

January 17, 2007 "Presidents Must Obey Law Too"

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53792

Rallies across the country and petition signing has galvanized hundreds of thousands of people.

Grassfire.org is working with key lawmakers calling on the President to pardon the agents. To date we have delivered more than 225,000 petitions to the White House and key government offices. In addition to signing our petitions below, we are urging team members to Fax personalized letters to key lawmakers in this debate.

http://www.grassfire.org/142/petition.asp?PID=11534548&NID=1

The day the men showed up to begin their sentences, Angry Republican congressman calls President Bush 'disgrace' Posted: January 17, 2007 By Art Moore

Remember, after you've taken your dose of Ginkgo Biloba, a couple of days ago - Friday - we posted the Myth of Border Agents Presidential Pardon?

We analyzed how the (El Paso, Texas-based) KFOX-TV headline for Thursday, January 18, 2007, Bush: Convicted Border Agents Could Be Pardoned was inaccurate?

We reviewed the actual videotape posted to KFOX-TV's site

http://www.kfoxtv.com/news/10785667/detail.html.

We showed by the actual videotape nowhere in the piece does George Bush (GB) say he is considering a pardon for two border patrol agents.

Well now is a good time to take the GB if you haven't cause you'll need it to deal with the follow-up news highlights we posted about George Bush (GB) the following day, Saturday, in our piece, Congress Bill Seeks Amnesty for Border Agents.

http://netthetruthonline.blogspot.com/2007/01/congress-bill-seeks-amnesty-for-border.html

We deliberately didn't headline our piece about George Bush's reported proposed offer to call the families because frankly we can't find the original source. All we've found is the Carter piece, but that doesn't say how the staff writer obtained the information.

Bush to talk to border agents' families
Convicted border guards hoping for pardon in shooting
By Sara A. Carter, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 01/20/2007 12:00:00 AM PST
President Bush is expected to reach out to the families of two Texas Border Patrol agents convicted of shooting a Mexican drug smuggler.

White House staff contacted former agent Ignacio Ramos' family early Friday, assuring them the president would call them soon, said Monica Ramos, the agent's wife...

http://www.dailybulletin.com/news/ci_5051275

find story posted at http://agentramos.blogspot.com/

That's all we've found.

We'd love to hear directly from the Ramos family about exactly what they were told about a potential promised call to them by the President of the United States himself.

We will not forget.

Since we've taken our GB and our Omega-3 Fish Oil we are also thinking - why doesn't George Bush talk directly to the two convicted border patrol agents and directly get their side of their own story about what actually happened?

Site goes over in detail The Ramos-Compean Affair: What really happened. By Joe Loya

http://ramos-compean.blogspot.com/

Why review a trail of court documentation that is thousands of pages long when you could spend about ten minutes with Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean and ask them a mere handful of questions about what they actually did.

For instance. Did the men pick up spent shells, or did they only partially pick up spent shells? Were the men required to pick up all spent shells or only a sampling of spent shells? Did the men pick up all the spent shell, or any of the shells to cover their actions?

The Justice Department's case seemed to revolve around those shells.

Read carefully the one-sided interview Corsi had with Johnny Sutton.

Meet man who prosecuted jailed Border Patrol agents
'Reasonable people can argue about punishment, whether [it] was too harsh'
Posted: January 20, 2007


http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53856

We're also wondering whether all of this speculation about a pardon from President Bush at this time isn't just so President George W. Bush can have an uneventful presentation of his State of the Union Address scheduled for Tuesday.

Don't make any waves, supporters, before or during the President's State of the Union, or well, the President may not have any reason to review and pardon.

Homeland Security Liars

All the cable so-called news networks are incessantly and obsessively talking about the astronaut turned stalker. What a blockbuster novel that will make when the woman is tried, convicted for something, serves a minimum sentence, possibly serving no time in jail, and released on parole.

Fox News Network is tagging the situation Lust in Space! Really, and they want to be taken seriously for serious reporting. They just lost viewers for their morning and afternoon coverage, ok, except for the weather (and debates on global warming).

We'll have to see if John Gibson and Bill O'Reilly allow Lust in Space to remain the headliner on their programs. It's expected Hannity and Colmes will pack their program tonight with psychoanalists and the like who will pick apart every detail from every angle of the woman's life.

CNN reporting throughout the day the accused astronaut is to receive medical and psych evaluation today. NASA Love Scandal. Really, who cares. She'll likely get the evaluations at taxpayers' expense, go into rehab at taxpayers's expense, and then be taken back into the exclusive fold. She'll then take a sabbatical and write her book.

How'd the government miss a whacko given all the rigorous testing of their mental capabilities?

Meanwhile, what are the networks missing?

Homeland security's role in the case of the border agents Ramos and Compean - that's what they're ignoring. Details of their refusal initially to provide legislators with documentation are just coming to light.

President Bush has indicated he will not pardon the border agents, he's still reviewing the "government's case" against them.

that takes time, there's a process...

It's no wonder the Homeland Security Department Agency didn't want to release documents in the case of the prosecution of the two men.

Now that they have, they are shown to be nothing more than liars.

John Gibson gives some attention to the border patrol agents and asks Judge Napolitano about the case. The Judge says they were right to be prosecuted since they shot a man running away in the back.

Gibson failed to set the record straight, guess he just didn't know and doesn't read World Net Daily or Net the Truth Online, nor did he bother to have anybody on who was familiar with the entirety of the case at this time.

Meanwhile Lou Dobbs Tonight is coverning the matter in depth, and heatedly.

Dobbs says the men were prosecuted before the end of the investigation. Casey Wian reports. Culberson is interviewed!

Get the transcript...

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/ldt.html

Aired February 7, 2007 - 18:00 ET

Also tonight, the Department of Homeland Security now admits it lied in the case of two U.S. Border Patrol agents sent to prison for doing their jobs. One of those agents severely beaten in prison. Leading members of Congress are furious.

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0702/07/ldt.01.html

Thanks Lou..

Dobbs Poll for the night results in a first time ever agreement of 100 percent that the Department of Homeland Security should be held accountable for lying about Ramos and Compean (border patrol agents)

Glenn Beck

Government Lies about Border Agent Shooting; Author Fears for Life from Islamic Extremists Aired February 7, 2007
GLENN BECK, HOST: I am sorry to report, but our government has been lying to us about the border. Wait until you hear the new details...

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0702/07/gb.01.html

Process...

Justice reviewing border agents' transcripts
Snow says that's one step in process of evaluating pardon eligibility

The White House says that there are procedures to follow in considering any request or suggestion for a presidential pardon, and that's what is going on right now in the case involving Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, two U.S. Border Patrol agents sentenced to prison for shooting at a fleeing drug smuggler.

The comments came in response to questions from Les Kinsolving, WND's correspondent at the White House, about the case following a beating Ramos suffered allegedly at the hands of illegal aliens being held in the same prison where he is.

"The Fort Worth Star Telegraph quotes President Bush of Fox TV network as saying that he is bound by strict federal guidelines on pardons, and cannot immediately grant a pardon to Border Patrol agents Ramos and Compean because, quote, 'there is a series of steps that are analyzed in order for the Justice Department to make a recommendation as to whether or not a president grants a pardon,'" Kinsolving said...

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54127

Government admits lying about jailed border agents
Inspector confronted on Capitol Hill, says promised 'proof' does not exist
Posted: February 6, 2007
By Jerome R. Corsi
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

A Department of Homeland Security official admitted today the agency misled Congress when it contended it possessed investigative reports proving Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean confessed guilt and declared they "wanted to shoot some Mexicans" prior to the incident that led to their imprisonment.

The admission came during the testimony of DHS Inspector General Richard L. Skinner before the Homeland Security Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee, according to Michael Green, press secretary for Rep. John Culberson, R-Texas.

Culberson was questioning Skinner about a meeting DHS officials had Sept. 26 with him and three other Republican congressman from Texas, Reps. Ted Poe, Michael McCaul and Kenny Marchant.

WND previously reported that at that meeting the DHS Inspector General's office asserted it had documentary evidence Ramos and Compean:


confessed to knowingly shooting at an unarmed suspect;

stated during the interrogation they did not believe the suspect was a threat to them at the time of the shooting;

stated that day they "wanted to shoot a Mexican";

were belligerent to investigators;

destroyed evidence and lied to investigators.
Under questioning by Culberson, Skinner admitted DHS did not in fact have investigative reports to back up the claims: "The person who told you that misinformed you," Skinner reportedly replied.

This prompted a startled and angry response from Culberson, who charged Skinner's office with lying to the Texas congressmen and painting Ramos and Compean as dirty cops.

Ramos and Compean began prison sentences last month after their actions in the shooting of a drug smuggler who was granted immunity to testify against them.

Responding to Skinner's testimony yesterday, Poe said it "explains why DHS has been stonewalling Congress."

"DHS didn't turn over the reports to us to back up their September 26 accusations for one simple reason – the reports never existed," the Texas congressman said.

"Why did it take DHS four months to admit their error?" he asked. "I wonder how much more has DHS told the public and Congress about Ramos and Compean that simply isn't true?"

Poe said he's determined to get to the bottom of DHS's claim.

"I expect this new revelation will lead to a lot more questions before we're done," he said.

Andy Ramirez, who has been involved with the case as chairman of Friends of the Border Patrol, told WND the DHS's actions "represent obstruction of justice, and they should be held in contempt of Congress, and, if possible, prosecuted to the full extent of the law."

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54132
Congress gets reports on jailed border patrol agents
By Sara A. Carter, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 02/01/2007 12:00:00 AM PST

clip

After five months of delays, the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General delivered the documents pertaining to the case of former Border Patrol agents Ignacio "Nacho" Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean, who were convicted last March of the nonfatal shooting of a Mexican drug smuggler.

Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said last week that Homeland Security Inspector General Richard Skinner refused to deliver what he had promised House members since September.

http://www.dailybulletin.com/news/ci_5132071

Officials urged to resign for lie about border agents
Congressman calls for ouster of DHS deputies after IG admits agency gave false information
Posted: February 7, 2007

A Republican congressman is calling for the resignation of Department of Homeland Security officials who he says lied about the case of two Border Patrol agents imprisoned for their actions in the shooting of a drug smuggler.

As WND reported, at a congressional hearing yesterday, Rep. John Culberson of Texas confronted DHS Inspector General Richard Skinner about his agency's claim it had documentary proof of the guilt of former agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean.

"Richard Skinner admitted yesterday under oath that his top deputies gave members of Congress false information painting Border Patrol agents as rogue cops who were not in fear for their lives and who were 'out to shoot Mexicans,'" Culberson said in a statement.

Culberson said he believes false information was given to congressmen to "throw us off the scent and cover up what appears to be an unjust criminal prosecution of two U.S. law enforcement officers whose job was protecting our country's borders from criminals and terrorists."

The admission came during Skinner's testimony before the Homeland Security Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee. Culberson was asking questions about a meeting DHS officials had Sept. 26 with him and three other Republican congressman from Texas, Reps. Ted Poe, Michael McCaul and Kenny Marchant.

WND previously reported that at that meeting Skinner's office asserted it had documentary evidence Ramos and Compean:


confessed to knowingly shooting at an unarmed suspect;

stated during the interrogation they did not believe the suspect was a threat to them at the time of the shooting;

stated that day they "wanted to shoot a Mexican";

were belligerent to investigators;

destroyed evidence and lied to investigators.
Ramos and Compean began prison sentences last month of 11 and 12 years respectively.

Yesterday, under questioning by Culberson, Skinner admitted DHS did not in fact have investigative reports to back up its claims.

"The person who told you that misinformed you," Skinner reportedly replied.

This prompted a startled and angry response from Culberson, who charged Skinner's office with lying to the Texas congressmen and painting Ramos and Compean as dirty cops.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54142

Memo casts doubt on agency's assertions
Homeland Security won't release papers on border agents' case
By Sara A. Carter, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 01/29/2007 12:00:00 AM PST

http://www.dailybulletin.com/news/ci_5108915

Jan. 19, 2007, 12:24PM
Legislators want report on ex-agents
Its release could clear doubts about border shooting case, some say
By MICHELLE MITTELSTADT
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4481939.html

Another view

Report: Agents in Border Shooting Lied
Feb 7, 9:27 PM (ET)
By ALICIA A. CALDWELL and SUZANNE GAMBOA

EL PASO, Texas (AP) - A federal report released Wednesday on the shooting of a suspected drug smuggler by Border Patrol agents concurs with prosecutors that the men failed to report the shooting, destroyed evidence and lied to investigators.

Some members of Congress have criticized the case against Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean, who were fired after their obstruction of justice convictions and have each been sentenced to more than a decade in federal prison.

Congressional critics, who say the men were doing their jobs when they injured Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila in 2005 near El Paso, had sought the release of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security report.

The report "has just emboldened our position because there is nothing in there that indicates these agents were not justified in shooting this individual," said Tara Setmayer, a spokeswoman for Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif. "This finally sheds some light on what these agents were thinking."

She pointed to a written statement by Compean in which she said reflects that he "clearly believed the drug smuggler had a weapon and feared for his life."

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., agreed Wednesday to allow Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., to hold a hearing on the case, as she requested.

"I strongly believe that the sentences in this case are too extreme, given the criminal nature of the defendant and his possession of large quantities of drugs," Feinstein said in a statement. "These men were given sentences that some individuals who are convicted of murder wouldn't receive."

The heavily redacted, 77-page report, drafted last year, offers few new details. It primarily outlines what Aldrete said happened on Feb. 17, 2005, as he tried to run from Border Patrol agents after trying to elude them in a van loaded with marijuana.

According to the report, Aldrete, who was given immunity and has filed a multimillion-dollar claim against the federal government, told investigators he was unarmed and was shot as he ran from Compean and other agents. He said he tried to surrender and ran again after Compean slipped while trying to hit him with the butt of a shotgun.

The report also notes that other agents on the scene that day could not confirm whether Aldrete was armed and initially lied about whether they were aware of the shooting. They later cooperated with authorities. Those agents, whose names were removed from the report, were not prosecuted.

In a statement issued Wednesday afternoon, Rep. John Culberson, a Texas Democrat, said Ramos and Compean "may not have followed proper procedure following the shooting, which at most should have resulted in their suspension from the force, but not criminal procedure."

A spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton, whose office prosecuted the case and who has been widely criticized for pursing the agents and not the drug dealer shot, declined to comment...

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070208/D8N58LF00.html

Border agents case puzzling

Ballistics data don't support charge against border agents
Investigator: U.S. attorney twisted evidence to fit case – 'guilty of malicious prosecution'
Posted: January 28, 2007
10:45 p.m. Eastern
By Jerome R. Corsi
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

Ballistics reports, used in the trial of Ignacio "Nacho" Ramos, one of two Border Patrol agents convicted of shooting fleeing drug dealer Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila, do not support the prosecution's claim the bullet was fired from Ramos' gun, according to documents provided to WND from Andy Ramirez, chairman of the Friends of the Border Patrol.

Despite the conclusion of a laboratory criminalist that he could not conclusively link the bullet removed from Aldrete-Davila with Ramos' service weapon, a Department of Homeland Security agent swore, in an affidavit of complaint filed against Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean, that Aldrete-Davila was hit by a round fired by Ramos...

Homeland Security memos contradict U.S. attorney
Also reveal smuggler formed 'hunting party' targeting Ramos, Compean

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: January 31, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern


By Jerome R. Corsi
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

In the high-profile case of two U.S. Border Patrol officers imprisoned after shooting and wounding a Mexican drug smuggler, two Department of Homeland Security documents apparently contradict the version of events put forth by the U.S. attorney who successfully prosecuted the case.

The internal Department of Homeland Security memoranda – which have been denied Congress despite repeated requests by two House members – show that within one month of the shooting incident involving Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, government investigators had identified the smuggler as Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila.

But this seems to contradict U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton's claim that Aldrete-Davila came forward through a Mexican lawyer who offered to identify his client in exchange for immunity.

A March 14, 2005, memo notes that Aldrete-Davila's mother had contacted the mother-in-law of a U.S. Border Patrol agent to talk about the shooting and a memo from four months later talks about an interview with that Border Patrol agent. Also, the immunity agreement offered to Aldrete-Davila promises no prosecution against him will result from his testimony and reveals that it was signed on March 15, 2005.

Andy Ramirez, chairman of Friends of the Border Patrol, says the documents raise questions as to why Sutton chose to prosecute the Border Patrol agents rather than the drug smuggler.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54027

Poe seeks 'public' documents on border agents
Congressman hasn't read classified version to keep private facts secure
Posted: February 1, 2007
By Jerome R. Corsi
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54046

Feds pressed to hand over border agent docs
Congressman files FOIA request on info that could favor Compean, Ramos
January 26, 2007 By Jerome R. Corsi
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, has filed a Freedom of Information Act request to the Department of Homeland Security to force the handover to Congress of investigative documents the agency claims will support their accusation of criminal behavior by imprisoned former Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean.

In a telephone interview with WND, Poe explained the extraordinary procedure was necessary after DHS refused to furnish the reports to Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, arguing McCaul's chairmanship of the Investigations Subcommittee of the House Committee on Homeland Security had passed to the Democrats.

The decision by Poe to file a FOIA request with DHS reflects increasing congressional concern the agency is conducting a cover-up of the Ramos-Compean investigation. Congressmen say the agency has continued to stonewall repeated requests to obtain promised investigative documents relevant to congressional oversight responsibilities.

WND reported yesterday McCaul held a meeting Sept. 26 with deputies of the DHS Inspector General's office in which the deputies made accusations of criminal misconduct against the Border Patrol agents. In attendance at the meeting were Poe and fellow Texas congressmen John Culberson and Kenny Marchant.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the DHS inspector general told the Texas congressmen the relevant investigative reports would be released the first day after the Oct. 23, 2006, sentencing of the agents. So far, however, DHS has refused to release the promised reports, despite repeated requests from McCaul...

Excerpt continued

Many of the factual aspects of the case are now being disputed by investigators, including the ballistics investigation into the weapons fired and the round subsequently extracted from the left buttocks and right groin of the drug smuggler by a U.S. Army doctor.

"For all we know," Poe commented, "the drug smuggler seemed to be pointing back at the Border Patrol agents with what could have been something in his hand based on the ballistics reports I am seeing. U.S. Attorney (Johnny) Sutton says the guy was shot in the buttocks. Well, now we find out that that isn't exactly accurate. The guy was shot from 'cheek-to-cheek,' or maybe from the side of his left buttocks to his right groin. There's a big difference in those two statements. You don't have to be a ballistics expert to understand that the body was turned if the bullet went from one cheek to the other cheek, or from the left cheek to the right groin."

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53948

Funds set up for Border Patrol agents
Supporters of jailed men have 3 ways to financially help their families
Funds for donations have been set up on behalf of the families of two Border Patrol agents jailed for their actions in the shooting and wounding of a Mexican drug smuggler who was granted full immunity to testify against them.

The funds are meant to benefit agents Jose Alonso Compean and Ignacio "Nacho" Ramos, who were sentenced to 12 years and 11 years, respectively, in October and reported to prison Jan. 17.

Supporters of the men believe they were wrongly convicted and the sentences handed down far too stiff...

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53949