08-20-2008
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Joint Chiefs of Staff Member
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Member Since: May 2008
Location: The U.S.
Posts: 1,281
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Re: University won't open Obama-related records now
UPDATE:
Stanley Kurtz posted this latest update:
Quote:
Endangered Documents Act [Stanley Kurtz]
There are new developments in my quest to gain access to the Chicago Annenberg Challenge records, to prevent them from being returned to their original donor, and to preserve them from tampering. (For background, see my piece, "Chicago Annenberg Challenge Shutdown?") The Associate Press has reported on the story. Over at JustOneMinute, Tom Maguire makes note of the fact that the AP story fails to mention the contradiction between Obama’s Annenberg connection and his claim that Ayers was just "a guy who lives in my neighborhood." I find it odd that the reporter interviewed a spokesman for UIC, yet neither asked me to comment, nor even mentioned my name. It’s hard not to suspect that the AP is trying to give the impression of due diligence, while nonetheless attempting to control the story-line in a way that minimizes damage to Obama.
Although I linked to it yesterday, I would strongly urge interested readers to consider Steve Diamond’s important post, " 'Annenberg-Gate' — It’s not the crime, it’s the cover up." If Diamond’s legal analysis is correct (and I’ve been hearing a similar analysis from others), then UIC’s claim that it cannot show me the collection because it lacks a deed of gift is merely a "flimsy manufactured excuse." That’s because, according to Diamond, the mere act of giving the documents to the library suffices to transfer ownership. If Diamond’s analysis is correct, then the donor’s demand to purge the collection of "personnel information that could include names..." is most disturbing. First, because it could serve as a tactic to force delay in making the collection accessible. Second, because it would appear to require that someone move through the collection to blank out names that could be of central importance to what I hope to discover. Again, if Diamond is right, there is really no basis for making any modifications to the documents at all, and no basis for yesterday’s claim by a university spokesman that, in the absence of a signed deed of gift, the entire collection might be returned to its original owner.
Diamond also delicately raises the possibility that there may be direct or indirect links between the donor of the Chicago Annenberg Collection records and individuals connected to the Obama campaign. This is an important reason why we need to know the name of the donor.
So I remain unsatisfied with mainstream media reporting on this issue, and continue to be extremely concerned for the safety and fate of the documents. We need more public pressure, and better reporting. I plan to say more down the road about Obama’s role at Annenberg, even without access to the records at UIC. I also plan to say more about the detailed finding aid now in my possession, and about the contents of the single file folder I was permitted to examine.
Let me make one broad point today. Notice that the critical evaluation of Woods Fund grant programs I discuss in "Senator Stealth," my piece in the current issue of National Review, occurred in 1995. That was the same year the Chicago Annenberg Challenge began, with Obama as board chairman, and the same year Obama launched his first campaign for State Senate, at a political coming out party at the home of Ayers and Dohrn, among other venues. In 1995, in other words, Obama moved to increase his influence over two local foundations, each of which would disburse money to his radical political-organizer friends, and even to his future campaign ground troops. This alone raises many interesting and important questions, some of which I pursue in "Senator Stealth." But I note that, if names were to be purged from the Chicago Annenberg Collection records, it could inhibit my ability to follow critical leads on this, and other, aspects of this story.
If you would like to keep up the pressure on UIC to protect these documents, to release the name of the donor, and to make this material accessible to me and to the public, you can email University of Illinois President B. Joseph White here. Phone numbers for President White’s two offices are (312) 413-9097 and (217) 333-3070. Snail mail addresses for the offices can be found here.
08/20 12:15 PM
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