By Wayne Madsen (waynemadsenreport.com)
US Judge Peter Messitte on Thursday sentenced former NSA “Iraqi shop” signals intelligence analyst Ken Ford Jr., of Waldorf, to six years in prison and no fine as a result of his politically-motivated conviction for allegedly removing two boxes of classified materials from NSA during broad daylight without detection from one of the government’s most secure facilities and later with lying on a government security clearance form.
In fact, the documents were planted in Ford’s home in retaliation for his SIGINT report casting doubt on the White House contention that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction.
That report, which contained Ford’s name as preparer, eventually ended up on the desk of Vice President Dick Cheney. As a result, Ford became a target of the neo-con cell operating from within Cheney’s office and the White House Iraq Group (WHIG), the same cabal that compromised Valerie Plame Wilson’s covert identity and mission.
Ford was given six years on the first count of unauthorized removal of classified information and three years (to be served concurrently) for making a false statement on a government security clearance form for a classified job with Lockheed Martin filled out nine months after his arrest.
In fact, Ford stated on the form that his arrest was wrongful but that was construed by Assistant US Attorney David Salem as a false statement.
He was found guilty by a tainted jury after US assistant prosecutor David Salem produced perjured witnesses and introduced false affidavits.
From the beginning, this case, ignored by the main stream media, has been another egregious example of the power of the neo-cons to destroy those in the US intelligence community who did not kowtow to the Bush party line.
Today was a dark day for the U.S. system of jurisprudence — years after Jim Crow, the virtual “lynching” of innocent African Americans blatantly continues in a concerted effort by agenda-laden judges and crooked prosecutors with out-and-out political motives.
See earlier reports from D.C. insider Wayne Madsen, here and here