Terrorism and Censorship: An Interview With Peter Lance: Part 1
Five time Emmy Award-winning investigative journalist Peter Lance got a real surprise when it came time to publish the trade
paperback version of his bestselling 9/11 expose, Triple Cross: How Bin
Laden's Master Spy Penetrated the CIA, the Green Berets, and the FBI, which tells the shocking story of Ali Mohamed, the Egyptian who
managed to penetrate the deepest levels of the U.S. intelligence community and provide crucial intelligence to Al Qaeda terrorist operations
for years before the 9/11 terrorist attacks, all while being paid by the U.S. government.
U.S. District Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald threatened to sue HarperCollins if it did not halt publication, pull every last copy of the book
from all bookstores in the United States and admit that the book was all lies. For nearly two years HarperCollins and Peter Lance
painstakingly rechecked every fact in the book. The book, with a new introduction and updated information, was just published
despite Fitzgerald's many threatening letters. Fitzgerald objects to the book on personal grounds, not in his capacity as a U.S. Attorney. Fitzgerald led the counterterrorism task force in the Southern District of New York that was responsible for finding and stopping
Osama bin Laden long before September 11, 2001, and that office's many mistakes are laid out in painstaking detail in the book. The Justice Department has made no attempt to censor the book, but Fitzgerald (who is used to adulation by the press) personally objected
to his portrayal in the book and began sending cease and desist letters. One of the letters was faxed from the Justice Department,
which Lance says was done to falsely give the impression that the Justice Department was threatening to sue HarperCollins. Lance filed a complaint with the Justice Department, asking to open an Office of Professional Responsibility investigation based on Fitzgerald's actions in trying to kill the book. Lance says that Fitzgerald improperly used government resources to intimidate and harass him and his publisher.
Lance, who worked for ABC for many years, was shocked that a top official at the Justice Department was trying to censor a book
that was so meticulously researched. Lance himself testified at the 9/11 Commission hearings and is known for his meticulous attention to detail.
Peter talked to us about Fitzgerald's lawsuit threats and how he felt about the attempt to censor his work:
Has Patrick Fitzgerald followed through on this threat to sue? Has he responded to the ethics complaint you filed?
As of this date Fitzgerald, who promised in his letter of June 2nd that if the book was published and "if in fact... it defames
me or casts me in a false light, Harper Collins will be sued," hasn't even come close.
The fact is that Fitzgerald, who knows the libel standard as set forth in the landmark case of New York Times vs. Sullivan,
knew back in October, 2007 when he sent the first of four threat letters to HarperCollins that he didn't have a viable libel
claim. To mount one he'd have to prove not also falsity but that I acted with "reckless disregard for the truth" or "actual malice;"
a threshold he could never meet since the book of 604 pages was meticulously researched with 1,420+ end notes and 32 pages of documentary
appendices.
Yet in his latest letter of June 2nd trying to stop publication of the trade paperback Fitzgerald wrote that the entire book was
"a deliberate lie masquerading as the truth."
What an incredibly reckless statement from a Federal prosecutor who should choose his words carefully.
As a journalist, how you do you feel about a top government official trying to censor your book?
I frankly think that it's repugnant, for any government official to try and kill any book -- much less the man who is arguably
the most intimidating Federal prosecutor in America seeking to use the private libel laws to pulp a book critical of his performance in office.
*****
You can read Fitzgerald's threatening letters here (pdf file). You can read Peter Lance's ethics complaint against Fitzgerald
here (pdf file). Triple Cross is available at bookstores everywhere and for a nice discount at Amazon.com.
You can read Part II of our interview with Pater Lance here.
Five time Emmy Award-winning investigative journalist 