Devvy Kidd
June 26, 2002
Many months ago, the allegation was made that FEMA had teams in NYC prior to September 11, 2001, thus they had prior knowledge:
From: "Jackie Patru" <[email protected]
To: Undisclosed-Recipient:@mail.empireaccess.net;
Subject: FEMA -CBS Interview -9-13
- CONFIRMED
Date: Mon, 5 Nov 2001 13:02:28
-0500
"I've had many requests for confirmation of the date on which the CBS-FEMA rescue worker interview was held. Don't know why it hadn't occurred to me before now to do this:
"I pulled out the tape of the September 13th Sweet Liberty broadcast (Steve Jacobson was our guest). On the September 13th broadcast I shared with Steve and our listeners the phone call I'd gotten shortly before air-time, from Patty... a regular listener and source of always credible information, who related the conversation she had heard on CBS with Dan Blather and Tom Kennedy.
"Now... is it a possibility Kennedy's statement was a slip of the tongue? Did he mean Tuesday night instead of Monday night? Yes, it's possible. And if it wasn't a slip of the tongue... if the mistake was in the telling of their deployment to N.Y.C. on late Monday evening, those FEMA rescue team workers will be carrying around a big load right now, along with their families who knew where they went before the bombing of the WTC occurred."
* * *
http://www.infowars.com/resources.html
FEMA In Place before the attacks:
THE DOUBTFUL SLIP-OF-THE TONGUE -- THE TRUTH IS TOLD
"Prior Knowledge: Tom Kennedy, A Member of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) "National Urban Search and Rescue Team"During an Interview with CBS News anchor Dan Rather Talks about How FEMA Was in Place in NY the Day Before the Attack:
HERE'S THE CLIP
* * *
The clip no longer works.
As I have said so many times, "events" like OKC and 9-11 are horrendous in scope. Sometimes it takes a while to sort through rumors and attempt to establish facts. Credibility is everything.
Please notice in the e-mail at the top from Jackie Patru, that it was a caller to her show that makes the allegation that FEMA was in NYC the day before the attack. Jackie is a meticulous researcher and a fine lady, but this rumor apparently started with a call-in to her radio show.
There was an article on this issue by Jon Dougherty who is a journalist for worldnetdaily.com:
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=25329
November 15, 2001
HOAXBUSTERS
FEMA: No prior knowledge of 9-11
Agency dispels Net rumor, says team didn't arrive in NYC Sept. 10
By Jon Dougherty
2001 WorldNetDaily.com
"The Federal Emergency Management Agency has said it did not have urban search and rescue teams in place in New York City prior to the Sept. 11 attacks, contrary to an Internet-based rumor alleging otherwise.
"WorldNetDaily readers began inquiring whether the government had prior knowledge of the terror attacks a few weeks after they occurred, citing a CBS News interview between anchorman Dan Rather and a FEMA-sponsored search and rescue team spokesman named Tom Kennedy.
"In the interview, Kennedy misspoke when he said he and his team arrived in New York City and were "finally on the ground" and deployed by "Monday night. " If accurate, that would have meant the team arrived Sept. 10 the night before the attacks.
"The attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and on the Pentagon came the next day Tuesday.
"According to a spokesman in the office of Vito Pizzi, who works in FEMA's federal coordination office, a total of 16 teams were put on alert or activated Sept. 11. Two of those teams were sent in to Ground Zero the next day, Sept. 12.
"FEMA officials said Kennedy, in the heat of the moment, misstated his team's arrival date. Kennedy could not be reached for comment.
"In all, FEMA has 22 teams nationwide."
* * *
Based on this one phone call placed during a radio talk show, the alleged pre-911 deployment of FEMA became a fact on dozens of web sites. I continue to say that if you're going to accuse the sitting President of the United States of America and certain individuals in his administration of planning and pulling off 9-11, or prior knowledge and doing nothing to stop the slaughter, you must have facts. There are a million pieces to this puzzle and it's going to take time to sort through it all.
I finally got around to filing a FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) on this specific issue so I could see what may or may not be true about this persistent allegation:
Devvy Kidd
P.O. Box 60543
Sacramento, California 95860
Certified Mail Receipt: 7099 3400
0007 2637 5925
February 19, 2002
Federal Emergency Management Agency
Office of General Counsel
500 C Street, SW, Room 840
Washington, DC 20472
RE: FOIA Request
Dear Ms. Leshan:
This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. §552) and the regulations thereunder. I am more than willing to pay any reasonable research and copies fees for responding to this request; however, if the costs thereof should exceed $100, please inform me in advance of producing the requested documents. I am not a commercial requester and I seek the documents requested below for personal reasons.
On September 13, 2001, a Mr. Tom Kennedy from FEMA explained how his search and rescue operation had been sent to the disaster at the World Trade Center.
Under the FOIA, I am requesting a copy of Mr. Kennedy's deployment/TDY orders for the time period of September 1st through and including September 15, 2001.
I am requesting that this FOIA include copies of any memos, directives or orders relating to his assignment in NYC as it relates to the WTC disaster.
Very truly yours,
Devvy Kidd
* * *
The Bush Administration's agencies, left over civil service employees from the Clinton, Bush and possibly Reagan Administrations, are just as they always have been: Slow, inaccurate and most of the time, refuse to give up the requested information so you have to sue them in Federal District Court. This is especially true since John Ashcroft took over the Department of Injustice. But, I am persistent when I'm seeking the truth, so the dance continues.
* * *
Devvy Kidd
P.O. Box 60543
Sacramento, California 95860
Certified Mail Receipt: 7001 0320
0003 7999 5425
April 19, 2002
Eileen J. Leshan
FOIA/PA Specialist
Office of General Counsel
FEMA
Washington, DC 20472
Case No. 02-112
Dear Ms. Leshan:
On March 12, 2002, I received a letter from you acknowledging my FOIA request for Tom Kennedy's deployment/TDY orders.
I would like to know the status of my FOIA and how much longer it's going to take to forward me the information I have requested?
Very truly yours,
Devvy Kidd
* * *
I then had an e-mail exchange with the FOIA Specialist handling my request:
-----Original Message-----
From: devvy kidd [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Tuesday, June 04, 2002 1:42
PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Status of my FOIA?
Eileen J. Leshan
FOIA/PA Specialist
Office of General Counsel
FEMA
Washington, DC 20472
Re: Case No. 02-112
The last correspondence I received from you was March 12, 2002 regarding my FOIA request. I'ts now June 4, 2002 and I would like to know how much longer it is going to take to complete my request?
Thank you.
Devvy Kidd
* * *
"Leshan, Eileen" wrote:
Mr. Kidd,
I hope to send a response out to you this week.
Sincerely, Eileen J. Leshan
FOIA/PA Specialist
Office of General Counsel
(202) 646-4115
Subject: Status/reply
Date: Tue, 04 Jun 2002 14:56:50
-0700
From: devvy kidd <[email protected]>
To: "Leshan, Eileen" <[email protected]>
Thank you and I look forward to receiving the documents in the mail soon.
Mrs. Kidd
* * *
Despite bringing to Ms. Leshan's attention that I am a Mrs., not a Mr., the letter she sent me is addressed to Mr. Kidd. [click here].
Now, this letter raises some questions in my mind. I guess the problem I have with FEMAs response is that it clashes with the quote in Jon's worldnetdaily.com article cited above. Specifically this statement:
"According to a spokesman in the office of Vito Pizzi, who works in FEMA's federal coordination office, a total of 16 teams were put on alert or activated Sept. 11. Two of those teams were sent in to Ground Zero the next day, Sept. 12."
Now, according to the response I got from FEMA, you can take it one of two ways:
Either Kennedy doesn't work for them, or he was never deployed. The worldnetdaily.com article says the teams were "FEMA-sponsored."
Does that mean Kennedy works for FEMA or some other organization that contracts out for search and rescue?
Either way, when you work for the govmint or do contract work for them, someone has to issue orders for the action about to be undertaken because funds have to be expended. There's always a paper trail.
The only way to get further clarification is to continue the process, which I have done. I attached a copy of Jon Dougherty's article so whoever is handling the appeal will be able to see that the response provided me is incomplete. I also worded my appeal to force the issue of whether or not Tom Kennedy works for FEMA or is he a contractor that does work for FEMA? This is an important distinction.
Does this mean a cover-up by FEMA? At this point I am not going to say one way or the other because the picture is incomplete. I'll have to see what comes back as a result of my appeal. It's very frustrating to sit through this long, drawn out process in obtaining hard facts, but it's the only way to get information verified.
* * *
Devvy Kidd
P.O. Box 60543
Sacramento, California 95860
Certified Mail Receipt: 7001 2510
0000 2855 8570
June 10, 2002
Headquarters FOIA Officer
Federal Emergency Management Agency
500 C Street, S.W. Room 840
Washington, DC 20472
Re: FOIA Appeal
Sir/Madame:
Enclosed please find my original FOIA, subsequent follow ups and a final response from Ms. Eileen J. Leshan, in which she states that "no responsive documents exists within the files of the FEMA relative to your request."
I am appealing this finding based on the attached article quoting a FEMA spokesman who states Mr. Tom Kennedy, employed by FEMA, was indeed deployed to NYC.
If this information from FEMA is accurate, then the documents I requested from FEMA must exist, contrary to the response I received from Ms. Leshan. Therefore, I am appealing and request that the "responsive" records be provided to me under my original FOIA.
Very truly yours,
Devvy Kidd
Enclosures
* * *
Some facts about FEMA and employees:
http://www.fema.gov/about/history.htm
"Today, FEMA - a 2,500-person agency supplemented by more than 5,000 stand-by disaster reservists - has a mission to lead America to prepare for, prevent, respond to and recover from disasters with a vision of "A Nation Prepared."
For a full picture of FEMA and how it coordinates with states and other federal agencies, see:
http://www.fema.gov/library/fy2002_draft.pdf