2009 Letter to Attorney General Eric Holder

        

         February 6, 2009

            4204 Lakeside Way

                    Newnan, Georgia 30265

Eric Holder – Attorney General

U.S. Department of Justice

950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20530-0001

SUBJ:  WHISTLEBLOWING UNITED PILOTS ASSOCIATION

Dear Mr. Holder,

On behalf of the subject association, please allow me to extend to you our sincerest congratulations and best wishes on your recent confirmation as attorney general, the highest law enforcement official in our great nation.  As such, we hold great hope that you share in President Obama’s promise of change in governance enabling a greater openness in our government and law enforcement agencies, thereby routing out the cancerous white-collar corruption that has permeated throughout all levels and branches of government and business the past several years.

In consonance with the Department of Justice stated mission, all members of our association share these same hopes and visions for a better tomorrow.

 "To enforce the law and defend the interests of the United States according to the law; to ensure public safety against threats foreign and domestic; to provide federal leadership in preventing and controlling crime; to seek just punishment for those guilty of unlawful behavior; and to ensure fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans."

Established in April 2006, the ‘Whistleblowing United Pilots Association’ is a national grassroots coalition comprised of employees and retirees from all airlines whose purpose is to help discover the truth regarding alleged white-collar criminality associated with post-9/11 airline bankruptcies and serve justice on the criminals who perpetrated these crimes.  I serve as a public spokesperson for this group.

On April 12, 2006, I sent the attached letter to then Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announcing the establishment of our association, while petitioning his support of our grassroots efforts.  Four months later in a letter response dated, DOJ Gerald Toner advised me to contact an FBI office with evidence of alleged federal criminality.

On November 20, 2006, I wrote District Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald a letter advising him of our knowledge of the existence of federal criminal evidence, while asking for his prosecutorial support in this case.

On December 11, 2006, I received a letter from the office of Patrick Fitzgerald suggesting that I contact Robert Grant, Chicago FBI Special Agent-in-Charge, if I had 'any evidence of violations of federal law'. 

Without expounding, on April 1, 2007, I wrote the attached letter to Mr. Grant that was forwarded by his office to the FBI DC Public Corruption Unit, an administrative arm of the FBI, who responded in a letter dated May 16, 2007 by suggesting that I contact the FBI Field office in Atlanta.  Because I was aware that FBI Chicago already had a filed open federal complaint on a matter related to this case, as well as other issues under consideration at the time, I chose not to contact this specific office for reasons that I will not outline in this letter.

On February 2, 2009, I paid a visit to the Office of the FBI in Chicago for the express purpose of delivering federal criminal evidence and a list of witnesses, but this information was declined by an agent in this office.  Additionally, I was informed that the FBI did not intend to prosecute this case, even though no one within the bureau had reviewed the tiniest shred of evidence.  I am nonplussed, as are members of our association.

On this same date, I transmitted the attached letter to Chicago FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Robert Grant expressing our concerns regarding the fact that due process of federal law was not being served in this case, even though I was merely adhering to DOJ recommendations on three separate occasions  to contact the FBI if I had evidence of alleged federal criminality as a Sarbanes-Oxley whistle blower.

As our newly-appointed highest federal law enforcement official in government, request is hereby made that the Department of Justice kindly provide our membership the reason(s) as to why said evidence has been refused by the department resulting in the apparent unconcern of alleged federal criminality surrounding the United Airlines bankruptcy.  Other agencies of the federal government have been contacted on relevant legal issues in this case as well, and I have included this related correspondence for your perusal.

 President Obama campaigned on a promise of open government, which included the exposition of white-collar corruption, untoward lobbyist pressures, and excessive executive compensation.  Although encumbered with current economic problems and many other pressing issues, it is hoped that he will fully support whistle blowers willing to step forth to expose white-collar corruption, given the sorry state of economic affairs in this country which, in part, has been caused by corrupt schemes derived by the likes of Bernie Madoff and others.

The overriding concern and consideration more generally addressed herein is whether or not we do, in fact, have whistle blower laws in this country, but more importantly the question as to whether the federal agencies empowered to investigate and prosecute alleged white-collar criminality while protecting the rights of whistle blowers still exists.  We want to believe that the United States has a system of federal laws, legislated by Congress, enacted by the President, with legal processes in place to ensure adherence.

Our association membership embraces the precepts enshrined in our sacred Constitution, which ensures first amendment freedom of speech rights by patriots who stand guard against diminishments of these ideals.  The citizens of this great land do not need a Patriot Act to delegate 'patriotism', as it was exemplified by the courageous words and deeds of our forefathers who were willing to risk their lives in support of these virtues and ideals.  Our association motto is "Patriotism and Freedom of Speech in Action" in consonance with this same theme.       

Reflecting on the words offered to Attorney General Gonzales in April 2006:

“You are hereby advised of our plight and our efforts.  If DOJ, DOT, and DHS are disinterested in our investigation, that is acceptable, although not understandable, to us.  However, you must be forewarned, we will be successful in discovering the truth and serving justice and then will be calling on your good offices to explain your apathetic behavior towards our just and noble cause”.

Our association membership asserts that much of the truth regarding federal white-collar criminality in this case has been uncovered.  Service of federal justice is a jurisdictional matter outside the association domain of control.  It is a Department of Justice function.  Ordinary grassroots citizen groups should not be required to investigate and prove federal criminality, as this is a Department of Justice function also.  Will you join us in our just and noble cause in support of the stated mission of the Department of Justice?  To date, our association efforts have been most ineffective in our legally persuasive processes of the past.

Very respectfully,

Dan Hanley

Spokesperson – Whistleblowing United Pilots Association

Encl:  Letter dated April 12, 2006 to AG Gonzales, DHS Chertoff, and DOT Mineta

          Letter dated July 3, 2006 from DOJ Gerald Toner  

          Letter dated November 20, 2006 to District Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald

          Letter dated December 11, 2006 from District Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald

          Letter dated April 1, 2007 to Chicago FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Robert Grant

          Letter dated May 16, 2007 from FBI DC Public Corruption Unit Michael Anderson

          Letter dated September 1, 2007 to Asst AG Fisher, Leahy, Schumer, Conyers

          Letter dated December 5, 2007 from Deputy Asst AG John Keeney

          Letter dated February 10, 2008 to Deputy Asst AG John Keeney         

          Email dated February 2, 2009 to Chicago FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Robert Grant

          Letter dated January 25, 2009 to Calvin L. Scovel, DOT Inspector General

          Letter dated January 28, 2009 to H. David Kotz, SEC Inspector General

          Letter dated January 31, 2009 to Gordon S. Heddell, DOL Inspector General

          Letter dated January 31, 2009 to Glenn A. Fine, DOJ Inspector General

          Letter dated January 31, 2009 to President Barack Obama

          Letter dated February 2, 2009 to Eric Thorson, Treasury Inspector General

          Letter dated January 26, 2009 from Government Accountability Project Coalition to President Barack Obama 

cc:     President Barack Obama

          Vice-President Joe Biden

          Rahm Emanuel - Chief of Staff to the President         

          Calvin L. Scovell - Inspector General, Department of Transportation

          H. David Kotz – Inspector General, Securities and Exchange Commission

          Gordon S. Hedell – Inspector General, Department of Labor

          Glenn A. Fine – Inspector General, Department of Justice

          Eric Thorson – Inspector General, Department of Treasury

          Rebecca Batts - Inspector General, Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation

          Senator Patrick Leahy - Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee

          Senator Charles Grassley - Member, Senate Judiciary/Finance Committees

          Senator Daniel Akaka - Chairman, Senate Government Management/Federal         Workforce/DC Committee

          Senator Carl Levin - Chairman, Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations 

          Max Clellan - Former Democratic Senator from Georgia

          Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-GA)

          Congressman Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA) 

          Congressman John Conyers, Jr. Chairman, House Judiciary Committee 

          Congressman Henry Waxman, Chairman, Government Oversight Committee

          Congressman George Miller, Chairman, Health, Education, Labor, and Pension Committee

          Rita Glavin - Acting Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division

          Robert Mueller - FBI Director

          Patrick Fitzgerald - District Attorney, Northern District of Illinois         

          Robert Grant - Chicago FBI, Special Agent-in-Charge

          Mary Schapiro – SEC Chairman

          Merri Jo Gillette - Chicago SEC, Regional Director

          Eric Lichtblau - New York Times Investigative Journalist

          Mary Williams-Walsh - New York Times Investigative Journalist

          Jeff Bailey - New York Times Investigative Journalist

          David Cay Johnston - Pulitzer Prize Winning Investigative Journalist/Author

          Paul Krugman - New York Times Reporter/Nobel Laureate in Economics          

          Richard Duprey - Journalist,  'The Motley Fool' 

          John Perkins - Author

          Jan Schwartz - CEO, Forensic Fraud Research, Inc.

          Holly Hegeman - Editor, 'Plane Business' 

          Keith Olberman - NBC News Correspondent

          Chris Matthews - NBC News Correspondent

          Rachel Maddow - NBC News Correspondent

          Lou Dobbs - CNN News Correspondent

          Ed Schultz - Public Talk Radio Show Host

          Michael Lynch - Associate

          Tom Devine - Legal Director, Government Accountability Project

          United Airlines Board of Directors

          Captain John Prater - President, Air Line Pilots Association

          Captain Steve Wallach - United ALPA Master Executive Council Chairman 

          Members of the Whistleblowing United Pilots Association    

              

"In God We Trust" 

   

"Whistleblowing United Pilots Association"