| For Immediate Release Jun 13, 2001 |
Contact: Press Office 202-646-5172 |
Russian “Spy” Ship Shot Laser at NATO Helicopter in Seattle Port, Blinding U.S. Naval Intelligence Officer and Canadian Captain Lawsuit Seeks Damages and Will Expose Continued Russian Spying in U.S. Waters Press Conference on Wednesday, June 13, 2001 Time: Noon, EDT Where: Lisagor Room, National Press Club (Washington, DC) Judicial Watch, the public interest law firm that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, will announce today at a National Press Club press conference a lawsuit on behalf of Lieutenant Commander Jack Daly, a Naval intelligence officer. The lawsuit is against the Russian state-controlled Far Eastern Shipping Company (“FESCO”) over the firing of a laser at Lt. Cmdr. Daly by one of its spy ships, the Kapitan Man, in U.S. waters. Press reports by respected investigators such as Bill Gertz show that U.S. intelligence considers FESCO ships, which have virtually free access to U.S. ports, to be spy vessels for Russian state intelligence. Lt. Cmdr. Daly’s story is featured in Gertz’s New York Times bestseller, Betrayal. In 1997, the Kapitan Man fired a laser in Seattle’s Puget Sound (U.S. territorial waters) at a Canadian military helicopter on a NATO mission to monitor the Kapitan Man’s activities, permanently injuring the eyesight of Lt. Cmdr. Jack Daly and the helicopter’s Canadian pilot Captain Patrick Barnes. At the time, the Kapitan Man was evidently tracking a U.S. nuclear submarine as it was leaving its Seattle base. The Clinton Administration worked with the Russians to ensure that the Russian spy vessel’s attack on a NATO aircraft in U.S. territorial waters would not become an “international incident.” Other evidence shows the U.S. Navy doctored evidence in an effort to minimize the Russian attack. “Lt. Cmdr. Daly’s lawsuit seeks damages against Russia’s state-controlled FESCO for battery and negligence and will help expose the continued threat to America’s security posed by Russian spy vessels in our ports,” stated Judicial Watch Chairman Larry Klayman. “Hopefully, Lt. Cmdr. Daly’s lawsuit can help prevent another Pearl Harbor or even another U.S.S. Cole-type attack. President Bush ought to raise this attack on our military by a Russian ship and the continued Russian spying in our ports in his upcoming meeting with Russia President Vladimir Putin,” Klayman said. “The Russians and Mr. Putin, former head of the KGB, have not let yet go of the Communist mentality that the United States is the ‘enemy.’ This continued spying in our waters shows that the Russians are a greater threat than even the Communist Chinese,” stated Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. To view a copy of the complaint Click Here | |