August 13, 2005
Paula Abdul Cleared in 'American Idol' Terror Probe
A probe by federal agents has reportedly found no evidence that American Idol judge Paula Abdul was part of a planned terrorist operation. Sources close to the investigation say that agents, who were monitoring voicemail messages left for Ms. Abdul by former 'Idol' contestan Corey Clark phone calls under a provision of the Patriot Act, may have confused Ms. Abdul with suspected Jordanian terrorist Buelah Abdul.
The Patriot Act snares a celebrity
By Deanna Swift
WASHINGTON, DC—A probe by federal agents has reportedly found no evidence that American Idol judge Paula Abdul was part of a planned terrorist operation. Sources close to the investigation say that agents, who were monitoring voicemail messages left for Ms. Abdul by former 'Idol' contestan Corey Clark phone calls under a provision of the Patriot Act, may have confused Ms. Abdul with suspected Jordanian terrorist Buelah Abdul.
"I can't give you a lot of details," says the intelligence source. "But I can confirm that Paula Abdul is no longer being investigated as a suspected terrorist, and the voicemail messages that she left for Mr. Clark have been returned to him."
Paula no friend of Patriot Act
The FBI agents who conducted the top-secret investigation apparently confused the Hollywood A-list Abdul with her similarly named counterpart on the US terror list. They reportedly relied on roving wiretaps to monitor the lovebirds' conversations as well as to tape numerous voicemails left by Ms. Abdul for the 22-year-old Clark. Under the Patriot Act, passed in the weeks after September 11, 2001, the federal government may monitor the phone calls of individuals "proximate" to the primary person being tapped, in this case, Ms. Abdul.
http://swiftreport.blogs.com/news/2005/08/paula_abdul_cle.html