Report: Bush Admin Raised Terror Alert Based On Con Man's Al Jazeera 'Decoding' Scam

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Report: Bush Admin Raised Terror Alert Based On Con Man's Al Jazeera 'Decoding' Scam
Justin Elliott | December 21, 2009, 9:32AM

A self-styled Nevada codebreaker convinced the CIA he could decode secret terrorist targeting information sent through Al Jazeera broadcasts, prompting the Bush White House to raise the terror alert level to Orange (high) in December 2003, with Tom Ridge warning of "near-term attacks that could either rival or exceed what we experience on September 11," according to a new report in Playboy.

The report deals another blow to the credibility of the Department of Homeland Security's color-coded terror alert system, and comes after Ridge's claim that the system was used as a political tool when he was DHS secretary.

The man who prompted the December 2003 Orange alert was Dennis Montgomery, who has since been embroiled in various lawsuits, including one for allegedly bouncing $1 million in checks during a Caesars Palace spree. His former lawyer calls him a "habitual liar engaged in fraud." ... http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/12/bush_admin_raised_terror_alert_based_on_con_mans_a.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TPMmuckraker+%28TPMmuckraker%29&utm_content=My+Yahoo