Thread: Hunter continues fight to free Ramos and Compean

For those ALIPAC members who were unable to watch Lou Dobbs last night.

Excerpt from the Lou Dobbs Tonight show 11/22/07:

Congressman Duncan Hunter is leading the fight to have the two former agents freed from prison and their records cleared. And he joins me now.

Thank you very much, sir, for joining us.

REP. DUNCAN HUNTER (R), CALIFORNIA: Great to be with you, Kitty.

PILGRIM: What is your reaction to the arrest of Davila?

HUNTER: Well, you know, this was a long time coming, because this event happened, the shooting happened in 2005, early 2005. The U.S. attorney solicited Davila to come back across the border, testify, and he was a key witness. He was the star witness in the trial, because it was his testimony that he said he was unarmed when Ramos shot him. Ramos and Compean said he had a gun as he ran back across the Rio Grande River.

And this happened in 2005. After he had turned state's evidence, and while they were waiting for the trial to begin, he decided he had some time on his hands in October of 2005, and he ran another massive load of drugs across the border.

And the damning thing about this is, is that the U.S. attorney had that information, because the DEA had an investigation. I've seen it. I've seen the report. The people who received the loaded drugs identified the drug dealer as the guy who had driven this second load of drugs across, and yet the U.S. attorney didn't feel it was necessary to tell the jury, who ended up believing the drug dealer, when he raised his right hand and said I'm going to tell only the truth. The U.S. attorney didn't feel it was necessary to tell that jury that the guy they were believing had just run a second load of drugs shortly before he appeared on the witness stand.

That certainly is a severe injustice, and at this point, I sent a hand-delivered letter to the president the other day, talking... PILGRIM: We have a clip of this, sir. Let me just read it for our viewers.

HUNTER: Sure.

PILGRIM: So they can see.

"Mr. President, if ever a case merited a presidential pardon, this is the one. The government asserted that Aldrete was giving honest testimony even when the U.S. knew he was back in the drug- running business."

And this, as you point out, was not -- the jury was not allowed to know this information. Do you think that a pardon is possible at this point?

HUNTER: I would hope it is. I talked to Josh Bolten, to the president's chief of staff, after I sent the letter over. He assured me he would show it to the president. And also, I sent the Drug Enforcement Agency report that they did in October of 2005 that connected this guy to this second load.

So the point was, the U.S. attorney had that in his hands, even as he was telling the jury that this guy was believable. And you know, that's the heart of the justice system, being able to confront your accusers and ask them and cross-examine them about their credibility. And certainly a second felony being committed just before the testimony certainly goes to his credibility.

I think those juries, or that jury, if it had had that information, would have taken precisely 20 seconds to find Compean and Ramos not guilty. So they've done almost 10 months in prison now. Let's get them back for Thanksgiving.

PILGRIM: Absolutely. Let's just read what the U.S. attorney of the Western Texas District, Johnny Sutton, made a statement, and the statement is -- "Just as Aldrete's alleged illegal conduct did not excuse the crimes committed by Compean and Ramos, likewise, their crimes will not be excused by his. Compean and Ramos had their day in court and received justice in accordance with well-established laws. And now, Aldrete will have his day in court, and my office will work tirelessly to ensure that justice is done."

The fact that he says that he'll work to do justice now doesn't really...

HUNTER: Well, yes. Kitty, he left out one important part. He knew that this drug dealer had just committed a second felony just before he put the drug dealer on the stand, and asserted to the jury that the drug dealer's testimony was believable, that this guy was credible, this guy was honest, and the guy had just committed a second felony.

And you know, when you're given immunity by the U.S. attorney after you've committed a felony, you have to promise to the U.S. attorney you will never run drugs again. So he held his hand up and said, absolutely, you got my word on it, I'll never run drugs again. And he said incidentally, I'll also testify truthfully that Compean and Ramos shot me when I was unarmed.

Now, it turns out that he lied about the first part of that pledge, which was that he would never run drugs again, and Johnny Sutton, the U.S. attorney, incredibly, did not convey that to the jury. They didn't give the defense attorney the chance to talk about that in front of the jury.

And you know, if he would have said, OK, we want to run that to ground, let's say we want to investigate the drug dealer for the second run -- they should have put off the trial of Compean and Ramos. Instead, he ramrodded that trial through, got the convention, sent them to prison, and now he says now I think I'll look at this guy again.

PILGRIM: That's unbelievable. You know, also, the timing of Davila's arrest, it's three weeks before the Ramos and Compean appeal court, appellate court hearing. Do you see any significance in the timing?

HUNTER: Well, the timing, I do see significance in the fact that they had him dead to rights the second time back in October of 2005, and he was -- and the same -- the guy who ran the drugs, and was identified as having delivered the second massive load, then walked into the courtroom, obviously in the custody of the U.S. attorney, and testified against the Border Patrol agents.

They had him then, and they had this evidence, which was very conclusive in my estimation -- I read the report -- linking him to this second massive load of drugs. So they had him. Why did they wait for two years to now say, OK, we're going to take a second look at the drug dealer? Very unusual.

But in the least, these guys have done 10 years (sic) in prison. Ramos has been beaten up in the prison by drug dealers. They ought to let him out, send them back to their families for Thanksgiving.

PILGRIM: Well, we applaud your efforts in this case. We very much appreciate it. Congressman Duncan Hunter. And sir, we'd also like to wish you a very happy Thanksgiving. We understand your son, Duncan Jr., is home from Afghanistan, and we wish you the absolute best holiday ever.

HUNTER: Oh, thank you so much, Kitty. And everybody who is wearing the uniform out there and their families, have a great Thanksgiving.

PILGRIM: Thank you.

http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0711/21/ldt.01.html

Has anybody heard anything else on this?

have heard nothing, but coming from bush, it DOES NOT surprise me that he hasnt said anything because of his "good, close, dear friend who would always make sure the truth was out there"


APPEAL is December 3 in new orleans

Originally Posted by cayla99

Has anybody heard anything else on this?

One person whos been a big supported of these two is Tancredo
yet i am not sure Ive heard him say anything since the dope runners
arrest... someone tell me if I am wrong here

Nice to see Hunter still pressing hard on this issue. While the other candidates talk a good game, hunter is taking action

Reciprocity wrote:

Nice to see Hunter still pressing hard on this issue. While the other candidates talk a good game, hunter is taking action

Hunter is very good about that (taking action).

Originally Posted by Reciprocity

Nice to see Hunter still pressing hard on this issue. While the other candidates talk a good game, hunter is taking action

That's one reason why I'm voting for him.

I met Rep. Duncan Hunter last September in Ft. Worth, TX. We discussed trying to get Ramos and Compean out of prison. When I told him that for nearly two months I had been PUBLICLY protesting for the release of Ramos and Compean and passing out hand-made, pocket-sized info cards on their case (these cards were later replaced by a PRINTED version thanks to a dear CATHOLIC patriot friend!), Rep. Hunter was deeply moved and commended me for caring about them. Rep. Hunter then reassured me that he and other concerned members of Congress were doing EVERYTHING they possibly could to free Ramos and Compean. One such move was the Congressional Pardons Act Rep. Hunter initiated for Ramos and Compean earlier this year, with over 100 members of Congress sigend on already! Another was the amendment by Rep. Hunter's friend Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO), that would cut off incarceration funding for the two agents, thus NECESSITATING their release because of prison expenses. Last Thursday's Lou Dobbs interview with Rep. Hunter on Hunter's continued leadership in the fight to free Ramos and Compean only furthers my support for Hunter and pride in being a REAL American! And, YES, I WILL keep on PUBLICLY protesting for those two GOOD men, giving out the TRUTH about them to concerned Americans and foreigners, and above all PRAYING that their case will be DISMISSED at the December 3, 2007 appeals hearing in the Fifth Circuit Court of New Orleans so that Ramos and Compean are FINALLY and FOREVER FREE!

Hunter is the last candidate the OBL/CFR crowd wants to see nominated. He has the best record opposing Illegal Immigration and i like his stance when it comes to Communist China and views them as an Enemy which they are.

Originally Posted by Reciprocity

Hunter is the last candidate the OBL/CFR crowd wants to see nominated. He has the best record opposing Illegal Immigration and i like his stance when it comes to Communist China and views them as an Enemy which they are.

Actually Ron Paul is the least one the CFR would see nominated. Hunter will just continue the war....

(edited out offtopic info as it pertained to the poster above.)