John Edelstein writes:
Last Wednesday, a group of prominent Bush-era Republicans, including former NYC Mayor Rudy Guiliani, former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, former White House adviser Frances Townsend and former Attorney General Michael Mukasey, flew to Paris (per TPM) to speak in support of MEK, a Marxist Iranian exile group there — one that’s been designated an official terrorist organization by the U.S. (Frankly I’m more surprised they’re supporting Marxists.)
Fran Townsend is CNN’s resident terrorism expert.
Now, recall how Octavia Nasr was fired for an impolitic tweet eulogizing Hezbollah’s Fadlallah. Double standards at CNN? Yet Townsend is often billed as a neutral National Security expert and her ties to Bush are rarely shown on the screen when she’s asked for her expertise. But she’s part of this group literally providing material support to Iranian Marxists that the US government has labeled as an official terrorist organization.
Here is the US Government’s legal definition of “material support” for a terrorist group:
(b) Definitions.— As used in this section—
(1) the term “material support or resources” means any property, tangible or intangible, or service, including currency or monetary instruments or financial securities, financial services, lodging, training, expert advice or assistance, safehouses, false documentation or identification, communications equipment, facilities, weapons, lethal substances, explosives, personnel …
(3) the term “expert advice or assistance” means advice or assistance derived from scientific, technical or other specialized knowledge.
