Obama silences critics in Police State relection bid

FBI probe could be headache for President Obama
By REID J. EPSTEIN | 6/14/11 7:26 AM EDT

President Barack Obama’s Midwestern labor supporters are angry about a growing FBI investigation targeting peace and union activists in the Midwest, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.

The probe – which the report says could cause “political discomfort” for the president as he gears up for re-election – dates to the 2008 protests at the Republican National Convention in Minnesota and has led to subpoenas issued to 23 people, all of whom are vocal critics of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East and South America.

Backed by a coalition of labor – which includes local and statewide affiliates of key Democratic allies like AFSCME, the SEIU – a group calling itself the Committee to Stop FBI Repression has organized to protest the investigation. On its website, the group posted letters of support from seven members of Congress, including Obama allies like Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), a member of the House Intelligence Committee.

Schakowsky wrote in April to Attorney General Eric Holder to “convey concerns raised with me” about a September FBI raid that targeted antiwar activists in Chicago and Minneapolis.

The seven-term Chicago Democrat shared with Holder a letter from attorney Michael E. Deutsch of the People’s Law Office in Chicago claiming those targeted in the probe are being investigated because they have spoken out against U.S. foreign policy. …more