Alleged photo of Abdul Rahman Ali Alharbi. It’s unclear who the man on the right is.
1. TheBlaze.com / US
Exclusive: Congressional Source Contradicts ICE Account, Says Lawmakers in Possession of File on Saudi National That Called for Visa Revocation
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Documents have been presented to Congress confirming that plans were made to revoke the visa of Abdul Rahman Ali Alharbi, a Saudi national once considered a “person of interest” in the Boston bombings, a congressional source told TheBlaze on Thursday.
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Other sources, including one at the FBI, previously informed TheBlaze that there have been discussions about deporting Alharbi on “security and related grounds.” He has been living in the Boston area and in the U.S. on a student visa. An FBI source said the agency is against deporting Alharbi because of his status as a material witness.
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The congressional source told TheBlaze it was unclear as to why representatives from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) would be unaware of this information. Earlier on Thursday, an official with ICE said it was “categorically false” that Alharbi had ever been considered for deportation.
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The congressional source, however, said the information sent to Congress showed that a file was created on “Abdul Rahman Ali Al Harby” at 4 p.m. on Tuesday by an official with the National Targeting Center, a counterterrorism sub-agency of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Department of Homeland Security. The file stated that the individual is “linked to the Boston bombing” and was to be processed for revocation of his visa based on national security grounds, the congressional source revealed.
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The source confirmed seeing the information sent to members of Congress but could not provide copies of any documents to TheBlaze.
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The source could not reveal if Alharbi knew or has ever been in contact with the two suspects in the Boston bombings identified by the FBI on Thursday.
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Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano had a fiery exchange with Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.) during a House hearing Thursday morning over reports that Al Alharbi is being considered for deportation.
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Napolitano refused to entertain a question regarding if it would be “negligence” to deport someone who just days ago was a person of interest. Watch her response and read her other fiery comments in our full write-up here.
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Sen. Rand Paul reacted to TheBlaze’s report during a radio interview with Glenn Beck by saying he will be “looking into” the report. Read the full report here.
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The original report by TheBlaze about Alharbi’s possible deportation is available here.
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NAPOLITANO Article:
2. TheBlaze.com / Politics
Janet Napolitano Responds to Report of Deportation for Former ‘Person of Interest’: ‘Not Worthy of an Answer’
Update: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed to TheBlaze that a Saudi Arabian national in custody is a different person and “in no way” affiliated with the Boston Marathon attack.
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Original story below:
A visibly irritated Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano refused to answer a Republican congressman’s questions about the possible deportation of the Saudi Arabian national questioned as a witness in the Boston Marathon bombings.
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Napolitano called South Carolina Rep. Jeff Duncan’s question “so full of misstatements and misapprehension that it’s just not worthy of an answer.”
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“We have someone who’s being deported due to national security concerns,” Duncan had said during a Capitol Hill hearing Thursday. “We’ve got this guy who was there, we know he was there…and yet we’re going to deport him? We’re going to remove him from the scene?”
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“If I might, I am unaware of anyone who is being deported for national security concerns at all related to Boston,” Napolitano said.
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“He is being deported,” Duncan said.
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Napolitano said as she understood it, the man was not technically a person of interest or a suspect, and “this is is an example of why it is so important to let law enforcement do its job.”
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“I want them to do their job,” Duncan said. “Wouldn’t you agree with me that it’s negligent for us as an American administration to deport someone who was reportedly at the scene of the bombing and we’re going to deport him, not to be able to question him anymore?”
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“I am not going to answer that question it is so full of misstatements and misapprehension that it’s just not worthy of an answer…there’s been so much reported on this that’s been wrong I can’t even begin to tell you, congressman,” Napolitano replied. “We will provide you with accurate information as it becomes available.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3l8xOAlcFA&feature=player_embedded
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RAND PAUL Article:
3. TheBlaze.com / Government
UPDATED: Rand Paul on Saudi National Reports: ‘We’ll Definitely Look Into It’
Sen. Rand Paul in a radio interview with Glenn Beck on Thursday said he’d “definitely look into” reports that a Saudi national briefly labeled a “person of interest” has been cleared for deportation despite claims that he may be somehow connected to the Boston bombings.
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“I hope that this won’t be someone involved with a student visa. I don’t have any special details on the current situation,” he said.
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“But I’m concerned in general that students from various countries that are dead set on harming Americans, that we have to be more careful and should have more scrutiny on these students when they arrive,” he added.
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He went on to explain his concerns over the student visa program as it currently stands.
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“From a general perspective, we need to have more scrutiny on student visas,” the Kentucky Republican said. “We need to know where the students are. Are they attending school? We need to do extensive background checks on people coming to visit us.”
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“Because the 19 hijackers on 9/11,” he continued, “several of them were here on … student visas, and were not obeying even the rules of the student visa program.”
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“Had we been paying attention we may well have sent some of these students back home because they weren’t attending school,” he added.
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Watch the interview here [Saudi comments come at the 04:24 mark]:
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The U.S. should “get a handle on where people are,” Paul said, adding that we should “have more scrutiny on these students when they arrive.”
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“We’ll definitely look into it,” he said of the Saudi national reports.
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ORIGINAL Article
4. TheBlaze.com / US
Exclusive: Saudi National Once Considered ‘Person of Interest’ May Be Deported on ‘Security’ Grounds — And How It’s Supposed to Be Framed
Editor’s note: Please see the Editors’ UPDATES we will be placing in order of most-recent below. TheBlaze’s Jonathon M. Seidl contributed to this report.
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Key points:
- On Sean Hannity’s Fox News program Wednesday night, terror expert Steve Emerson cited sources saying Abdul Rahman Ali Alharbi, the Saudi national who was briefly named a “person of interest” in the Boston Marathon bombings, is being deported on Tuesday.
- Thursday morning, Glenn Beck revealed on radio that TheBlaze was informed by sources that the Saudi national’s visa had been revoked and he was, in fact, going to be deported on “security and related grounds.”
- Among other things, sources told TheBlaze that the Saudi national had ties to a well-connected Saudi family and that his deportation was set to be framed as a “voluntary” departure to be with his family.
- A file, called an “event,” was started on him three days ago.
- While discussing the issue on radio, TheBlaze’s Chief Content Officer Joel Cheatwood revealed that the government is now considering not deporting Ali Alharbi.
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UPDATE VII (4:10 pm ET) — Immigrations and Customs Enforcement responded to TheBlaze’s report on Al Alharbi, calling our source’s claims “categorically false. Read the update here.
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UPDATE VI (12:50 pm ET):
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano had a fiery exchange with Rep. Jeff Duncan during a House hearing Thursday morning over reports that Al Alharbi is being considered for deportation.
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Napolitano refused to entertain a question regarding if it would be “negligence” to deport someone who just days ago was a person of interest.
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“I’m not going to answer that question,” she shot back after being pressed by Duncan and denying any knowledge of such a plan. “That question is so full with misstatements and misapprehensions that it is not worthy of an answer.”
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Watch her response and read her other fiery comments in our full write-up here.
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UPDATE V (12:13 pm ET):
Sen. Rand Paul reacted to TheBlaze’s report during a radio interview with Glenn Beck by saying he will be “looking into” the report. He also added that in general the United States needs to “have more scrutiny on these students when they arrive.”
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Read the full report here.
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UPDATE IV:
You can watch Glenn Beck break the news on radio below:
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UPDATE III (10:50 am ET):
TheBlaze Chief Content Officer Joel Cheatwood reported on “The Glenn Beck Program” Thursday morning that TheBlaze has been informed that the government is now considering not deporting Abdul Rahman Ali Alharbi.
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“Just got a note from one of our investigative reporters that she has been told that there is now discussion that they may not allow this man to be deported,” Cheatwood said.
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UPDATE II:
The blog Shoebat.com, run by anti-Islamist Walid Shoebat, has posted two pictures allegedly of Abdul Rahman Ali Alharbi smiling in the hospital:
At least one of the photos appears to either have originated from, or is at least included in, an Arabic language report here.
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UPDATE I:
Sources tell TheBlaze that the Saudi national is set to be deported on “security and related grounds.” His visa also has been revoked. Below is some of the information that has been communicated to us:
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1. One source at the FBI and another at the Saudi Embassy referred to the student as connected to an important Saudi family. 2. An “event” was created on this guy three days ago. An event is a file. The file contains his deportation record and the reason he is being deported. According to ICE the reason is under section 212 3B — “Security and related grounds” — “Terrorist activities” 3. His visa has been revoked. 4. The FBI said a file was started “just in case he was found to be connected to the crime,” however, the file shows he was scheduled to be deported. This was not a precaution, it was in “orders.” 5. One source said they believe a “voluntary” departure has been signed — that means the Saudi Student could be out of the country as early as today. 6. The file was immediately classified. We believe the deportation order will be classified as well — requiring a FOIA to get it. 7. The story was going to be “he wanted to go home,” however he was actually being deported. 8. Our source said the FBI believes the Saudi student is tied to 2 to 3 more people. 9. Our source said this “looks like they were trying to make this a ‘lone wolf’ crime so, the Saudi government would be spared embarrassment and the U.S. would avoid explaining how a terror cell was active when we had AQ on the run.”
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Appearing on “Hannity” Wednesday night, the Investigative Project on Terrorism’s Steve Emerson reported that Abdul Rahman Ali Alharbi, the Saudi national who was briefly named a “person of interest” in the Boston Marathon bombings, is being deported on Tuesday. He based his information on a number of his confidential sources.
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“I just learned from my own sources that he is now going to be deported on national security grounds next Tuesday,” Emerson said.
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Host Sean Hannity referenced a report by Reuters that revealed President Barack Obama met with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal at the White House Wednesday. They reportedly discussed the conflict in Syria.
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“The meeting was not on Obama’s public schedule,” the report adds.
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Watch below via Fox News:
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Emerson’s claims have not been verified.