Texan Medina Questions Any U.S. Role In 9/11 Attacks

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Texan Medina questions any US role in 9/11 attacks

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D9DQ47SG1.html

Associated Press
02/11/2010

Texas gubernatorial candidate Debra Medina says she has questions about whether the U.S. government was involved in the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Medina, speaking on the Glenn Beck Show on Thursday, was asked if she believed the government was in any way involved with bringing down the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

Medina also says she believes some very good questions have been raised. She says "there's some very good arguments and I think the American people have not seen all the evidence there."

Medina is in a three-way race for the GOP nomination with Gov. Rick Perry and U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison.

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Texas gov. candidate questions any US role in 9/11

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/11/AR2010021103713.html

By APRIL CASTRO
The Associated Press

AUSTIN, Texas -- A Republican gubernatorial candidate said Thursday she has questions about whether the U.S. government was involved in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks - a statement she swiftly backed away from and one that drew immediate criticism from her better-known rivals in the race.

Gov. Rick Perry and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison dismissed the comments made by Debra Medina on the Glenn Beck Show that there were "some very good arguments" that the U.S. was involved in bringing down the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

"I don't have all of the evidence there, Glenn," Medina said. "I think some very good questions have been raised. In that regard there's some very good arguments and I think the American people have not seen all the evidence there."

Medina later released a statement saying she did not believe the government was involved in the attacks.

"There is no doubt in my mind that Muslim terrorists flew planes into those buildings on 9/11," Medina said in the written statement. "I have not seen any evidence nor have I ever believed that our government was involved or directed those individuals in any way."

Medina, Perry and Hutchison are battling for the GOP nomination. In recent weeks, Medina has surprised political observers by surging in public opinion polls and raising her profile in two televised debates.

Perry said Medina's remarks "were an insult to the thousands of Americans who lost loved ones." He countered that anyone "should be ashamed" for suggesting involvement by former President George W. Bush's administration. Bush was Perry's predecessor as Texas governor.

Hutchison stressed that it was "al-Qaida terrorists who declared war on America. To suggest otherwise is an affront to the men and women who are sacrificing their lives to root out the terrorists in Afghanistan and around the globe."

Beck, who is influential among the Libertarian-leaning voters that Medina has attracted, said he had been flooded with mail since he announced she would be on the show. Medina said in the interview that she has not been questioning the attacks publicly.

"There was a theme that ran against you, and that is, you are a '9/11 Truther,'" Beck said, referring to the term given to people who doubt the official account of Sept. 11.

"While I don't endorse anyone ... I think I can write her off the list," Beck said. "Let me take another look at Kay Bailey Hutchison if I have to. Rick, I think you and I could French kiss right now."

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Medina Campaign Responds to Glenn Beck Interview

http://www.medinafortexas.com/getPost?p=272

by Debra Medina on Feb 11, 2010

I was asked a question on the Glenn Beck show today regarding my thoughts on the so-called 9/11 truth movement. I have never been involved with the 9/11 truth movement, and there is no doubt in my mind that Muslim terrorists flew planes into those buildings on 9/11. I have not seen any evidence nor have I ever believed that our government was involved or directed those individuals in any way. No one can deny that the events on 9/11 were a tragedy for all Americans and especially those families who lost loved ones.

The question surprised me because it's not relevant to this race or the issues facing Texans. This campaign has always been about private property rights and state sovereignty. It is focused on the issues facing Texans. It is not a vehicle for the 9-11 truth movement or any other group.

The real underlying question here, though, is whether or not people have the right to question our government. I think the fact that people are even asking questions on this level gets to the incredible distrust career politicians have fostered by so clearly taking their direction from special interests instead of the people, whether it's Rick Perry and his HPV mandate or Kay Hutchison and voting for the bank bailout. It is absolutely the right and duty of a free people to question their government. Texas does not need another politician who tells you what you want to hear, then violates your liberties and steals your property anyway. I fully expect to be questioned and to be held accountable as Governor, and that's the underlying issue here: should people be questioning their government. And the answer is yes, they should be.

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Democrat Shami also raises doubts on 9/11 attacks
Medina, who expressed similar view, blames GOP campaign opponents for firestorm.

http://www.statesman.com/news/texas-politics/democrat-shami-also-raises-doubts-on-9-11-233460.html

Published: 9:32 p.m. Friday, Feb. 12, 2010

Democrat Farouk Shami on Friday became the second gubernatorial candidate in two days to say it's unclear whether the U.S. government was involved in the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center.

Meanwhile, Republican Debra Medina, reeling from her own remarks that questioned the government's involvement in the attacks, on Friday blamed the ensuing firestorm on a "coordinated attack" that she speculated came from the campaigns of her better-known GOP rivals.

Shami's comments came during an interview on Dallas-Fort Worth's WFAA-TV in which the Houston businessman also said that most of his factory workers are Hispanic because "you don't find white people who are willing to work in factories."

When a reporter told Shami he wanted to ask him the same question Medina was asked — whether the U.S. government was involved in the attacks — Shami responded:

"I'm not sure. I am not going to really judge or answer about something I'm not sure about. But the rumors are there that there was a conspiracy. True or not? You know, it's hard to believe, you know, what happened. It's really hard to comprehend what happened. Maybe. I'm not sure."

He compared the situation to lingering questions in some quarters about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

"We still don't know who killed John F. Kennedy, who's behind it.... Will we ever find the truth about 9/11?" Shami said.

Shami's comments on race came when reporter Brad Watson asked him why he said during the debate Monday with Democrat Bill White that "without Mexicans, it would be like a day without sunshine in our state." Shami responded by talking about his own employees. Historically, he said, when "white people come to work in a factory, they either want to be supervisors or they want to be, you know, paid more than the average person. And unfortunately they exit."

Medina, meanwhile, said that "the political games we saw beginning to be played yesterday serve nothing but a diversion." She predicted "more of this" in her race against Gov. Rick Perry and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison for the GOP gubernatorial nomination March 2. She said there are no "high-profile kinds of scandals in my life that really are going to get people something to chew on. So they're going to have to make some things up."

Her comments came during a news conference in Houston, which she denied was an effort at damage control. "No. This is continuing doing what we've been doing, campaigning hard for months," she said.

In response to a question Thursday from nationally syndicated radio talk show host Glenn Beck, Medina said there were "some very good arguments" that the U.S. was involved in the 2001 attacks that took down the World Trade Center and that killed about 3,000 people.

"I think the American people have not seen all of the evidence there, so I have not taken a position on that," she said.

Medina later in the day released a statement saying she didn't believe the government played a role in the attacks, but the damage had been done.

Hutchison campaign spokeswoman Jennifer Baker said Medina's allegation that Beck's question was somehow part of a coordinated effort from her political rivals is "simply not true," a comment echoed by Perry campaign spokesman Mark Miner.

"It appears she's trying to spread blame," Miner said.

The profile of the libertarian-leaning nurse from Wharton, about 50 miles southwest of Houston, has risen in recent weeks after her appearance in two televised debates at which she assumed the role of a voice of reason while her two better-known rivals squabbled.

"I'm doing some damage," Medina said. "I'm over the target. They know I'm over the target. And we're heading up pretty quick, and this is a concerted damage control effort maybe on their part to make sure we get her out of the way."

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Medina strikes back after 9/11 comments

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/politics&id=7274692

2/13/2010

The controversy is threatening to derail her campaign just days after polls showed her in a statistical tie with U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison.

We sat down with Medina to put the comments and her campaign in focus.

It is seemingly all Debra Medina can talk about now.

"We had a tough interview this morning It was something I never talked about before," Medina said.

The interview with Glenn Beck with the questions about 9/11 conspiracies that seemed to come from left field and the answer that left some doubt.

On the show, Medina said, "There are some very good arguments and I think the American people have not seen all of the evidence there so I have not taken a position on that."

When she sat down with us, she explained further.

"I think the questions I've heard asked are how the buildings fell. I am not the engineer to know that, but they are good relevant questions to ask," Medina told us.

Her opponents seized on it as a sign she was wrong for Texas. Medina sees that as a sign she's getting too popular.

"We've known that we would get to a point in the campaign that we are enough of a threat that we would get attacked," she said.

In recent polls, Governor Perry still comfortably leads the Republican race, but Medina, a former nurse and Wharton County Republican Chairwoman, is close to or tied with Senator Hutchison.

You could almost see it happening the night of the first debate as the two experienced politicians attacked each other.

"I think Texas is ready for new leadership and this squabbling isn't getting us anywhere," Medina said during that first debate.

Her events got more crowded, her website busier, her message of limited government and state's rights apparently hitting home.

"I want to see another choice for governor," said supporter John Martin.

Medina sees Texas government as bloated, trying to do too much, and she feels the federal government is threatening Texas' freedom. Her comments a year ago on secession got an awful lot of attention.

"We understand the tree of freedom is occasionally watered with the blood of tyrants and patriots," Medina said at the time.

She explained to us, "I was trying to say be careful, you don't have bloodless revolutions."

She says the state should nullify federal laws Texas doesn't agree with like health care reform. She wants to keep all of Texas' gas tax money from the feds, replace Texas' property tax with a 15-cent sales tax, and do away with the law requiring a concealed carry permit. She by the way doesn't have one.

"I have the right to defend my life and if I choose to do that with a weapon, the government shouldn't be able to take that," Medina said.

It's a message from a political newcomer that resonated with as many as one in four Texas Republican voters who were ready to catapult her into the governor's mansion.

When we asked Medina if she is ready to be governor, she replied, "I've got another 10 months to get there. I will be working hard."

In her news conference Friday, it is clear Medina was trying to clean up the mess. But in our interview with her hours after the Beck radio show, she repeated there are still questions that need to be answered. On Friday, she told reporters she is curious why no New York City police officers died in the towers when so many firefighters did. That's not true, however, as 60 police officers were killed.

We've posted more of our interview with Medina here so you can hear thoughts on 9/11 conspiracies and President Barack Obama's citizenship.

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Shami questions US involvement in 9-11 attacks

http://www.ktbs.com/news/shami-questions-us-involvement-in-9-11-attacks/

Posted: Feb 13, 2010 4:10 AM

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Democratic candidate for governor Farouk Shami says like his GOP counterpart, he also has questions about the involvement of the U.S. government in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. In an interview Friday with Dallas television station WFAA, Shami said "We still don't know who killed John F. Kennedy, who's behind it ... will we ever find the truth about 9/11?". Republican gubernatorial candidate Debra Medina is getting roundly criticized for making similar comments Thursday on a nationally syndicated radio talk show. Medina said there were "some very good arguments" raised that the U.S. was involved in the attacks. She later said she believed the flap was caused by her opponents.

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Candidate points to 9/11 'questions'

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/02/23/candidate-points-to-911-questions/?fbid=8nQaDV2NWa4

Washington (CNN) - Debra Medina, a conservative candidate for the Texas Republican gubernatorial nomination, attempted to walk a fine line Tuesday when asked if she is a "9/11 Truther."

In an interview with CNN's Rick Sanchez, Debra Medina said she believes that "Muslim terrorists flew planes into those buildings, and I do not believe our government colluded with them or worked with them in any way."

But Medina went on to say that the report issued by the 9/11 Commission, "raised some questions."

"I have not studied that report and am not going to speculate about the content, or the conclusions that they drew," she said." I know that there are questions, and that's all I'm going to say about it."

Medina drew criticism earlier this month when, in an interview with Fox News talker Glenn Beck, she refused to take a position on whether the United States government was involved in the attacks on the World Trade Center.

"I don't have all of the evidence there, Glenn," Medina told Beck on his radio program. "So I don't, I'm not in a place, I have not been out publicly questioning that. I think some very good questions have been raised in that regard. There are some very good arguments, and I think the American people have not seen all of the evidence there. So I've not taken a position on that."

Medina is trailing Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and Gov. Rick Perry, the frontrunner, in the three-way fight for the GOP nomination. The primary is next Tuesday.

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Poll: Medina's 9-11 comments hurt her in Texas GOP gubernatorial race

http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/02/24/1497209/poll-medinas-9-11-comments-hurt.html

By Dave Montgomery and Anna M. Tinsley
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram

AUSTIN: After rising from obscurity to become a significant factor in the three-way Republican race for governor, candidate Debra Medina appears to be losing ground after her remarks in a national radio interview about the 9-11 terrorist attacks, according to two public opinion surveys released Tuesday.

Medina dropped 4 percentage points in a survey of likely voters in Tuesday's Republican primary. The survey by Public Policy Polling of Raleigh, N.C., showed Gov. Rick Perry with 40 percent, U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison with 31 percent and Medina with 20 percent. Medina had 24 percent in a poll the firm released Feb. 9.

The survey assessed the impact of Medina's remarks in a Feb. 11 radio interview with conservative commentator Glenn Beck. Under questioning by Beck, the conservative GOP activist did not immediately disavow a theory that the U.S. government was involved in 9-11.

Medina quickly sought to clarify her remarks and said she was set up by opponents.

"Our polling suggests that the Glenn Beck interview is really hurting her," poll director Tom Jensen said in a telephone interview.