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Source: nydailynews.comBy Michael McAuliff
11/24/2009
Some 9/11 widows who want to see a terror trial in New York today questioned why a group strongly linked to Liz Cheney is leading the charge in opposition to the trial.
Her father, after all, is the man many Democrats and liberals think broke the law in pushing for interrogation techniques now deemed torture by the Obama administration, and which were used on Al Qaeda plotter Khalid Shaikh Mohammed.
The anti-trial group is led by Debra Burlingame -- whose brother piloted one of the doomed planes -- and who is a guiding light at 9/11 Families for a Safe & Strong America.
The 9/11 Families group had as a springboard Keep America Safe, a Liz Cheney vehicle where Burlingame serves on the board.
"Perhaps they're trying to protect her father's role in torturing these detainees," said Lorie Van Auken, who lost her husband on 9/11. "And that's actually what could keep us from seeing justice, is this torture that was done to these people because that evidence is not really evidence. It won't be admissible anywhere."
Auken was speaking on a conference call organized by the liberal Human Rights First.
Later, she declined to back off her statement. "You start to wonder why Liz Cheney would be organizing the 9/11 families," she said. "It's just a funny connection."
Below is the press conference Burlingame did today with Rep. Pete King and others, posted online by Keep America Safe, in which they call for the trial to be canceled and announce a Dec. 5 rally.
