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.

“We urge you to speak-out against this dangerous and chilling use of the broad powers of federal law enforcement against those who are simply exercising their constitutional rights to organize and protest government policies,” Deutsch wrote.

All 23 of those subpoenaed have thus far refused to testify before a grand jury, the Post said.

Spokesmen for U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald and the Justice Department declined to comment to the Post about the probe.

The Committee to Stop FBI Repression is planning what it calls a “day of action” Thursday to support Los Angeles activist Carlos Montes, whom it describes as “a longtime Chicano activist” whose home was raided in September. Investigators, the group said, asked about his association with the Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

Montes faces one firearm-related charge.