Debbie Schlussel: Just for the Public Record

[Sean Osborne]

I did not have a problem with this person before today. Now I have a major problem with her. She is a major league nutcase with an agenda in my humble opinion.

She has made the same accusations of plagarism and fraud against best selling author Jerome Corsi, prize winning journalist Jeff Jacoby (Boston Globe), and Monica Crowley (MSNBC, and WABC Radio 770 AM, New York City). There may still be many others so incorrectly and imprudently accused.

I am posting this here as a matter of public record. I will not stand for this crap one iota for even one microsecond without responding to it. I attempted to be civil, yet convey my outrage.


Here is the link: http://www.debbieschlussel.com/archi....html#comments

Here is the Blog entry:

August 16, 2006

Northeast "Intelligence" Network or Northeast Plagiarism Network?

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By Debbie Schlussel
The old adage says that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. But actually, that's not always true. In the world of writing and research, imitation is the most insincere form of armed robbery. But, at least in a real armed robbery, you usually see the guy with his gun and you know he is stealing from you. With plagiarists, they just steal your hard work behind your back.
That was the case with the so-called Northeast Intelligence Network a/k/a NEIN a/k/a HomelandSecurityUS.com and its main operator, Douglas J. Hagmann, who on Monday, ripped off something I wrote--passing it off as the work of himself and his site's "investigators," who apparently don't even exist. If the intelligence and terrorism expertise business is a matter of stealing the work of others and passing it off as your own, then I guess he's good at it.
A number of readers notified me that Mr. Hagmann, in the second half of this post from Monday, ripped off my Friday work on Safa Pizza a/k/a Safa's Pizza--the mysterious pizza shop at which two of the missing Egyptian "students" were found working, and at which two of the 2005 Baltimore Tunnel plotters were also found. That was based on a tip from an observant reader named Rona, further research by myself, and a tip I got from an interview with a source who shall remain nameless and who has never spoken to Mr. Hagmann or his phantom "investigators."





In fact, Mr. Hagmann ripped off that entry in its entirety reworking it, with a tiny statement at the end, claiming

Research conducted by investigators from the Northeast Intelligence Network found that Debbie Schlussel of debbieschlussel.com developed the same information.

What "research"? What "investigators"? Doug Hagmann simply read the Friday post on Safa on my site and flat-out ripped it off to pass it off as his own on Monday. How could I have "developed the same information" as someone else who actually ripped that info off from me three days later?





Then, there is this information posted by Hagmann, very telling of his rip-off:

At least two of those arrested were in possession of maps of both tunnels and related information.

In fact, that information is not posted anywhere in any press coverage of the October 2005 arrests. The only place it is posted is on MY site--this site. It is independent info I have from a unique source close to that investigation--a source who's never heard of Douglas Hagmann or his site and never spoke with him. I can't be more specific about the source for many obvious reasons, primary among them his security and safety. Because it is info only I have, that is why the rest of the press--listening to FBI PR pap--wrote that there never was a plot and that it all was a misunderstanding (when there was a plot and there was no misunderstanding). Whatta concidence that Mr. Hagmann's phanton "investigators" suddenly learned this information just three days after I wrote about it, and not at the time of the plot in October 20, 2005, when I learned about it.
Occasionally, Mr. Hagmann has linked to me, and that is fine and appreciated, but it sure doesn't give him the license to rip off my work and pass it off as his own. A tiny link at the end of MY work (presented as his), claiming I came to the same conclusion--when in fact it was a total rip-off of my work--just will not do. Unfortunately, I've been told by some of my readers that this is the regular practice at Northeast Intelligence Network. I'm sorry to hear that. But it appears to be true, based on this case. People have patterns of behavior, not unique blips of them.
Mr. Hagmann gets a lot of traffic on his site from those who believe he is presenting his own personal analysis, when in fact it is the stolen work of others. And he does a lot of radio interviews with hosts who also don't know better. He must think this gives him the license to steal intellectual property. It does not.





One reader warned me, yesterday, that this was a common Douglas Hagmann practice:

Your research and analysis on Islamic Fundamentalist Terror is well done. However, I believe another "investigator" located in Pennsylvania is attempting to capitalize financially on "intelligence investigations" throughout the electronic world by using open source information gathering techniques. These techniques include, but are not limited to, subscribing to news alerts from sources abroad, surfing weblogs, and watching broadcasts. Unfortunately, Mr. Douglas J. Hagmann, Director, Northeast Intelligence Network, and his site www.homelandsecurityus.com is using these techniques to misrepresent his personal analysis, and those of his supposed "investigators." I also believe he is attempting to latch on to those already climbing the ladder of success independent of others. Recently, he posted an "investigation" which he cited you as a source. I understand the professional courtesy extended by citing your information is prudent. However, Douglas J. Hagmann, and a few of his "investigators" mimic at times, usually more often than not, the practices of [Jerome] Corsi [DS: who similarly plagiarized a column I wrote]...plagiarism.
This is definitely not the first time Douglas J. Hagmann of the Northeast Intelligence Network has published plagiarized information, nor do I suspect the last. He does not appear to be a credible person, nor would I want him citing any of my work as a source period. Prior to September 2001, Mr. Hagmann was using his investigative prowess to look for "Bigfoot" and "UFO's" in, and around Northeast Ohio and Northwest Pennsylvania. Ashtabula, Ohio to be specific. Mysteriously, the links to the story in the "Star-Beacon" in Ohio have been removed and or deleted. Mr. Hagmann was cited as a private investigator who reviewed the video tape of the incident, and then affirmed it was real and credible.
Referencing the above stories [DS: see below about the stories] regarding terrorism, it has now been reported to me that WorldNetDaily [DS: Whatta coincidence! WND is the site that ran Jerome Corsi's plagiarism of my work, and refused to do a thing about it] has now picked up the story of Mr. Hagmann. I believe they will be next on my list today for e-mail. I believe Douglas J. Hagmann, of the Northeast Intelligence Network, at www.homelandsecurityus.com, is a complete and utter fraud period.

The reader shows me that Mr. Hagmann apparently took an article from DNA India about a possible terrorist plot and presented it as his own work, when it was not.
Mr. Hagmann, either do your own work or give complete credit to those whom you've completely ripped off--including me. Plagiarism is unacceptable and dishonest.
And so-called intelligence and terrorism "experts" don't get a free pass to perpetrate it. Plagiarism does NOT qualify as "investigation." Ever. It's just chutzpah.


Posted by Debbie at August 16, 2006 04:11 PM

I posted a response to Debbie Schlussel in the "comments' section this morning. My response was entry #6 at that time. It was deleted after I also sent her the same response via email.

Here is my response:

Date:	Fri, 18 Aug 2006 09:02:37 -0400 [09:02:37 AM EDT]
From:	Sean Osborne
To:	dschlussel@yahoo.com
Subject:	NEIN: The Major League Errors You Have Made

Debbie,

You have really taken some bad advice on this issue - unbelievably bad advice.

Number One: I am a real person, a very honorable veteran and defender of the US
Constitution against ALL enemies of this republic, foreign or domestic. Everything posted
about myself in the NEIN profile is 100% accurate. So is the information on the other
NEIN researchers and analysts. people like Paul Bartling, Ryan Mauro, Lee Kaplan,
etcetera, etcetera. In fact, there are several other outstanding individuals who
diligently research background and provide tips and information on a routine basis to
NEIN, but who chose to remain anonymous due to the sensitive nature of their positions
and employment status - which something you also engage in in your "contact" tab.

Are these FACTS some type of a problematic issue for you?

You should be ashamed for excessively lowering your normally high journalistic/blogging
standards in defaming ALL OF US with your totally unfounded nonsense. I do expect, in the
minimum, a public apology in the same vein as you have posted this defamatory article. At
the minimum.

Number Two: (And here we get to the meat and potatoes of your issues) Doug Hagmann did
not "rip off' your work. Period.

As a Private Investigator, if Doug hears of, reads about or is otherwise informed of an
issue - he has the integrity and the ability to use the telephone and place a direct call
to the local law enforcement involved, irregardless of where in the country the incident
or alleged incident has occured to determine the salient facts involved in the case. I
personally know for a fact that local and even federal law enforcement people will talk
to him on and off the record and even provide additional tidbits of factual information.

(Doug does not wait for info to come from "confidential" sources - he quite often,
routinely even, goes to the potential sources directly - which is exactly how he came to
the data you are apparently so upset about.)

Your source does not know if Doug Hagmann engaged in this type of corroborative data
mining, and NEITHER DO YOU KNOW FOR A FACT IF HE HAS SO ENGAGED HIMSELF IN SUCH
CORROBORATIVE DATA MINING.

Therefore you have no case whatsoever in your blatant and unfounded accusations against
Doug Hagmann and the rest of us at the Northeast Intelligence Network.

Your own journalistic integrity is now at stake and I would strongly urge you to rectify
the situation as rapidly as you are able to do so - acknowledge the obvious errors that YOU
have made.

We need to put this behind us and get on with our core purposes in this war. Our 'Mission
Statement' is our focus, what is yours?

Sincerely and with Best Wishes for a much better Professional Relationship,

Sean Osborne

Associate Director, Senior Analyst, Military Affairs
Northeast Intelligence Network
www.homelandsecurityus.com

Here is Debbie's response to my email:

Date:	Fri, 18 Aug 2006 06:15:58 -0700 [09:15:58 AM EDT]
From:	Debbie Schlussel
To:	Sean Osborne
Subject:	Re: NEIN: The Major League Errors You Have Made

You NEIN people are incredible. And you are highly
foolish. Your boss STOLE my work, then presented it
as his own. Period. A letter I got from one of his
representatives basically admits that. Why can't you
or your boss?

"Journalistic integrity?" Excuse me so I can stop
laughing. LOOK IN THE MIRROR! I've since gotten so
many stories of other plagiarism in which your
"investigator" boss has engaged in. And you and your
boss are pushing me very seriously to post them in a
follow up. You guys are frauds. And now you've been
called on it. It's interesting that info I got back
in October and then posted only on Friday, was
suddenly "discovered" on Monday by your boss from his
"confidential federal sources" and "news services."
Funny, I didn't know I work for the feds and news
services. Perhaps you should change your mission
statement, since it is false. The more fitting one
would be: All the plagiarism that's fit to print.
NEIN already has a crappy reputation. You guys are a
joke. And now you've been exposed as thieves. The
shoe fits very well. Time for you to wear it.

Again, I am posting this here for the public record. My outrage has been verified as warranted, my indignation and anger unrequited for the time being. I am most assuredly on the warpath with respect to this nutcase Debbie Schlussel.

I also advise, just for future reference, that any Debbie Schlussel material posted in our forums will be met with a very dim view by myself - for the blatantly obvious reasons. I will not fault the poster, but will react accordingly to what is posted.

Fair Warning.

[Ryan Ruck]

Well, it certainly seems like she is over reacting to the situation with all the ad hominem attacks rather than simply discuss the matter like an adult.

Perhaps her "fame" is going to her head?

[Sean Osborne]

Well, it certainly seems like she is over reacting to the situation with all the ad hominem attacks rather than simply discuss the matter like an adult.


Perhaps her "fame" is going to her head?

No doubt, no doubt at all. I attempted to reach that adult level with her, but since I and the other individuals at NEIN do not even exist in her warped view she has chosen to ignore and press on with her attacks.

Okay, fine. One really ignorant, stupid mistake followed by another. This, despiate all previousappearance to the contrary is one very vain, conceited and stupid woman. pthetic is also an apt descriptor.

My response above was also posted to her "comments" section below each article on her blog. It was deleted by Debbie Schlussel upon reciept of my personal email early this morning. It had been comment #6. Apparently Debbie really does not want her readers to see truth when it is posted regarding her work. Furthermore, she's set her email to reject any further correspondence from myself coming from my NEIN email account.

Oh and by the way... the "representive" she referred to above is none other than our legal counsel "Jack" Thompson, who stated no such thing to her as she claims in her reply to me.

Debbie is a world-class liar, a nutcase, and is in for one very rough immediate future.

[Sean Osborne]

Official NEIN response...


-Official Statement Regarding Debbie Schlussel’s Legally Actionable Allegations against the Northeast Intelligence Network

By Douglas J. Hagmann, Founder & Director
director@homelandsecurityus.com

17 August 2006: On August 16, 2006, an extremely defamatory article containing maliciously false accusations made against me, the Northeast Intelligence Network and our staff was published by a web “Blogger,” movie critic and attorney named Debbie Schlussel. There are some people who have apparently heard of Schlussel as she boasts of having an “online fan club” that she describes as the “second largest for a political personality--behind only Ann Coulter.” When not writing movie reviews, it appears that Schlussel writes articles about terrorism and publishes them on her Blog. Obviously, the Northeast Intelligence Network investigates and reports on terrorist related activity, something Monica Crowley of Ms. Schlussel apparently finds objectionable and hence, has inspired her to print blatantly false but extremely serious, malicious and libelous allegations that I, as founder and director, cannot permit to remain unanswered.
*
The most serious accusation levied by Schlussel is plagiarism, a charge that Schlussel, who appears to suffer from episodic bouts of delusional fantasies of omnipotence in the field of investigative research and source development, has levied against such fine people as well-respected author Jerome Corsi, MSNBC and host of her own radio show in New York, Jeff Jacoby, a prize winning journalist, Boston Globe columnist Cathy Young, and writers from WorldNetDaily, just to name a few. Apparently, all of those fine authors and journalists owe much of their success to the hard work they “ripped-off” from Schlussel.

Considering that Schlussel seemingly regards publishing reckless accusations of plagiarism as a recreational sport, I find it ironic that she states, “People have patterns of behavior, not unique blips of them.” The above is no better illustrated by Schlussel, who has left a well documented trail of behavior that seems to be accompanied by her plaintive, whining resentment against anyone who appears to be getting more attention than her. Based on those identified above, I am in good company. To directly answer the charge of plagiarism, however, I completely deny that I, or anyone associated with our agency has ever presented any of Schlussel’s intellectual property as our own. In a case where an informational overlap occurred, we even gave Ms. Schlussel attribution and a link to her Blog. That, however, was obviously not good enough as she thinks she has exclusivity on factual information.

In her rambling, delusional and downright childish sounding tantrum, Schlussel has also stated as fact that our network has no researchers or investigators – they simply don’t exist. Apparently, the likes of Mr. Sean Osborne, a very honorable veteran and defender of the Constitution of the United States against ALL enemies, foreign and domestic, is merely an illusion, as are the others. That accusation is well beyond ludicrous and is simply absurd.

Schlussel further claims that “numerous (unidentified) sources” have written to her, also asserting that plagiarism is a common practice by members of our agency. Within her column laced with attacks on our professional integrity, she posted a portion of one e-mail she claims to have received a day before she published her article. That e-mail supposedly contains “confirmation” of these unfounded allegations of civil torts, by an unidentified person who accuses the Northeast Intelligence Network and every individual involved with our organization as being “complete and utter fraud(s).”

Of course, the actual writer or the person who allegedly wrote that e-mail is never identified, choosing instead to hide behind the perceived anonymity of the Internet as most gutless and cowardly detractors often do. Despite this individual’s attempt to be publicly anonymous, my investigation has found that the e-mail she cited within her article originated from someone using the Internet name “sick boy.” I should know, as I have the entire text of the e-mail, some which was used verbatim in her column, including the verbose headers. It is interesting that such a “respected journalist” would find corroboration of maliciously false accusations by someone hiding behind that Internet identity – or at least would not seek to obtain a true identity. According to federal law, the time of hiding behind false Internet personas to harass, defame and annoy is coming to an end. As an attorney, however, Ms. Schlussel should know that.

I also find it interesting that this “respected journalist” would be duped by baseless allegations, especially those originating from the original text referenced in the "e-mail" printed in her column - the same posting/e-mail that I have in my possession. Even the most cursory research would show that the document originates from a known associate of Lisa Lasky, who was once associated with our organization under the name Laura Mansfield. Ms. Lasky, writing articles under her pen name Laura Mansfield, who now bills herself as an expert on the Middle East and an author of three books, was terminated from this agency for failing to produce the necessary evidence to prove her assertions in the article she wanted printed. In the investigative world, such authentication is absolutely necessary to substantiate the claims made in any article intended for publication. This is an investigative standard that must never be compromised. When she failed to do so, she sought other receptive sources for her information.

Unfortunately, Ms. Schlussel failed to research the fact that much of the subsequent information that maligns our integrity also originates from Ms. Lisa Lasky, a/k/a Laura Mansfield by proxy through her close associates. Mansfield, it should be noted, permitted her actual identity to be made known by her public appearances and speaking engagements, including one in her own hometown. As an attorney, one would expect that Ms. Schlussel would conduct a certain amount of due diligence of her sources.

Finally, when an attempt was made to discuss this issue with Ms. Schlussel by one of analysts who took issue to the charges, Ms. Schlussel responded in a vicious, hate-filled e-mail filled with further threats of “exposure,” again stating in part, “You guys are frauds... Perhaps you should change your mission statement, since it is false. The more fitting one would be: All the plagiarism that's fit to print… You guys are a joke. And now you've been exposed as thieves. The shoe fits very well. Time for you to wear it.”

Well, Ms. Schlussel, I truly don't understand your animosity, and tried to settle this amicably - to no avail. This is not the way the war against Islamic terrorism should be fought. It is shameful. Your behavior is shameful. Grow up. And let’s all get back to work.

*CORRECTION: While Ms. Schlussel did indeed accuse these people, and many more, of plagarism, Crowley and Jacoby were not accused by Schlussel of specifically plagarising Schlussel, but merely of being plagarists, and plagarising other people. A list of those accused by Schlussel of plagarism is forthcoming, to assist those interested in keeping the "list of the accused" straight, as the way Ms. Schlussel operates gets to be a bit dizzying. I regret ANY inconvenience this error might have caused. --Doug Hagmann 18 August 2006; 0950 p.m. ET


Douglas J. Hagmann
Director, Northeast Intelligence Network

[Max]

One should always use prudence when speaking and writing to ensure they are without liability...Don't you think?

[Ryan Ruck]

Strike 2...

[Ryan Ruck]

And... You're outta heree!!

[American Patriot]

One should always use prudence when speaking and writing to ensure they are without liability...Don't you think?

HAHAHAHAHA yes one SHOULD, Max

Perhaps you should practice what you preach, and so should others out there who make accusations without foundation

[Joey Bagadonuts]

Ya know...I don't know this woman at all, but I'm glad she's another voice of strength in the war on terror, and I respect her for that.
But I think that this lady would have gotten a lot farther with her grievances if she'd picked up a phone and talked to Doug Hagmann or arranged a face to face meeting.
This just isn't the way to handle a beef.
She's coming off a bit shrill now.


***

[American Patriot]

I'm of a mind that people who do things like this, regardless of her "psosition" are doing NOTHIHG to help, but are rather doing things to interfere. When you cause in-fighting among those trying to fight terrorism, you're being... as Don Rumsfeld would say, UNHELPFUL. ( he stole that from me by the way, when the administration used to read the Anomalies site)

I dunno... if someone is going to make accusations based loosely on someone else who can't get their facts straight, that puts them directly in the categorys of "Conspiracy Theorist" and "Loser" in my book.

Too bad that someone who is supposed to be sooo smart has to cause more trouble to those doing a real job, and would rather cause more infighting.

[Joey Bagadonuts]

Hiya Rick,

My prior knowledge of Debbie Schlussel is limited to these posts regarding her grievance against NEIN and Doug Hagmann.
I DO think she was wrong in how she went about redressing her grievance.
I've know Sean for a few years now, just from his public opinions, writings and some private correspondence we've had over a couple of years.

One thing I'd bet my bottom dollar on is that Sean isn't involved in stealing ANYONES work. He is NOT that kind of guy.

Stealing intellectual property?........ No friggin' way.

Part of me that hopes that when things cool off they can talk and clear this up, maybe its just wishful thinking. Other than this, I can't knowledgeably comment. I just wished she'd reached out before she lashed out.


***

[Sean Osborne]

Hiya Joey,

I have no doubt that Schlussel was somewhat goaded into these actions, and then carried on in her own right - which is why I originally made reference to the very bad advice she followed. The goading however was an easy task for the perp as she has been known for making such accusations in the past. I hope this is now going to rest, we'll see.