Former FBI agent, best-selling author and free-speech advocate Gary Aldrich will discuss what he calls “a serious assault on our constitutional rights” on the country’s college campuses in an address at Lawrence University.
Aldrich presents “Free Speech Issues on Campus” Wednesday, May 18 at 7 p.m. in Lawrence’s Science Hall, Room 102. The event is free and open to the public.
A frequent guest on national news programs, Aldrich will share his personal experiences as a conservative commentator on college campus visits and argue for efforts to restore balance to what he sees as “a dramatic lessening of students’ free-speech rights” at colleges and universities.
Aldrich, a 30-year veteran of the FBI where he specialized in white-collar crime, including fraud and political corruption, garnered national attention in July, 1996 with the release of his book “Unlimited Access: An FBI Agent Inside the Clinton White House,” which broke the agency’s “code of silence.”
“Unlimited Access,” which spent 20 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, detailed breaches of national security Aldrich had witnessed during the Clinton administration while he was on assignment at the White House, including qualifying high-level political appointees for Top Secret clearance and granting access to sensitive areas of the White House.
In his 2003 follow-up book “Thunder on the Left,” Aldrich charges that the Democratic Party has been hijacked by the far left wing of the party and that President Clinton was responsible for the 9/11 terrorists attacks. He also is the author of the 1998 novel “Speak No Evil.”
During his lengthy FBI career, Aldrich worked in the White House during the administrations of the first president Bush as well as those of presidents Reagan and Clinton. He also served as the senior FBI liaison to the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, overseeing the maintenance of national security issues.
In 1998, he founded The Patrick Henry Center for Individual Liberty in Fairfax, Va. The nonprofit center promotes the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the right of ethical dissent. It also specializes in “whistleblower cases,” assisting workers who report corruption within the federal government.
A former talk show host, Aldrich has written political commentaries for numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Insight Magazine and The Washington Times, among others. He also is a regular columnist for Worldnetdaily.com.
His appearance is sponsored by the Lawrence College Republicans and the Young America’s Foundation
