Associated Press Interviews ManattJones CEO on Kidnapping Intervention

“Group Questions Lawmaker’s Role in Kidnap Rescue”
The Associated Press

June 28, 2008 – ManattJones Global Strategies Chairman and CEO James R. Jones spoke to The Associated Press on whether a Texas congressman wrongly used his influence to persuade U.S. law enforcement authorities to handle a kidnapping case involving a distant Mexican relative.

The Associated Press reports that a government watchdog group called for an investigation into whether there was special treatment surrounding a U.S. law enforcement intervention to rescue a Mexican kidnapping victim who was the distant relative of Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas. Reyes, who has never met the woman, said the case was handled properly and in the same way that other cases are.

Reyes had received a call from a family member who reported the kidnapping, and he notified Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which said they would help. The victim was released after her family members in Mexico paid a ransom.

Jones, who is a former U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, said he didn’t believe ICE acted inappropriately. Anyone could ask for U.S. assistance for their foreign relatives, he said, though he conceded most average citizens couldn’t get through to anyone.

“Even a distant relative of an official or an important person that influences our society, if that person has a concern, and it could influence society, I would think it would be proper to intervene,” Jones said.

Read the article here.