Prosecutor in Terror Case Sues Ashcroft Tue Feb 17,11:41 AM ET By JOHN SOLOMON, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - A federal prosecutor in a major terrorism case in Detroit has taken the rare step of suing Attorney General John Ashcroft, alleging the Justice Department interfered with the case, compromised a confidential informant and exaggerated results in the war on terrorism.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Convertino of Detroit accused the Justice Department of "gross mismanagement" of the war on terrorism in a whistleblower lawsuit filed late Friday in federal court in Washington.
Justice officials said Tuesday they had not seen the suit and had no comment.
The suit is the latest twist in the Bush administration's first major post-Sept. 11 terrorism prosecution, which is now in danger of unraveling over allegations of prosecutorial misconduct.
Convertino came under internal investigation last fall after providing information to a Senate committee about his concerns about the war on terror. His testimony came just months after he helped convict some members of an alleged terrorism cell in Detroit.
The government now admits it failed to turn over evidence during the trial that might have assisted the defense, including an allegation from an imprisoned drug gang leader who claimed the government's key witness made up his story.
Convertino is seeking damages under the First Amendment and Privacy Act, alleging he has been subjected to an internal investigation as retaliation for his cooperation with the Senate and that information from the internal probe was wrongly leaked to news media.
The lawsuit states Convertino first complained to his superiors more than a year ago about Justice's interference in the Detroit terrorism trial, saying Washington supervisors "had continuously placed perception over reality to the serious detriment of the war on terror."
The lawsuit includes excerpts of an e-mail from another prosecutor in the case that Convertino says "identified some of the gross mismanagement which was negatively impacting the ability of the United States to obtain convictions in a major terrorist case."
The e-mail from the other prosecutor shows he complained at the time that efforts by Justice's terrorism unit in Washington to "insinuate themselves into this trial are, nothing more than a self-serving effort to justify the existence" of the unit.
"They have rendered no assistance and, are in my judgment, adversely impacting on both trial prep and trial strategy," the e-mail cited in the lawsuit states.
Convertino also accused Justice officials of intentionally divulging the name of one of his confidential terrorism informants (CI) to retaliate against him.
The leak put the informant at grave risk, forced him to flee the United States and "interfered with the ability of the United States to obtain information from the CI about current and future terrorist activities," the suit alleges.
The prosecutor is being represented by the National Whistleblower Center, which has represented FBI agents and other whistleblowers in recent cases involving terrorism. Its chief lawyer successfully helped Linda Tripp win damages under the Privacy Act for the leak of information from her Pentagon personnel file after the Monica Lewinsky affair.
U.S. Intelligence Official: Qaeda Posed Plane Threat 4 minutes ago - Reuters
By Tabassum Zakaria
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Al Qaeda has deployed operatives to hijack planes and fly them into targets in an echo of the Sept. 11 attacks and is looking at derailing trains possibly carrying hazardous material, according to a top U.S. intelligence official.
Robert Hutchings, chairman of the National Intelligence Council which reports to the CIA (news - web sites) director, did not give details of the plots but provided the most recent public outline from an intelligence official of the al Qaeda threat.
The network, blamed for the Sept 11, 2001, attacks that killed 3,000 people, seeks targets that would strike a blow to the U.S. economy, Hutchings said in a Jan. 14 speech to the International Security Management Association in Arizona, the text of which was posted on Feb. 4 on the NIC's Web site.
"Soft targets, including the U.S. stock market, banks, major companies, and tall buildings are a primary focus of active al Qaeda planning," he said.
Those targets are seen as easier to hit than U.S. government buildings and major infrastructure, which have higher security, Hutchings said.
Al Qaeda has looked at derailing trains, perhaps carrying hazardous materials, to attack U.S. interests, he said.
Nuclear power plants, water treatment facilities, and other public utilities are high on al Qaeda's target list, he said.
The U.S. government is concerned that al Qaeda will try to take its ability to build truck bombs as demonstrated by past attacks in Kenya, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, and marry it with toxic or radioactive material to increase the damage and psychological impact of an attack, Hutchings said.
"My biggest worry, however, is how far al Qaeda might have progressed in being able to deploy a chemical, nuclear, or biological weapon against the United States or its allies," he said.
U.S. authorities have found several examples of al Qaeda adjusting its tactics to circumvent increased airline security, Hutchings said, without providing details.
"Although we have disrupted several airline plots, we have not eliminated the threat to airplanes," he said. "There are still al Qaeda operatives who we believe have been deployed to hijack planes and fly them into key targets."
The United States has beefed up security at airports and on airlines. There were a spate of flight cancellations since late December because of potential threats.
U.S. authorities have succeeded in disrupting the network, Hutchings said. "We have disrupted scores of plots at home and abroad -- plots that were audacious in terms of the numbers of attacks under consideration and their global scope," he said.
Is this to take the attention off of Khan and his black market or is this what is really happening. I'll report, you decide.
Pakistan Said to Confront Tribal Leaders
By JOHN J. LUMPKIN, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - The Pakistani military is confronting tribal leaders in the region where Osama bin Laden may be hiding, apparently using the threat of violence and home destruction to force them to supply information on extremists in the area, the top American general in Afghanistan said Tuesday.
Lt. Gen. David Barno expressed hope that recent efforts by the Pakistani military, combined with a change in U.S. counterinsurgency tactics in Afghanistan, would create a "hammer-and-anvil" effect along the mountainous border between the two countries, in which one force would drive the al-Qaida fighters into the other.
In Pakistan, soldiers and government paramilitaries have been meeting with tribal chiefs for at least six weeks and threatening them with "destruction of homes and things of that nature" unless they cooperate, Barno said.
"That they're confronting the tribal elders and they're holding them accountable for activities in their areas of influence is a major step forward," Barno said, briefing reporters at the Pentagon via teleconference from Afghanistan.
Pakistan says it does not want U.S. forces operating inside its borders, and the U.S. government says it won't go in without Pakistani permission. Since 2002, Pakistan's army has staged several operations targeting al-Qaida fugitives. Residents have reported seeing a small number of foreign personnel on such operations, but Pakistan denies it.
Al-Qaida supporters, possibly including bin Laden — the al-Qaida leader — are thought to be in the semiautonomous tribal regions of Pakistan, where many are sympathetic to the Taliban. Previously, the Pakistani military had left the area alone.
The government of Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf, has lately been in the hot seat since the acknowledgment that one of its most prominent senior scientists was selling nuclear technology to several other countries. But the Bush administration has also made a point of praising its efforts in the war on terrorism.
On the Afghan side of the border, Barno said U.S. forces are moving away from targeted raids on suspected militants and toward a system of a body of troops having a specific region to patrol and protect.
U.S. military officials have previously said American troops will step up combat operations in Afghanistan with the spring thaw.
Barno said al-Qaida's presence in strongest in the eastern part of the country, while holdouts from Afghanistan's homegrown Taliban movement are strongest around Kandahar in the south.
He said they are no longer massing forces for combat, instead turning to bombings against soldiers, aid workers, and civilians, in part to get publicity.
"They can disrupt some of these very worthy non-governmental programs of aid across the country by doing this," Barno said. "It's classic terrorism. It's murder and mayhem. And it's sowing terror among those that don't have defenses."
Barno also backed off from earlier statements from his command that bin Laden would certainly be caught within the year.
"There are no certainties in the warfighting business out here," he said.
He also said he does not have information that would suggest extremist fighters from Afghanistan and Pakistan are moving in significant numbers to fight the U.S. occupation in Iraq.
"We're continuing to be watchful in terms of any movement of these (people) back and forth," he said. "But I don't think there's strong indicators that I've been able to see in that regard yet."
Some intelligence suggests that anti-American fighters in both countries are sharing information on their tactics, he said.
Sounds like Convertino is a loose canon:
Terror case prosecutor is probed on conduct
BY DAVID ASHENFELTER
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
January 17, 2004
The U.S. Justice Department is investigating possible misconduct by the lead prosecutor in last year's terrorism trial in Detroit, a development that could force a new trial.
Department officials told the Free Press this week that U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Collins requested the investigation in November after discovering possible ethical violations involving the prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Convertino. The inquiry is being conducted by the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR), according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing repercussions.
They said Collins told the department that Convertino:
Tried to persuade a pretrial services employee at U.S. District Court to dig up damaging confidential information about a federal prisoner, Omar Shishani, so Convertino could discredit him at the terrorism trial. Shishani testified that Convertino's star witness, Youssef Hmimssa, was lying about the defendants in the terrorism case.
Failed to inform another federal prosecutor before he approached a drug defendant to assist in the terrorism case. The other prosecutor wasn't aware of what Convertino had done until the man's lawyer asked for a reduction at sentencing, catching the other prosecutor off guard.
Withheld evidence that defense lawyers could have used to attack the credibility of Hmimssa's trial testimony. Then, he threatened to launch a baseless criminal investigation against the lawyer when the lawyer threatened to report Convertino's conduct to the judge.
Failed to get approval before arranging plea deals and sentence reductions for several criminal defendants. Collins wouldn't discuss the investigation.
Convertino said Collins and two of Collins' top assistants are trying to destroy his reputation and career.
"This is so untrue, one-sided and about as low as it gets," Convertino said Friday.
His lawyer, former federal prosecutor William Sullivan of Washington, D.C., said "Obviously, I can't comment on the existence of an OPR investigation. But to the extent such allegations exist, we categorically deny them as untrue and unsubstantiated.
"The fact that anyone would approach the media with information relating to the purported existence of such an investigation is highly suggestive of reprisal and retaliation. It's unethical, illegal and improper," Sullivan said.
Sullivan said he is disturbed that the names of government informants were disclosed, jeopardizing their safety. He said he will request an investigation by the Office of the Inspector General.
Defense lawyers for the convicted terrorism defendants said the charges are alarming.
"If this all turns out to be true, then they've got a rogue prosecutor on their hands," said deputy federal defender Richard Helfrick, who is defending a suspect in the terror case.
He said the allegations, if proven, could affect whether the terrorism defendants get a new trial.
The allegations surrounding Convertino also raise questions about whether the terrorism case -- despite being a high-profile matter within the Justice Department -- was being monitored closely by people up the chain of command. A department lawyer sent from Washington last year to monitor the case said at a hearing last month that Convertino and his direct supervisor had frozen him out.
Controversial trial
The OPR, the internal affairs section of the Justice Department, will issue findings, which Collins can use in deciding whether to discipline Convertino. The discipline, if any, could range from a reprimand to dismissal. The OPR has asked Convertino to respond.
Convertino, 42, a prosecutor since 1990, was the lead prosecutor in last year's U.S. District Court trial in Detroit. Two men were convicted of conspiring to support terrorism. The Bush administration hailed the verdicts as a major victory in the war against terror.
The trial has produced controversy and acrimony.
Defense lawyers repeatedly complained that Convertino and his boss,Keith Corbett, head of the office's Organized Crime Strike Force Unit, concealed witnesses, held back evidence favorable to the defendants and engaged in other improper tactics that prevented the suspects from receiving a fair trial. The prosecutors denied doing anything wrong.
Corbett could not be reached for comment.
The trial judge, Gerald Rosen, criticized the prosecutors at a hearing last month for withholding evidence that defense lawyers might have used to impeach Hmimssa's credibility. Corbett's boss, Alan Gershel, chief of the criminal division, told Rosen that he had ordered Corbett to turn over the evidence. Corbett said he couldn't recall receiving such a directive. Rosen is expected to decide within weeks whether to order a new trial.
Collins removed Convertino and Corbett from the case in early September, just days before Convertino and Hmimssa testified before the Senate Finance Committee in Washington about document fraud. Insiders said Convertino failed to clear the trip with the Justice Department. It's rare for line prosecutors to address Congress.
Convertino saidhe received a subpoena from the committee on short notice and couldn't ignore it.
At the hearing, Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, praised Convertino as "a model public servant. And as far as I am concerned, you should be hailed as a hero." Grassley has accused Collins and Attorney General John Ashcroft of trying to retaliate against Convertino for appearing before the committee.
Collins hasn't responded publicly to Grassley's charges or explained why he removed the prosecutors from the case. This month, Convertino went to work for Grassley's Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control for up to a year. He remains on the Detroit office'spayroll.
Called a competitor
People who know Convertino describe him as a tough, no-nonsense, competitive prosecutor who is well-liked by federal agents. Defense lawyers say his determination to win has caused him to break court rules.
"I do not believe anyone in the United States Attorney's Office is attempting to ruin his reputation -- I think he's well on the road to accomplishing that himself," said Detroit lawyer Robert Morgan, a former federal prosecutor who won the only acquittal in the Detroit terrorism trial.
Morgan said Convertino's conduct "is in no sense representative of the other prosecutors in his office, who conduct themselves in a manner consistent with the highest professional standards."
Detroit criminal lawyer Steve Fishman added: "Nothing that comes out about his conduct surprises me because he believes in trial by ambush."
Last year, Fishman defended basketball star Chris Webber against charges of lying to a federal grand jury. Convertino prosecuted the case.
Officials said much of the OPR investigation focuses on Convertino's dealings with Marwan Farhat, 34, of Dearborn who was indicted in March 2001 on cocaine distribution charges.
Farhat, an illegal immigrant from Lebanon with two weapons convictions, spent nine months in custody awaiting trial in the drug casebefore Convertino arranged his release in December 2001 to become an informant in the terrorism case.
Farhat spent hundreds of hours at the U.S. Attorney's Office translating Arab tapes seized in a flat where three terror-case defendants lived. Officials said he also frequented bars in Dearborn to pick up information for terrorism investigators.
Sentencing in question
In exchange for Farhat's help, officials said, Convertino persuaded U.S. District Judge Julian Cook Jr. to sentence Farhat to nine months he already had served in prison rather than the 9 to 11 years called for by federal sentencing guidelines. Prosecutors almost never recommend reductions below half of the guideline range. Collins told the OPR that Convertino improperly calculated Farhat's sentence by failing to take into account all of the cocaine sales Farhat had made to agents or informants.
Convertino also persuaded Cook to forego three years of probation. Prosecutors and lawyers say it is virtually unheard of for defendants to be released without supervision.
Officials said Convertino also told Cook that he wanted to obtain a visa that would allow Farhat to stay in the United States.
At Farhat's closed-door sentencing in July 2003, officials said, Convertino justified his request for a lenient sentence by telling Cook that Farhat had turned his life around and provided invaluable assistance in the terrorism investigation.
Farhat told Cook that Convertino also had asked him to testify before Congress -- an indication that Convertino had been working with Grassley's committee at least two months before Convertino said he was subpoenaed at the last minute to testify.
Officials said Convertino failed to clear Farhat's plea deal with superiors, a procedure designed to ensure that sentence reductions are in the best interests of the United States.
They said Convertino also persuaded the Dearborn Police Department to seek the dismissal of felony charges in Wayne County Circuit Court against two defendants accused of beating a Dearborn physician outside his clinic in May 2000. Officials said Convertino told police he wanted to fold the case into a broader federal probe, but he never filed any federal charges. He also never told Cook that Farhat was a suspect in the beating, officials said.
The case was never prosecuted.
"Basically, you've got two people walking around who tried to murder a doctor and got away with it," one Justice Department official said.
Farhat's whereabouts are unknown.
Tactics scrutinized
Defense lawyers inthe terrorism trial said they weren't aware of Farhat's involvement.
"I'm astounded that with all of the interpreters they have on the payroll, they would turn to a suspect in a narcotic trafficking case to act as an interpreter," said Helfrick, the federal defender. Helfrick said he had always been led to believe that an FBI interpreter translated the tapes.
Another part of the OPR probe involves Convertino's dealings with Abed Makalda, 33, of Dearborn, who was indicted in December 2001 for allegedly conspiring to distribute methamphetamine. Makalda, an illegal immigrant, pleaded guilty in September 2002 to a cocaine conspiracy charge and eventually was sentenced to 52 months in prison.
Justice Department officials said Convertino approached Makalda without telling Assistant U.S. Attorney William Sauget, who was handling Makalda'a case. It's unclear what services Makalda provided Convertino, but Sauget expressed surprise at sentencing when Makalda's lawyer asked the judge to impose a shorter sentence based on Makalda's "substantial assistance" in Convertino's terrorism case.
Sauget objected, saying Makalda had repeatedly lied to investigators about his own case, according to a transcript of the sentencing.
"Four attempts were made by the DEA (Drug Enforcement Adminstration) to debrief this individual, and four times he kept coming up with fairy tales," Sauget saidat Makalda's sentencing.
Sauget then made the kind of remark defense lawyers rarely hear from federal prosecutors. They said he told the sentencing judge that if Convertino ever called Makalda to testify, Sauget would provide defense lawyers with information to impeach Makalda's credibility.
Convertino told Rosen during a hearing last month that it is improper for one prosecutor to approach a defendant in another prosecutor's case without the other prosecutor's approval.
Contact DAVID ASHENFELTER at 313-223-4490 or
ashenf@freepress.com. Copyright © 2004 Detroit Free Press Inc.
Convoluted Convertino story, weird.