[ElkGroveDan]

the contact, whom he knew from an Internet message board used by adherents of Osama bin Laden.

It's probably one of those situations like in the movie "Conspiracy Theory" where everyone who's a member of message board is a federal agent

[Joe 6-pack]

"It's probably one of those situations like in the movie "Conspiracy Theory" where everyone who's a member of message board is a federal agent"

Or Chesterton's The Man Who Was Thursday.