Posted on 04/12/2022 4:40:23 PM PDT by algore
A judge in Washington D.C. denied on Tuesday federal prosecutors' motion to detain the two men impersonating federal agents because he says he isn't convinced that there are links to Pakistan intelligence.
He also claimed that deleting social media posts wasn't proof that the other defendant would tamper with evidence, as federal lawyers argued.
I am going to 'deny the government's request that the two defendants be held pending trial,' Magistrate Judge G. Michael Harvey said during proceedings Tuesday.
The decision comes after it was revealed in proceedings earlier Tuesday that Arian Taherzadeh, 40, and Haider Sher-Ali, 35, were 'inadvertently tipped off' by Secret Service investigators of the probe.
The prosecution has until 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday to decide whether it will appeal the judge's decision to release the defendants. If such a motion is filed, another judge will make the judgment on whether to continue the stay of Ali and Taherzadeh throughout the appeals process.
'I do not find it reliable that Mr. Ali has ties to the Pakistani intelligence service,' the judge said.
Prosecutors claimed that when speaking to witnesses, it was portrayed that Ali [presented] himself as having ties to the Pakistan Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
The judge noted that he is not convinced by the government's case that there is a larger issue at hand, noting that Taherzadeh and Ali are only facing charges of impersonation of a law enforcement officer, which has a maximum sentence of three years.
He also classified a lot of Taherzadeh's behavior as 'not good', but said it was mostly 'Sophomoric behavior, not the sort of serious dangerous conduct that require pre-trial detention.'
Magistrate Judge Harvey called a lot of the government's claims 'overblown' and 'overstated', including suggestions that there could be a national security risk if the two defendants are released.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
He’s got an insider friend; Imran Awan.
They got a really good ‘fake’ judge I wonder who paid their lawyers?
Apparently it’s only illegal to impersonate a Secret Service officer if you are also a member of a foreign intelligence service. Interesting loophole.
They are all imposters.
Exactly...no one can remember who’s bribing who! Maybe the fake judge thought these gooners were on Biden’s payroll when they were on Clappers or that other commie’s payroll! Now he let them go and they’re going to finish the job!
While January 6th protestors rot in jail for over a year now.
Well, I guess I know what I'm doing this weekend.
A couple of FBI confidential informants going free after plotting to kidnap Slow Joe and Camel?
The two spent tens, possibly hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to get "inside" with federal agents. This isn't "sophomoric", it's state sponsored espionage. The agents who accepted these gifts need to be arrested and charged. Odds are pretty good these guys will disappear.
Taherzadeh and Ali spent their near year-and-a-half living at the luxury Washington apartment building Crossing DC cozying up to Secret Service agents and other federal workers with clearances – showering them with lavish gifts and providing some with free rent, including one instance of a penthouse unit valued at more than $40,000 for the year.
Biden is really desperate to get that nuke deal with Iran done !
Watch for this story to get buried, just like the Las Vegas shooting.
“Apparently it’s only illegal to impersonate a Secret Service officer if you are also a member of a foreign intelligence service. Interesting loophole”
It might pay for some US citizens to sneak out of the US, deliberately get caught at the border, and come up with a new name. The benefits are better. Too bad that would be harder to do than it was 10 years ago.
Yet Jan. 6 protestors still rot in prison.
Well ain’t that special. Anyone else would be doing time at Leavenworth.
Just ask where they were on January 6. Instant no bail or due process.
Got off with no punishment, just like the Awan brothers spying on Congressmen.
Magistrate Judge G. Michael Harvey
G. Michael Harvey was appointed as a United States Magistrate Judge on February 13, 2015. He received a B.A., cum laude, from Duke University in Political Science and Religion in 1989.
In 1993, he received a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania where he served as an editor of the Law Review. Following law school, he was a litigation associate at Wiley, Rein & Fielding in Washington, D.C., from 1993 to 1997.
In 1997, Judge Harvey joined the National Courts Section of the Department of Justice as a Trial Attorney where he litigated complex commercial cases before the Court of Federal Claims, the Court of International Trade, and the Federal Circuit.
In 1999, he joined the Civil Division of the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. In that capacity, he was responsible for a wide array of civil matters, including employment discrimination, FOIA, federal tort and contract claims, Bivens claims, and challenges to agency actions under the Administrative Procedure Act.
In 2003, he moved to the Criminal Division of the United States Attorney’s Office where he prosecuted criminal cases in both the Superior Court and the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.
For the past 7 ½ years he served in the National Security Section of the United States Attorney’s Office where he prosecuted high-profile cases involving espionage, terrorism, export violations, alien smuggling, unauthorized disclosure of classified information, threats against high-ranking officials, and cybercrime
Your last paragraph says it all. The fix is in.
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