Political Skullduggery

The "war on terror" has inspired federal lawyers in at least two cases now to resort to unethical and potentially illegal tactics in order to administer what passes for justice these days.

The skullduggery involved in the Detroit prosecutions of alleged Muslim jihadists has been long public. The chickens are coming home to roost now for some of the government malefactors.

A former federal prosecutor and a State Department security officer were indicted yesterday on charges that they lied during a bungled terrorism trial in Detroit and then sought to cover up their deceptions once the case began to fall apart.

Former assistant U.S. attorney Richard G. Convertino, 45, and State Department special agent Harry R. Smith III, 49, were charged with conspiracy, obstruction of justice and making false statements in connection with the 2003 prosecution, according to an indictment handed up by a federal grand jury in Detroit...

Legal experts said yesterday that an indictment of a prosecutor for improper conduct in a federal courtroom is extraordinarily rare, if not unprecedented, in modern times.

"The charge is essentially that he prosecuted too aggressively and crossed the line," said Stephen Gillers, a New York University law professor who specializes in legal ethics. "This is simply astonishing."

Convertino also is charged with presenting false information at a sentencing hearing in a separate drug case to gain a light prison term for an informant...

Convertino led the prosecution of Karim Koubriti and three other North African immigrants, who were alleged to be part of a "sleeper operational combat cell." The government gained three convictions -- including two on terrorism charges -- but they were dismissed in 2004 after the Justice Department announced it had uncovered serious prosecutorial misconduct.

A report by a special Justice Department attorney assigned to review the case found that the prosecution had failed to turn over dozens of pieces of evidence to the defense. The "pattern of mistakes and oversights," along with possible misconduct, was so egregious that the government had little choice but to withdraw its case, his report said...

Convertino faces up to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine, while Smith could be sentenced to 20 years behind bars and a $750,000 penalty.

The indictment alleges that, during the trial, Convertino concealed photographs taken by Smith and another State Department staff member of Queen Alia Hospital in Jordan. Convertino had alleged that the defendants made a casing sketch of the military hospital in preparation for a terrorist attack, and Smith testified that he had no photographs with which to compare the sketches.

But Justice investigators said later that Convertino knew U.S. officials had taken numerous photographs and that "it is difficult, if not impossible, to compare the . . . sketches with the photos and see a correlation."

Carla J. Martin, the government lawyer who is alleged to have coached witnesses in the sentencing trial of Zacarias Moussaoui, is facing a federal investigation of her own.

The U.S. attorney's office in Alexandria quite sensibly recused itself from the matter. The U.S. attorney in Philadelphia will be conducting the inquiry.

She was subpoenaed to appear in U.S. District Court in Alexandria on Monday to answer questions about her conduct, but the subpoena was quashed. In a closed hearing March 21, when U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema granted the request by defense lawyers to subpoena Martin, Brinkema disclosed the investigation.

"I am advised by the U.S. attorney's office that there very well may be a prosecution of her; at least they are looking at the possibility," Brinkema said. "I understand this office [the U.S. attorney's office in Alexandria] will recuse itself, and I think the Eastern District of Pennsylvania is going to handle it."

"That's correct, your honor," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert A. Spencer.

The rules for dealing with "terror" cases have clearly been loosened all across the board. NSA warrantless wiretapping, Geneva convention violations, including torture, detaining U.S. citizens without due process, establishing secret foreign prisons, etc.

What will come out next?

Maybe nothing. Although only the NSA controversy resulted from leaks, the crackdown on leakers and their contacts is well underway to stop any further revelations.