From the AP:A federal judge gave the government two months to respond to an Ohio trucker's request that his terrorism conviction be thrown out on grounds that the government illegally spied on him.Attention U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema...WE ARE AT WAR. Remember this:
U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema cited "the potentially weighty issues raised in the defendant's motion" in an order Wednesday that set a 60-day timetable for the government to respond to Iyman Faris' arguments.
Faris' challenge is among the first to seek evidence of warrantless electronic eavesdropping by the National Security Agency, a practice that began after the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
Government officials have reportedly credited eavesdropping with uncovering terrorist plots, including one by Faris to destroy the Brooklyn Bridge. Critics say President Bush didn't have authority to order the wiretaps, but he has staunchly defended the practice.
Faris' attorney David Smith contends investigators improperly obtained evidence against his client, and that Faris' trial lawyer was ineffective, according to a defense motion filed in federal court in Alexandria, Va., last month.
Faris, 36, pleaded guilty in 2003 to conspiracy and aiding and abetting terrorism, and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. He has tried to withdraw his plea.
Prosecutors say Faris investigated, but finally ruled out, using a gas cutter to burn through the Brooklyn Bridge's suspension cables, and that he received attack instructions from top terrorist leader Khalid Shaikh Mohammed for what they suggested might have been a second wave of terror attacks in New York and Washington.
At his sentencing, prosecutors acknowledged that federal agents were led to Faris by a telephone call intercepted in another investigation.
Ken Melson, the assistant U.S. attorney handling the case, said he could not comment on a pending case.
This guy, from my home state, wanted to destroy the Brooklyn Bridge.
Perhaps, instead of taking these cases to the courts; these individuals ought to be treated like our enemy. Is that what U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema wants? That's the impression I'm getting.
By the way...U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema was nominated by Bill Clinton. I don't know why that matters, but I know that it does...
This is a judge who needs to be removed...
Mark's Remarks
The Democrats--more concerned with the rights of attempted murderers than in protecting America's security and welfare. Remember that come election day. This is not Sept. 10, 2001. This is not pre 1993, this is not before the Khobar towers or the USS Cole. We are at war. WE must protect ourselves against the enemy. We must use the means available to prevent and thwart terror attacks from happening. The very idea that the Democrats in Congress gave this man his defense points is galling. This is what has become of the modern Democratic party, they have become the apologists for the terrorists. That is all that can be taken from this latest non-debate about the NSA, and the fallout, now that we have terrorists using the very same talking points of Clinton, Kennedy, Leahy, et. al. Not only that, but Saddam uses the same talking points as Howeird Dean and others at his trial as well. Isn't it nice to know that one political party in the US is more concerned with the terrorists' rights than in protecting its people?
