Prosecutor in Terror Case Sues Ashcroft

[Guest Cerebus]

Prosecutor in Terror Case Sues Ashcroft   

By PETE YOST, Associated Press Writer

 

WASHINGTON - The Justice Department (news - web sites) has exaggerated its performance in the war on terrorism, interfered with a major terror prosecution and compromised a confidential informant, a federal prosecutor has alleged in an extraordinary lawsuit against Attorney General John Ashcroft (news - web sites).

 

The lawsuit by Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Convertino is the latest twist in the Bush administration's first major post-Sept. 11 terrorism prosecution, a Detroit case jeopardized over allegations of prosecutorial misconduct.

 

Convertino was the lead prosecutor on the case, in which the government did not provide defense attorneys a letter alleging that a prosecution witness lied until long after a trial had ended.

 

In his lawsuit, Convertino says the Justice Department is retaliating against him because he has complained frequently and publicly about "the lack of support and cooperation, lack of effective assistance, lack of resources and intradepartmental infighting" in terrorism cases.

 

"These concerns directly related to the ability of the United States to effectively utilize the criminal justice system as a component in the `war on terrorism,'" says his lawsuit filed in federal court.

 

According to the suit, a senior official in the Justice Department's terrorism and violent crimes section informed Convertino that news reports concerning the department's anti-terror efforts were not accurate and that the "press gives us more credit than we deserve." The lawsuit alleges "gross mismanagement" in the terrorism and violent crimes section.

 

Convertino says he complained repeatedly to the Justice Department in Washington that it placed "perception" over "reality" to the serious detriment of the war on terror.

 

He is seeking unspecified damages under the Privacy Act for harm to his reputation.

 

Justice Department spokesman Mark Corallo declined to comment.

 

Convertino came under internal Justice Department investigation last fall after telling a Senate committee of his concerns.

 

"Whistleblowers put a lot on the line to protect the public," Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said Tuesday. "They deserve strong protections against intimidation, harassment, demotion or even dismissal for doing the right thing."

 

Regarding the Detroit case which Convertino handled, the government late last year turned over a jail inmate's letter to defense lawyers. In it, the inmate alleged that prosecution witness Youssef Hmimssa had lied.

 

A lawyer for Convertino has said he believes his client made the right decision in not disclosing the evidence because it wouldn't have affected the trial's outcome.

 

Months before the government turned over the letter, a jury found two defendants guilty of document fraud and conspiracy to provide material support for terrorism. One other was found guilty of document fraud but acquitted of terror charges. And the fourth was acquitted on all counts.

 

A defense attorney who faced Convertino in the Detroit case said one section of his lawsuit "seems completely unfounded."

 

Convertino alleges a lack of resources, but his resources "appeared to us to be completely unlimited," said James Gerometta, one of the court-appointed defense attorneys in the case.

 

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 (news - web sites) 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 (news - web sites) personnel file after the Monica Lewinsky affair.

 

A little dirt on the main players and events. Here is a report made when the trial started back in March (Convertino is mentioned ). This interesting report was made only two days ago that said the appeal of the case by the defense was strengthend by the Justice department's leak of the letter and that Convertino was yanked from the case and, two days later, filed this law suit. A very intriguing part of the article:

 

Both prosecutors have denied the accusations vigorously, but were removed from the case in September by U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Collins — just days before Mr. Convertino was scheduled to testify before the Senate Finance Committee.

Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley, Iowa Republican, later accused Mr. Collins of retaliating against Mr. Convertino over the committee appearance, noting that the veteran prosecutor had been subpoenaed and had no choice but to appear and answer questions. The prosecutor was called to testify on identity theft.

    Mr. Grassley said that if Mr. Convertino and Mr. Corbett were not put back on the case, "the convictions could be put at risk and the department could be seen as hostile to a congressional witness."

 

It will be interesting to see how this pans out. As it is, I smell a rat in the Justice dept. Like his predecessors, Ashcroft doesn't take a great shining to intense scrutiny and criticism.