Panel to Seek Probe of Concealed Wiretaps in Terrorism Trial
A special congressional panel will seek an investigation into allegations that the National Security Agency concealed secret wiretaps during the trial of a Muslim scholar convicted of terrorism charges.
U.S. Rep. Rush Holt, D-N.J., told the New York Times that he will ask the National Security Agency’s inspector general to investigate. Holt, chair of the Select Intelligence Oversight Panel, wants to find out if failure to disclose the secret wiretaps violated the right to a fair trial for Ali al-Timimi, a spiritual leader once described as a “rock star” among Islamic fundamentalists.
Timimi’s lawyer, Jonathan Turley, had sought the probe. He contends the secret wiretaps might include exculpatory information, the Times story says.
The federal judge in the case, Leonie Brinkema of Alexandria, Va., said the government may have violated federal discovery and evidence rules in the case, according to a transcript of a closed October hearing that has been unsealed. She ordered the government to look for additional evidence that it used secret wiretaps in the case, the story says.
