Sunday, November 22, 2009

Rocky Mountain Jihadi: Requests US intelligence files

Get used to the idea of leftist lawyers running rough shod through the classified files of our US intelligence agencies.

From Newsday.com:

Lawyers for terror suspect Najibullah Zazi arrested last summer on charges he plotted to kill Americans with homemade bombs, want prosecutors to search the files of U.S. intelligence agencies to see if there is information which could help the defense.

In a filing in Brooklyn federal court, defense attorney Michael J. Dowling of Denver, said that while the case is covered by special procedures for classified information, prosecutors still have an obligation to contact intelligence agencies for such information.

Dowling told Newsday he was referring to the Central Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency and other government units.

Such requests for exculpatory information are routine in criminal cases. In Zazi's case, the information being sought relates to witnesses or potential witnesses, including financial data and information about their drug abuse and mental illness, according to the filing.

But the fact prosecutors are invoking the classified information procedures act to protect evidence could complicate the way any secret information is used in the case.

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