Judge: Eric Holder Violated DOJ Policy With Statements On FBI's Portland Sting Case

[kpete]

Source: Talking Points Memo

Judge: Eric Holder Violated DOJ Policy With Statements On FBI's Portland Sting Case

A federal judge said Wednesday that Attorney General Eric Holder violated Justice Department policy by making statements defending the FBI's actions in the sting case against the so-called Christmas Tree bomber.

U.S. District Judge Garr M. King wrote in a filing late Wednesday that he was concerned about statements Holder made "regarding defendant's state of mind and specific activities," which he concluded "constitute a breach" of a Justice Department policy on the release of information relating to criminal and civil proceedings.

Lawyers for Mohamed Osman Mohamud, the man accused of trying to blow up a car bomb at a Christmas Tree lighting ceremony in Portland, Oregon, had argued that Holder's statements regarding the FBI sting case were inappropriate.

Holder dismissed concerns about entrapment in the case in his comments to the media after Mohamud was arrested by FBI agents in late November.

Read more: http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/02/judge_eric_holder_violated_doj_policy_with_statements_on_fbis_portland_sting_case.php#more

[JEB]

1. The misguided

kid didn't have a firecracker without the FBI. Manufactured terrorism.

[boppers]

2. Uhm, he was mailing the FBI bomb-making components and attack plans.

He even recorded himself on tape rationalizing the attack.

http://www.ktvz.com/news/25931160/detail.html
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2033372,00.html

Claiming entrapment is going to be a pretty difficult defense.

[Wilms]

5. You'll see why some say it was entrapment if you dig in to this story.

You might not agree. But you'll know why.

(Be sure to read up on the part where the kid offers to do it, but that was one time they didn't have the wire on him. :eyes: )

[boppers]

6. It's a local (Portland) story... I missed the tree lighting that year, but often go.

So, yeah, there's been a lot of coverage, and I've followed it for a bit.

The initial reports definitely had the feel of "naive kid goaded into nothing more than dialing a cell phone", until the later reports came out about the bombing field tests, the email evidence, the pre-attack confession video, the memory stick, the watch-listing, etc.

After some of the stupider set-ups (the homeless guys who were a "cell" come to mind), I can see cause for skepticism, and it appears to have been accounted for in this case by making sure they had piles of evidence before an arrest.

[Wilms]

7. Why don't you just re-read what I wrote and "dig in" to this story.

Or not.

[boppers]

8. I did.

We came to different conclusions.

He had multiple outs.

He chose not to take them.

[zazen]

3. Gonzalez violated DOJ policy by condoning torture

Still, I take their word for it re Holder. I just get sick of such higher standards being applied to Democrats.

[Amonester]

4. Holder is a Democrat?

In Name Only?