Throwing yet another wrench into the long-delayed legal proceedings regarding the September 11 attacks, the lawyers for the terror defendants have filed an emergency motion accusing the FBI of snooping on their work, according to the Miami Herald. The motion claims the FBI interrogated and turned a member of 9/11 defendant Ramzi bin al-Shibh's own defense team into a "confidential informant," and asks the judge to launch an investigation into whether that compromised the government's case.
"The implications of this intrusion into the defense camp are staggering," the motion reads, according to the Herald. "The most immediate implication, however, is that all defense teams have a potential conflict of interest between their loyalty to their clients and their interest in demonstrating their innocence to FBI investigators."
The motion came one day before a scheduled hearing to determine whether al-Shibh was fit to stand trial. The lead prosecutor in the case, Brig. Gen. Mark Martins, said he had no prior knowledge of the FBI's alleged snooping, but called it a "significant" concern.
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The Justice Department charged al-Shibh and four others, including alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, in 2008 and planned to try them via military commission. After President Obama's election, Attorney General Eric Holder initially moved to have the defendants tried in civilian court, though he later announced they would face a military trial after all.
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