After the contents of Jose Padilla’s seven taped conversations leaked to the New York Times, and before the actual trial began,  Federal District Court Marcia Cooke’s imposed a gag order on both the prosecution and defense in the conspiracy case against Jose Padilla and two others: thou shalt not refer to in any manner, shape [...]

There comes a time in every trial when it becomes totally, and absolutely boring.  That moment has arrived for the prosecution. They are now reading aloud to the jury transcripts of telephone conversations between the alleged conspirators. Since the conversations are in code – zucchini, cucumbers, radishes — perhaps the readers of FDL might be [...]

I wanted to discuss with former U.S. Deputy Attorney General James Comey the ethics of his pursuit of Jose Padilla, when Comey knew full well (and had even admitted) that Padilla’s “confessions” could never be used in a court of law. Comey’s behavior vis a vis the Padilla case, now being tried in Miami, raised [...]

The Bush Justice Department has had more than five full years to prepare a case against Jose Padilla. And each time it does, it falls apart. The “dirty bomber” charges didn’t stick. Charges of blowing up high-rise apartment buildings blew away in the wind. Now, that Padilla is receiving a full trial, armed with his [...]

A covert CIA officer who was permitted to testify wearing a disguise and using an alias described in court Tuesday how U.S. officials in Afghanistan obtained a truckload of al-Qaeda documents, including a form later linked to suspected operative Jose Padilla [standing trial for conspiracy.] The officer, whose true identity is classified, gave his name [...]

Let's all welcome Lew to Firedoglake – he'll be covering the Padilla trial for us – and he'll be on the Thom Hartmann show on Air America tomorrow!  Seeing Jose Padilla for the first time in person – after five years of studying the man and the Government accusations against him, after writing stories and [...]

A few months ago, FDL friend Rick Perlstein (now blogging at The Big Con ) asked me to join him and a friend for lunch. The friend turned out to be Lew Koch, an award winning investigative reporter.  As we chatted, I learned that Lew has been following – as only a real reporter can – the [...]