December 4, 2008, - 12:15 pm
Terrorist’s Lawsuit Against Prosecutor, FBI Agent Proceeds: An Omen of What’s to Come When Obama Closes Gitmo
By Debbie Schlussel
The case of Karim Koubriti v. Richard Convertino and Michael Thomas is illuminating about what will happen–what we will see a lot of–if and when Barack Obama closes the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay and releases some of the terrorists onto U.S. soil (because no other country will take them).
Koubriti was a convicted Al-Qaeda terrorists, until vengeful, jealous, politically-correct “Justice” Department officials and an unhinged federal judge, Gerald Rosen, worked in concert with Koubriti and other terrorists’ lawyers to overturn the jury conviction.
Longtime readers of this site and my work elsewhere are familiar with the case of Convertino, about whom I first wrote in a 2003 New York Post column, reprinted here.
Former Prosecutor Rick Convertino
Sued by Al-Qaeda Terrorist Karim Koubriti
Despite everyone at the Justice Department working against him, Convertino prosecuted and convicted several Detroit Al-Qaeda terrorists who had diagrams of the take-off order of American and Israeli planes–AWACS and F-16s–at the U.S. Airforce Base in Incirlik, Turkey. They also had videotape of several U.S. sites, including Disneyland and Las Vegas, which featured some of them singing songs about jihad. They’d planned to blow up all of these places and a hospital in Jordan.
The men and their plans were discovered when FBI agents were looking for Nabil Al-Marabh, a Bin Laden right-hand man, who was in the top 10 on the FBI’s Most Wanted List. Al-Marabh was not at home in the apartment at the house on Detroit’s Norman Street, but Koubriti and several others were. And their plans, diagrams, and over 100 jihadist videos were discovered by agents.
Convertino, despite all odds, won convictions of most of the terrorists in the first post-9/11 jury trial for terrorists. But we can’t have that.
Convertino’s boss, then-U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Collins, was in bed with Islamic extremsists and terrorists to the point that he was the date of a “former” Islamic terrorist at an awards banquet. He was upset that Convertino obtained a conviction that implicated local Muslim and Arab agencies, including ACCESS (the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services), which spent thousands in your tax money to provide job training–Commercial Drivers License and HAZMAT Hauling Certificate training, no less!–to the terrorists. And Collins and Convertino’s colleagues were jealous of his positive attention in the press all over the world for the convictions.
So Collins and Justice Department officials worked with the convicted terrorists’ attorneys to look for ways to overturn Convertino’s convictions and ruin his life. And they succeeded.
Within days, the Detroit and national media were rife with daily attack stories savaging this honest, decent, religious Catholic father of five, whose only crime was to convict Islamic terrorists for trying to attack America. A Justice Department official–believed to be Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathon Tukel–even outed a Muslim confidential informant who helped on the case and jeopardized the man’s life, all to get back at Convertino. The informant’s name appeared on the front page of Detroit’s major newspapers. (I represented the informant in an unrelated matter.)
Next, they got the Judge to overturn the convictions of these terrorists over a red herring. And finally, they prosecuted Convertino.
Imagine this: You are a federal prosecutor who worked day and night to convict people who wanted to murder Americans. And suddenly, the feds are prosecuting you for having done so.
Convertino beat the charges. Jurors, for a second time, said that clearly these men were terrorists and that Convertino saved American lives by prosecuting them.
But, despite that, the witchhunt doesn’t end there. And this is where the Al-Qaeda terrorists at Gitmo should take note.
Koubriti is suing Convertino and FBI Agent Michael Thomas. Yesterday, Judge Marianne O. Battani ruled that–despite, federal immunity rules that immunize officials from personal lawsuits over the performance of said federal duties–Koubriti’s absurd lawsuit will go on. You’ll remember that Battani is the judge who also declined to throw the bookat a Muslim Hezbollah supporter who threatened to rape and kill me for being a Jew and exercising my First Amendment rights.
Imagine the message this sends to all federal prosecutors and law enforcement agents. It’s chilling–Don’t go after terrorists, or you’ll be subject to endless, baseless civil lawsuits from them.
The Battani decision is boneheaded, absurd, and–hello . . .–it’s against the law which clearly provides immunity to Convertino and Agent Thomas.
This is exactly what the Gitmo detainees whose countries won’t take them will do when they get to settle on U.S. soil. That’s where things are heading.
And that’s the future of America. Over ten years ago, I wrote about the litigation jihad. Since then, many others who’ve discovered America, have discovered this issue.
And it is only going to get worse.
The Koubriti lawsuit against Rick Convertino and Mike Thomas is only the beginning.
When Obama closes Gitmo, get ready for our courts to get clogged by more lawsuits from the Ahmeds, Mohammeds, and Mahmouds–former residents of a Cuban beachside resort full of video games, movies and La-Z-Boys.
Meanwhile, “former” Al-Qaeda terrorists Karim Koubriti drives a truck throughout Michigan . . . while he waits to collect his cool, former-terrorist-ambulance-chasing cash.
Muslims call this “Halal money.” I call it, Al-Cha-ching. In many ways, it’s more powerful and dangerous than the most explosive IED.
***
Rick Convertino isn’t just sitting back and taking this lightly. He sued the federal government and his lawsuit is proceeding. One sticking point is Detroit Free Press reporter David Ashenfelter, who–despite Convertino’s pleas–published the name of and outed a Muslim confidential informant in the case and jeopardized his life. Ashenfelter is repeatedly fighting his required presence and answers to questions at a deposition.
The deposition is scheduled for Monday. He must answer questions regarding all of the federal officials who leaked confidential information to him about Convertino and the Muslim informant. If he doesn’t, he should get the same fate as Judith Miller. That’s the law.
Tags: Karim Koubriti, Richard Convertino
“Al-Cha-ching” LOL …
Once Obama closes down Gitmo, puts an end to water boarding and the like, as well as, shut down all and any kind of surveillance … he had better pray to the Almighty (which is himself) that the U.S. is not attacked by terrorist … otherwise, he’s fried, Sec of State Clinton resigns, and then kicks his ass in the primaries for 2012.
Jimmy Lewis
SCS, Michigan
Blog: http://rougerevival.blogspot.com/
Jimmy on December 4, 2008 at 1:24 pm