These allegations, if true, are disturbing:
A federal prosecutor in a major terrorism case in Detroit has taken the rare step of suing Attorney General John Ashcroft, alleging the Justice Department interfered with the case, compromised a confidential informant and exaggerated results in the war on terrorism.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Convertino of Detroit accused the Justice Department of “gross mismanagement” of the war on terrorism in a whistleblower lawsuit filed late Friday in federal court in Washington.
Exaggerating aspects of the war on terrorism–I can’t imagine a government would be compelled to do that. [/sarcasm]
Why might Convertino be ticked?
Convertino came under internal investigation last fall after providing information to a Senate committee about his concerns about the war on terror. His testimony came just months after he helped convict some members of an alleged terrorism cell in Detroit.
People are after him for spilling the beans. It gets even better:
Convertino also accused Justice officials of intentionally divulging the name of one of his confidential terrorism informants (CI) to retaliate against him.
The leak put the informant at grave risk, forced him to flee the United States and “interfered with the ability of the United States to obtain information from the CI about current and future terrorist activities,” the suit alleges.
An intelligence-jeopardizing leak for personal retaliation–where have we heard that one before, Ambassador Wilson?