UPDATE, Thurs. 2:30 p.m. — Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab made a brief appearance Thursday and said he was happy representing himself, and didn’t think it was necessary for the prosecutors to share evidence with his stand-by counsel, the Detroit News reported. The judge said she was overriding him on the sharing of evidence. A pretrial conference…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com WASHINGTON — As part of an occasional snapshot of what’s happening at U.S. airports, here’s the latest: Authorities found 17 firearms at airport checkpoints the week of Oct 4 to Oct. 10, according to the Transportation Security Administration, which runs the checkpoints. Additionally, seven passengers during that week were arrested for…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com WASHINGTON – James P. Myers is returning to Los Angeles — this time as a FBI special agent in charge of the Intelligence Division and Field Intelligence Group for the L.A. office. Myers, whose last post was as section chief of HUMINT operations (Human Intelligence) and oversight section, started as an…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com WASHINGTON — The head of the FBI’s Agents Association said Wednesday that he’d prefer to see all agents retake a controversial open-book test– and that no one be punished. “Given the publicity, anyone taking the test the next time, there shouldn’t be any confusion as to the procedure,” Association President Konrad…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com The Justice Department announced Wednesday that the FBI agents who shot and killed Detroit imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah last October during a raid did not violate federal civil rights laws and did not “warrant further federal criminal investigation.” The announcement came nearly two weeks after the Michigan Attorney General concluded the…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com WASHINGTON — While Washington may be our nation’s capital, it’s not likely to be mistaken for the capital of sincerity. Which brings us to the endless stream of press releases the White House issues when announcing the nominations of U.S. Attorneys and U.S. Marshals. Take, for example, on June 9, when…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com More than 70 people including members and associates of an Armenian-American organized crime enterprise were charged in a nationwide scam involving $163 million in fraudulent Medicare and insurance billing, federal authorities announced Wednesday. Authorities alleged that 73 people were involved in the operation of at least 118 different phony clinics in…
