Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

The FBI is under fire for its alleged handling of defense lawyers for the accused 9/11 terrorists, and the agents may be forced to testify about it in military war court at Guantanamo Bay, the Washington Free Beacon reports.

The news comes after court proceedings abruptly ended on Monday after defense lawyers said that at least two FBI special agents had tried to make a member of the defense an informant last week.

If true, it’s an egregious violation of the justice system and attorney-client privilege.

The defense team for the suspected organizers of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks said the FBI may have jeopardized the case.

It was the first court proceeding at Guantanamo since December.

 Steve Neavling

A defense lawyer whose expertise is white-collar crime was nominated Tuesday to be assistant attorney general  for the Justice Department’s criminal division, the New York Times reports.

President Obama nominated Leslie R. Caldwell, a former federal prosecutor who worked in the Northern District of California and the Eastern District of New York.

Caldwell served as director of the DOJ’s task force that specialized in Enron’s 2001 collapse, the Times wrote.

She graduated from Penn State University and George Washington University law School.

This trial in the sunny state of Florida isn’t looking so sunny.  In fact, it’s getting darn right messy. A DEA informant admitted  tape recording the defense attorney. The U.S. Attorney admits it failed to follow policy, but is opposed to a mistrial or dismissal of the case. The defense says the recordings may have helped the prosecution figure out its trial strategy. A federal judge has yet to rule on the matter. It should be an interesting decision. Stay tuned.

BY JAY WEAVER
The Miami Herald
MIAMI — The federal trial of a Miami Beach doctor accused of illegally prescribing painkillers morphed Tuesday into a courtroom clash between his lawyer and prosecutors.

The attorney for Dr. Ali Shaygan accused two government witnesses of tape-recording him and his private investigator — at the direction of the prosecution — and then keeping it all secret during their testimony last month.

‘These people there said, `Tape-record the defense,’ ” defense attorney David O. Markus declared, pointing to prosecutors Sean Cronin and Andrea Hoffman.

The government witness, Trinity Clendening, agreed, admitting he recorded Markus on his home phone two times in December.
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