Ashcroft sued for "gross mismanagement" of war on terrorism

[numediaman]

Federal prosecutor sues Ashcroft
Lawsuit alleges Justice Dept. interfered with terrorism case

The Associated Press
Feb. 17, 2004

WASHINGTON - 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 lawsuit filed late Friday in federal court in Washington . . . .

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4285619/

[mactastic]

Yeah, I was reading through this yesterday. Not good for our street 'cred' regarding the War On Terror. Of course that credibility has been dragged through the sand already, but that's another matter.

A few parts of the article that stood out to me:
Evidence wasn't shared
The government now admits it failed to turn over evidence during the trial that might have assisted the defense, including an allegation from an imprisoned drug gang leader who claimed the government’s key witness made up his story.

E-mail blasts Justice terrorism unit
“They have rendered no assistance and, are in my judgment, adversely impacting on both trial prep and trial strategy,” the e-mail cited in the lawsuit states.
And this little gem that is so similar to the outing of Valerie Plame it's scary. Do these guys use this as a regular tactic or what?
Convertino also accused Justice officials of intentionally divulging the name of one of his confidential terrorism informants 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 (informant) about current and future terrorist activities,” the suit alleges.

Nice going Justice Department. Way to make me feel safer every day.