THE RUBBER HITS THE ROAD?….Terence Kindlon, the attorney for a man accused of trying to sell missile launchers to terrorists, filed an interesting motion last Friday:
An FBI sting case that targeted two members of an Albany mosque should be dismissed because the investigation originated from a national spying program that may be illegal, an attorney for one of the defendants said in a motion filed in U.S. District Court.
….”The government engaged in illegal electronic surveillance of thousands of U.S. persons, including Yassin Aref, then instigated a sting operation to attempt to entrap Mr. Aref into supporting a nonexistent terrorist plot, then dared to claim that the illegal NSA operation was justified because it was the only way to catch Mr. Aref,” Kindlon’s motion said.
….Now, with attorneys…confident secret surveillance was the catalyst for the FBI’s Albany sting, the stage is set for the NSA program to be challenged on constitutional grounds as part of the local case. The question is whether the government will be compelled, even tacitly, to confirm that Aref was targeted because of information gleaned from the controversial spy program.
Kindlon may be fishing here, filing a motion just for the hell of it to see what happens. Then again, maybe not. This may end up being a case to keep our eyes on.
