FBI said to question member of 9/11 case defense

A lawyer for one of five defendants in the September 11 war crimes tribunal said today that FBI agents questioned a member of his defense team, apparently in an investigation related to the handling of evidence, a revelation that brought an abrupt halt to proceedings.
Attorney James Harrington told the judge presiding over the case at the Guantanamo Bay naval base that the agents asked about activities of others on his defense team as well as of people working for other defendants.
"Obviously, to say that this is a chilling experience for all of us is a gross understatement," he told the judge.

Harrington did not mention the nature of the FBI's questions in court, but said later that his court-appointed security officer was asked about the release in January of writings by the lead defendant in the case, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, to two media outlets.
The defense security officer, a private contractor who assists with the handling of classified material in the death-penalty terrorism trial, was also asked to sign an agreement that implied he might be asked to provide information to the FBI on an ongoing basis in the future, Harrington said.
The questioning occurred April 6 at the man's home in the United States, not on the US base in Cuba.

After the FBI visit, the contractor informed his employer, SRA International Inc, based in Fairfax, Virginia. The disclosure came at the start of what was supposed to be a mental competency hearing for Harrington's client, Ramzi Binalshibh, a Yemeni accused of providing logistical support to the September 11, 2001, terrorist plot.

The lawyer said the apparent investigation of defense team members will require review by the court, and possibly the appointment of additional counsel for the defendants because it has created a potential conflict of interest for the attorneys.
"If we are the subject of some inquiry or investigation or whatever by the FBI or some other government agency, then we have an interest in how that comes out and the question becomes whose interest do we protect first, ours or our clients," he said.

The FBI declined to comment.
He urged the judge to continue with the scheduled competency hearing, which had already delayed the long-stalled trial by military commission for five Guantanamo prisoners charged with planning and aiding the September 11 terrorist attack.