barrykind
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Sources: Intelligence Leaks Not a Factor in Taliban John's Plea Deal
Monday, July 15, 2002
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The defense team for John Walker Lindh struck a deal with prosecutors just after midnight on Monday morning, calling for 20 years in prison and sparing the "American Taliban" life in prison after a week of negotiations that even reached the White House.
A senior U.S. official told Fox News there were no intelligence reasons for the plea bargain.
Intelligence officials had talked to prosecutors about some concerns including the testimony of a CIA agent named "Dave," who was with CIA officer Johnny 'Mike' Spann when he was slain in an uprising at the prison where Walker and hundreds of other battlefield detainees were being held near Mazar-e-Sharif in Afghanistan.
Prosecutors had been open to various means of protecting Dave's identity even though his face has been seen in some media reports.
"There would have been ways for him to testify," one official said, "such as appearing behind a screen."
The intelligence community did have some concerns but, as one official said, "There were no show stoppers."
However, the government did avoid devoting resources to trying to convict Walker or risk exposing Taliban and Al Qaeda prisoners in open court.
And Walker avoided the possibility of life in prison and charges that he engaged in terrorism against his country — a notion his defense team had fought from the start.
"Our goal, frankly, was to try to give him some kind of future in the chaos," chief defense lawyer James Brosnahan explained Monday outside court after the hearing.
If U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III follows the plea bargain recommendation during sentencing Oct. 4, Walker will be free by the time he is 41.
The deal was put together so late Sunday night that Walker's attorneys had to make special arrangements to get back into the jail to get his final approval. And the judge was told only a few minutes before the start of court Monday.
Lawyers on both sides said the plea agreement developed quickly over the weekend after President Bush gave approval for a possible deal Thursday. Defense lawyers were also disappointed by comments the judge made Friday indicating difficulties ahead for Walker's team, adding to the momentum for a deal.
Much of the weekend negotiating focused on the exact charges to which Walker would plead.
The defense team adamantly argued the American never engaged in terrorism or acts against the United States and simply helped the Taliban because of his religious devotion to Islam.
In the end, they agreed to two charges that accused Walker of helping the Taliban and possessing explosives during a crime. The government also included a lone reference in court papers to Walker training at a camp linked to Al Qaeda.
It was a far cry from the original indictment, which included 10 felonies and the possibility of at least three life terms in prison. That document also was loaded with references to Walker meeting Usama bin Laden and his interrogation by Spann before he was killed in the prison uprising.
"We did relish the idea of an acquittal," Brosnahan said. "But we had to give it up."
U.S. Attorney Paul McNulty said the plea deal wasn't a sign the government was concerned about the strength of the case or a sympathy factor toward Walker. "We are confident that we would have prevailed on all counts," he said.
He added, "Twenty years is a period of time almost as long as he's been alive. It's a major sentence."
McNulty said it ultimately came down to preserving federal resources, and ensuring Walker's cooperation with future cases and U.S. intelligence as it seeks to gain understanding of Al Qaeda's inner workings.
"This plea agreement represents an opportunity for the government to get a very tough sentence, to get cooperation and to conserve precious resources for the future challenges," McNulty said.
The plea deal reached the White House long before it was consummated
Al Gonzales, the White House's top lawyer, outlined the plan Thursday in a meeting with Bush, who signed off on it, said a senior White House official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Brosnahan had sought unsuccessfully to move the trial from Alexandria, Va., near the site of the Pentagon crash, to San Francisco, near Walker's home in Marin County, Calif.
"The worthy people of Virginia would make good jurors, but people are somewhat frightened, somewhat upset," Brosnahan said.
Walker knew public sentiment was largely against him. "He was pretty conscious of how public opinion was turning," the lawyer said.
A final factor, Brosnahan said, is that Walker would have essentially admitted to the fact that Walker was a foot soldier in the Taliban's war.
But under an executive order signed by President Clinton in 1999 and extended by President Bush that links the Taliban to the Al Qaeda terrorist network, merely lending support to the Taliban constitutes a felony.
Fox News' Jim Angle and The Associated Press contributed to this report
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Posts: 3529 | From: Orange, Texas | Registered: Jun 2002
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