U.S. fights bid to silence attorney general in bomb case

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department asked a court on Monday to reject a request by lawyers for a Somali-born man accused of planning an Oregon bombing to bar Attorney General Eric Holder from talking about the case.

In a filing with a federal court in Portland, the department defended Holder's comments regarding the case against Mohamed Osman Mohamud, who was arrested in November in an FBI sting operation and charged with plotting to bomb a Christmas tree-lighting ceremony in the city.

Defense lawyers last month sought a court order barring Holder from talking publicly about the case, arguing that the attorney general's comments could prejudice the pool of potential jurors. The attorney general heads the Justice Department.

Mohamud's lawyers have argued that the government essentially set up and entrapped their client, a naturalized U.S. citizen who had attended Oregon State University. Mohamud has pleaded not guilty in the case.

Following the arrest, Holder said Mohamud had declined "a number of opportunities" to back out of the alleged plot and that he was sure there was no entrapment.

"The Attorney General's comments were entirely appropriate and resulted in no unfair prejudice to defendant," the Justice Department said in its filing. "Further, an order as requested by defendant would serve no legitimate purpose."

Mohamud was arrested when he tried to detonate what he thought was a car bomb during the crowded ceremony in Portland on November 26, U.S. authorities said. However, the bomb was instead fake explosives provided by undercover agents.

Mohamud's arrest was one of several sting operations in the last two years in which individuals were tracked by undercover FBI agents and later tried to detonate fake bombs in various locations.

 

So they discover he's trying to blow stuff up, give him fake explosives to do it with, then capture him after he's tried to blow the stuff up, and failed.

Something seems awfully bureaucratic about that.