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U.S.: Padilla plot included blowing up apartments
Additionally, the federal summary of Padilla's activities claim Padilla admitted that he was "first tasked with an operation to blow up apartment buildings in the United States with natural gas by [Mohammed] Atef," alleged to be Osama bin Laden's second in command.
Under pressure to explain its indefinite detention of a U.S. citizen as an "enemy combatant," the Justice Department outlined Padilla's alleged al Qaeda training in Afghanistan and contacts with the most senior members of the terrorist network, his travel back into the United States and preparations to rent apartments and set off explosives.
At a Tuesday news conference, Deputy Attorney General James Comey called the chronicle of Padilla's plotting "remarkable for its scope, its clarity and its candor.
"We have decided to release this information to help people understand why we are doing what we are doing in the war on terror and to help people understand the nature of the threat we face," he said.
Comey asserted that if Padilla had been handled by the more conventional criminal justice system, he could have stayed silent and "would likely have ended up a free man." (Transcript of news conference)
The Justice Department news conference came as Vice President Dick Cheney, in a speech in Kansas City, Missouri, accused Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry of being soft on terrorism. Cheney urged the renewal of the USA Patriot Act, passed in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks.
Donna Newman, Padilla's defense attorney, called the information "a one-sided exposé of their version of the events without Mr. Padilla having the right to put forth his version of the events."
"As they concede, he denies all this," she said, referring to a footnote on page six of the seven-page document.
The U.S. government footnote says: "There are a number of instances in his statements where Padilla attempts to downplay or deny his commitment to al Qaeda."
"There is a dispute. That's what the courts resolve," Newman said. "If Mr. Padilla is as dangerous as they say, why not have a trial?"
The seven-page U.S. government summary of Padilla's activities was based largely on admissions the Pentagon says he made while in federal custody.
Top al Qaeda officials "wanted Padilla to hit targets in New York City, although Florida and Washington, D.C. were discussed as well," the government summary of interrogations said, according to a report from The Associated Press.
Since Padilla's case was argued before the U.S. Supreme Court on April 28, Newman had a second visit with him in the Charleston, South Carolina, naval brig.
Like the first visit, Newman's second meeting was monitored and recorded by the government.
U.S. Deputy Attorney General James Comey outlines details of the federal case against Jose Padilla.
A ruling is expected from the Supreme Court by the end of the month on Padilla's case against the United States -- challenging President Bush's power to declare him an "enemy combatant" not subject to the traditional rights of American citizens. (Full story)
Some of the previously classified material had leaked and was subsequently confirmed by Justice Department officials in advance of Tuesday's news conference by the Justice Department.
Attorney General John Ashcroft announced Padilla's arrest from Moscow on June 9, 2002, saying that an "unfolding terrorist plot to attack the United States by exploding a radioactive dirty bomb" had been disrupted, an attack with the potential to cause "mass death and injury."
Padilla was originally picked up by the FBI at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport on May 8, 2002, and held as a material witness in a grand jury investigation of the September 11 attacks.
A month later, however, Bush declared him an enemy combatant, and he was sent to a military prison.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/06/01/pa...nts/index.html
Additionally, the federal summary of Padilla's activities claim Padilla admitted that he was "first tasked with an operation to blow up apartment buildings in the United States with natural gas by [Mohammed] Atef," alleged to be Osama bin Laden's second in command.
Under pressure to explain its indefinite detention of a U.S. citizen as an "enemy combatant," the Justice Department outlined Padilla's alleged al Qaeda training in Afghanistan and contacts with the most senior members of the terrorist network, his travel back into the United States and preparations to rent apartments and set off explosives.
At a Tuesday news conference, Deputy Attorney General James Comey called the chronicle of Padilla's plotting "remarkable for its scope, its clarity and its candor.
"We have decided to release this information to help people understand why we are doing what we are doing in the war on terror and to help people understand the nature of the threat we face," he said.
Comey asserted that if Padilla had been handled by the more conventional criminal justice system, he could have stayed silent and "would likely have ended up a free man." (Transcript of news conference)
The Justice Department news conference came as Vice President Dick Cheney, in a speech in Kansas City, Missouri, accused Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry of being soft on terrorism. Cheney urged the renewal of the USA Patriot Act, passed in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks.
Donna Newman, Padilla's defense attorney, called the information "a one-sided exposé of their version of the events without Mr. Padilla having the right to put forth his version of the events."
"As they concede, he denies all this," she said, referring to a footnote on page six of the seven-page document.
The U.S. government footnote says: "There are a number of instances in his statements where Padilla attempts to downplay or deny his commitment to al Qaeda."
"There is a dispute. That's what the courts resolve," Newman said. "If Mr. Padilla is as dangerous as they say, why not have a trial?"
The seven-page U.S. government summary of Padilla's activities was based largely on admissions the Pentagon says he made while in federal custody.
Top al Qaeda officials "wanted Padilla to hit targets in New York City, although Florida and Washington, D.C. were discussed as well," the government summary of interrogations said, according to a report from The Associated Press.
Since Padilla's case was argued before the U.S. Supreme Court on April 28, Newman had a second visit with him in the Charleston, South Carolina, naval brig.
Like the first visit, Newman's second meeting was monitored and recorded by the government.
U.S. Deputy Attorney General James Comey outlines details of the federal case against Jose Padilla.
A ruling is expected from the Supreme Court by the end of the month on Padilla's case against the United States -- challenging President Bush's power to declare him an "enemy combatant" not subject to the traditional rights of American citizens. (Full story)
Some of the previously classified material had leaked and was subsequently confirmed by Justice Department officials in advance of Tuesday's news conference by the Justice Department.
Attorney General John Ashcroft announced Padilla's arrest from Moscow on June 9, 2002, saying that an "unfolding terrorist plot to attack the United States by exploding a radioactive dirty bomb" had been disrupted, an attack with the potential to cause "mass death and injury."
Padilla was originally picked up by the FBI at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport on May 8, 2002, and held as a material witness in a grand jury investigation of the September 11 attacks.
A month later, however, Bush declared him an enemy combatant, and he was sent to a military prison.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/06/01/pa...nts/index.html
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