Obama Team Stops Another 9/11, Gets Help From Unlikely Source (Najibullah Zazi's Lawyer)

I just spent three days this week watching Najibullah Zazi in U.S. District Court from the galleries here in Denver, Colorado where I work as a trial lawyer. No, I don't legally represent Zazi nor would I if given the opportunity. Defending al-Qaeda operatives is not my thing.

Zazi has an attorney named Art Folsom. I don't know Folsom despite my having practiced law in Denver for nearly 30 years. Neither do most other Colorado criminal law practitioners. Folsom though is certainly making a name for himself.

Who needs torture or enhanced interrogation techniques when you have Art Folsom on the case? For three straight days, Folsom and Zazi walked through downtown Denver to exhaustive meetings at FBI HQ until calling off the fourth visit. That resulted in an arrest for, you guessed it, lying to the FBI during the interrogation.

It is Criminal Defense 101 that you do not allow your client to speak to law enforcement except for the rare circumstance that you are convinced that you can persuade them of your client's innocence. First and foremost, you have to put yourself in a position to know as best you can what the interrogators know about your client. Here, where Zazi's laptop had been seized and wiretaps had been run, it is extraordinary that competent counsel would so quickly advise his client to cooperate with authorities -- at least not without some favorable deal.

Given time and Zazi's talking, the FBI has now been able to put together far more against Zazi and apparently disrupted a plot to use weapons of mass destruction against innocent Americans. The problem though is that many members of this apparent al-Qaeda squad of annihilation remain at large. Could it be that Zazi's publicly trumpeted interrogation, along with his media interviews, were designed to alert his accomplices to scatter and go to Plan B?

Predictably this morning, federal Magistrate Judge Craig Shaffer sent Zazi immediately packing to New York City where a Grand Jury indicted him for a major terrorism charge. Zazi now faces life in prison and amazingly, he probably still has Art Folsom as his lawyer. Folsom came out of the courtroom this morning and announced that he is headed to New York City to further represent Zazi.

Folsom may not be well known in the Denver legal community but he is taking steps to remedy that by not only taking on this huge case but hiring a top shelf publicist. Wendy Aiello was quoted as saying that the way this little known attorney is handling the Zazi matter will "position Mr. Folsom as a premier attorney" in this field.

Coloradans are familiar with Folsom Field up in Boulder where the CU Buffalo football team plays, but this kind of legal strategy befuddles experienced practitioners. Experienced Colorado criminal defense lawyers are scratching their heads about the Folsom strategy in the Zazi case. Is there a method to this madness? Has Zazi turned government witness and is this new life in prison charge just a cover for continued cooperation?

Who is paying for Folsom and co-counsel? Zazi recently declared bankruptcy. Zazi's dad, Mohamed Wali Zazi, also charged with lying to the FBI, is indigent and was appointed a federal public defender. Who is paying for Folsom's publicist?

It appears that Zazi is caught dead to rights. He was buying the caustic chemicals designed to create an improvised explosive device similar to that detonated in the horrific 7/7 London subway bombing. He drove from Aurora, Colorado to New York right before September 11, 2009 and met with apparent accomplices. Wiretapped conversations reveal his fear of law enforcement detection. Bomb-making instructions in his own handwriting was found in a file on his laptop. The FBI knows of his recent extended travel to the Peshawar Tribal Region in Pakistan -- al-Qaeda HQ.

The evil of Najibullah Zazi appears staggering. Participation in a plot to use chemicals to kill mass numbers of American men, women and children on 9/11 in New York is despicable. Who are all the accomplices? I sure hope the FBI knows.

A new President was about to be tested in the first year of his first term by a 9/11 attack as suffered by his predecessor. One big difference -- this attack got stopped by the federal government.

Where is Dick Cheney? He just had back surgery and I hope he is feeling better and strong enough to get to a microphone (Rush Limbaugh is always willing to have him on as a guest). I have to believe he wants to offer his hearty congratulations to the commander-in-chief for stopping the murder of hundreds, if not thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of Americans with the federal takedown of the Zazi al-Qaeda operation.

Why do El Rushbo, Sean Hannity, and their many chattering conservative colleagues decline to yet offer personal congratulations? Here we are -- September of the first term of a United States President and al-Qaeda is trying to kill a maximum number of Americans on the homeland. On the fateful 9/11s, one new president had a team that got the bad guys behind bars. The other sat in a Florida elementary school trying to remember that barely read August Presidential Daily Briefing that Condi had given him.

The sad truth is that nobody in the government can relax to accept kudos given that the danger from the Zazi-Afzali crew and others of their ilk is far from over. This is a foreign born terrorist operation born in Peshawar in the Taliban/al-Qaeda tribal region of Pakistan where Najibullah Zazi went to train for many months not too long ago. We know that the foreign-initiated, coordinated, organized attacks usually involve teams of like-minded murderous martyrs. It is fair to assume that many remain at large and perhaps ready to imminently act.

Let us pray and hope that with the help of the FBI, CIA, Homeland Security and Art Folsom, this plot to kill mass numbers of Americans gets further foiled.

 

Comments

[impik]

I guess this president actually reads the intelligence briefings.

[keepemhonest]

Craig Silverman,

BRILLIANT article!!! BRILLIANT!!!!

Articulate, brilliant and SPOT ON!

[cybexg]

Yet, not a single kind word of acknowledgement from the right wing wack jobs....The more I observe their (right wing wack jobs) behavior, the more I believe it is simply based upon racism

[wadenelson1]

So what sort of appeal is he going to be able to mount as the result of having had incompetent counsel? And what testimony will get thrown out as a result.

I want justice, but I also want this guy to have a competent attorney so he doesn't walk in the end.

You're scarin' me.

[keepemhonest]

If the guy keeps his lawyer ... that's his problem. Hard to bring a case of incompetent lawyer when YOU KEEP that lawyer on.

[1088]

President Obama doesn't dance on his accomplishments, so therefore, many thinks he's doing nothing. The Media works very hard to sweep his achievements under the rug, and twist and spin to suit the hate party.

[Newsmonger]

The truth is the US either under Bush or Obama is fully equip to prevent these types of attacks. The only difference is during the Bush years, no one thought they will be so bold to carry out an attack of such a magnitude in the homeland, hence the warnings were not taken seriously then.

9/11 was a wake-up call for America, hopefully if we do not become complicent and go to sleep again, it will be very difficult for the enemy to do us harm again despite who is the commander-in-chief.

[MC71]

OK, so who did we torture to get the info to stop this attack? How many waterboarding sessions did it take? How many illegally detained people were needed to get this information? After all, according to Dick Cheney and his sock puppet -- plus Conde Rice -- you HAVE to do these things to keep America safe. And, well, Obama is going to let us get attacked because he won;t allow those things.

Hmmm.

[OB2012]

I bet you anything that the FBI knows exactly where the other guys in Zazi's ring are at right now. It might be best to let them think that they got away so we could monitor them and see how big this ring actually is and who else is involved.

[Kalamama]

Great post by Craig Alan Silverman

Thank God we have a POTUS who will actually use information given in a timely fashion to stop another attack.
I am already reading from some that this was Bush's FBI, difference being that Obama made a good call and did not ignore the warnings and try to be a cowboy.
In short....Obama kept us safe!!
A special thanks to the agencies involved in stopping this.

[quacktastic]

Hindsight is 20/20. Obama happened to be in the WH at the time just like Bush was in the WH for 9/11. These types of attacks were unprecedented in 2001. We have had over 8 years to learn the strategy and techniques and have foiled a number of other attempts in the US. The thanks goes to the military, the FBI, Homeland Security, and the Bush Adm for enacting certain things that allowed us to better surveil these cockroaches domestically and abroad. We can give Obama a point for being there, but the foundation was laid by the former adm, just loike the foundation of the 9/11 attacks was laid by the ineptitude of the Clinton Adm to recognize AQ had declared war on us.

[Kalamama]

Hindsight is 20/20??

Yes, Obama happened to be in the WH at the time just like Bush was in the WH for 9/11.

Difference is that Bush had all of the same military, FBI, strategies, techniques, etc....BUT, he chose to ignore the warnings. That's on Bush-Not Clinton. The foundation has always been there to foil these cockroaches.

This POTUS chose to listen and act rather than go and read My Pet Goat to children that day.

[FuturePrez]

Terrorist plots litter US history. This is isn't the only one foiled, and this isn't the only century in which our government has investigated terrorist plots. The tools evolve as our society and technology evolves - Bush's Team didn't invent this stuff and failed worse than any other in recent history.

[Iccarus]

The Clinton administration failed to act on AQ? You don't know what you're talking about. Have a history lesson and come back.

http://www.anusha.com/osamasur.htm

Bush pulled resourses off Bin Laden and put them on old soviet spies and then went on vacation after getting memo- Bin Laden determined to attack inside US.
Just sayin.

[BetsyM]

Well, I guess you never knew that the Clinton Admin told Bush that something was going down and to keep alert. He just didn't bother.

[keepemhonest]

quack,

You are wrong. USS Cole, Marine barracks in Lebanon ... hardly "unprecedented"

Also, the Presidential Daily Briefing of August 6, 2001 -CIA intel highlighted bin Laden's plans to highjack plans & he had his people in NYC ...

CIA Tenant testified that W did NOT talk with anyone in the CIA the entire month of August

W stayed on his month long vacation AFTER he got the PDB

.... W did NOT keep us safe ... he was too busy relaxing & golfing in Crawford.

[Koreboomer]

I haven't been watching much TV news lately, so correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems to me that the Obama Adminstration has not been bragging or blowing its horn about this like the previous adminstration would have done.
Another poster says what I've always thought: that Islamist terrorism is best fought by law enforcement, not the military. I'm sure our government's learned something from the domestic anti-terrorist methods used by the Europeans.
And to BigBrickHouse: I also use the internet to shop but it's NOT because I'm sitting in my home, with the blinds drawn, afraid to go to the mall. lol

[GirlOutWest]

One thing I know for sure is that we should be singing the praises of Obama's security team tonight. If this were Bush's watch we'd be talking about a "new" 9/11. Obama's team was on watch for us while Bush's ignored the info...for this I'm very grateful.

[RenoSage]

I would like to know more facts about how an immigrant wishing to "live the American dream"
descends into the wish to "Perpetrate the American nightmare."
I'm sure the economy, the credit cards, the lack of education, and the recruitment process
all led to that deterioration.
I am proud of the painstaking processes utilized by the US intelligence agents and the cooperation
of all concerned.
I would like to know how the US can prevent a subsequent "Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde" scenario.

[steveobviously]

Look no further than religion. Religion accounts for 98% of mankind's woes.

[S1m0n]

Or maybe he was just pissed about the war we're conducting in his homeland.

[Whatashame]

Everyone keep saying how the Bush admin kept us save for the past 7 years, but where were they whe we needed protection the most.? They allowed 911 to happen by ignoring vital information. Nothing they do or say will ever change the fact that the worst terror attack on USA happened under their watch.

[keepemhonest]

oh, well, on August 6, 2001 ... "W" got his Presidential Daily Briefing (PDB) that outlined Bin Ladens plans to highjack planes, and his people were in NYC.

"W" stayed on vacation the ENTIRE month of August AFTER getting that fateful PDB.

CIA Tenant testified that "W" did NOT talk with anyone in the CIA the entire month of August.

"W"s first day back from his month long vacation was reading to children in a school ... that day was nine eleven.

Thus, "W" did NOTHING to thwart nine eleven -- as Tenant testified.

[Whatashame]

Everyone keep saying how the Bush admin kept us save for the past 7 years, but where were they whe we needed protection the most.? They allowed 911 to happen by ignoring vital information. Nothing they do or say will ever change the fact that the worst terror attack on USA happened under their watch.