Another question arises about the government’s case against Miami’s alleged al Qaeda operatives.
Mike German spent 16 years in the FBI; for over a decade, he went undercover to bust up domestic terrorist groups around the country. I called him to get his opinion on the “Seas of David” case.
He wouldn’t discuss the specifics of the case, but it’s clear he’s got some concerns about it.
“Cases like these generally hinge on who reached out to who first,” German told me. In other words, did the Seas of David boys go around to mosques and surf the web, trying to find an al Qaeda hookup? Did they put the word out on the street they were looking to tell bin Laden they were at his disposal? Or did the government show up (undercover) on their doorstep, offering al Qaeda to the men unsolicited?
If the members did reach out to al Qaeda, “the indictment doesn’t mention that,” German said. That doesn’t mean it didn’t happen, only that if it did, and the feds didn’t mention it in the indictment, someone’s very bad at writing indictments. “I’ve never seen somebody not put those relevant facts in an indictment,” said German.
Why is that a big deal? “If it’s the government bringing al Qaeda into an organization that isn’t al Qaeda, that’s problematic. That’s obviously a provocation,” he said. And it’s grounds for entrapment.
The rule of thumb for an undercover investigation like this, German said, was: “You don’t want your operative to be the worst guy in the room.” If the FBI’s informant was the only guy professing any al Qaeda connection… that’s tough.
How hard is it to show a domestic group is reaching out to al Qaeda? These days it’s easy, German said. Some groups have posted appeals directly to their web site, or spoken to CNN of their wish to cooperate on an attack.