Supporters Say Terrorism Prosecutor is not an ‘Islamophobe’

Prosecutors

Supporters Say Terrorism Prosecutor is not an ‘Islamophobe’

Posted Sep 15, 2008, 11:08 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss

Is terrorism prosecutor Gordon Kromberg merely an aggressive lawyer seeking to protect the United States or a loose cannon displaying an anti-Muslim bias?

Those two views are emerging of the assistant U.S. attorney following several controversial comments he has made, the Washington Post reports. Critics say Kromberg joked about a suspect being tortured and decried "the Islamization of the American justice system.”

In one case he objected to the release of terrorism defendant Sami al-Arian to his daughter’s custody, saying that "in this particular culture," a woman could not stop her father from fleeing. U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema chastised Kromberg for the remark, calling it insulting, the story says.

Legal ethics expert Stephen Gillers of New York University law school told the Post that if the accusations are true, Kromberg is “a loose cannon.”

"If I were the Justice Department, I wouldn't want him on the front lines of these highly visible, highly contentious prosecutions,” he said.

But a former terrorism prosecutor, Andrew McCarthy, calls Kromberg “very effective and professional.”

"As long as nothing goes boom, they want to say you're an Islamophobe,” he told the Post. “The moment something does go boom, if the next 9-11 happens, God help anyone who says they weren't as aggressive as Gordon."

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