Terrorism

Army soldier Bowe Bergdahl, rescued by US through Gitmo prisoner swap, is charged with desertion

Captured by the Taliban in 2009 after disappearing from his post in Afghanistan, an American soldier was then rescued last year in a controversial prisoner exchange. Now he has been charged with desertion by the U.S. Army. Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who was a private first class when he disappeared, also…

Mar 25, 2015 3:30 PM CDT

Lawyer for doctor who helped US track down and kill Osama bin Laden is assassinated in Pakistan

A lawyer for a Pakistani physician who helped U.S. military forces track down and kill Osama bin Laden in 2011 has himself been killed in a vehicle ambush in Pakistan. Attorney Samiullah Afridi died of his injuries while being treated at a hospital in Peshawar after the Tuesday shooting, according…

Mar 17, 2015 4:10 PM CDT

Court interpreter at Gitmo trial for accused 9/11 slayers worked at CIA ‘black site,’ defendants say

The first hearing since August in a military case against five men accused of playing a role in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks came to a sudden halt Monday. At least two of the defendants said they recognized the courtroom interpreter at at the U.S. Navy base tribunal at…

Feb 9, 2015 4:20 PM CST

Defense lawyers ask judge to OK seat upgrade for Africa trip; federal prosecutors are flying coach

Federal prosecutors are protesting a request by three defense lawyers to fly business class, rather than coach, in a planned trip to Africa to depose a prisoner for a terrorism case. The feds are paying for the trip by lawyers for Ali Yasin Ahmed, Madhi Hashi and Mohammed Yusuf, and…

Feb 9, 2015 11:10 AM CST

Egyptian lawyer gets 25 years in fatal US Embassy bombings after ‘enormously generous’ plea bargain

An Egyptian lawyer was sentenced Friday to 25 years in federal prison for his role in fatal 1998 bombings at U.S. embassies in Africa that killed 224 people. Calling the plea bargain that capped the sentence for Adel Abdul Bary at 25 years “enormously generous,” U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan…

Feb 6, 2015 3:10 PM CST

Paris mayor vows to sue Fox News over false reports of Muslim ‘no-go’ zones

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo vowed to sue Fox News for erroneously reporting that parts of the French capital are considered “no-go” zones that are off-limits to non-Muslims. Hidalgo, in an interview with CNN Tuesday, said the network had “insulted” the city. “When we’re insulted, and when we’ve had an image,…

Jan 21, 2015 3:55 PM CST

Fired air marshal can seek whistleblower protection for revealing security cuts, SCOTUS rules

A federal air marshal who disclosed plans to cut security on certain flights may seek whistleblower protections because his disclosure wasn’t banned by law, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled. The court ruled 7-2 (PDF) on behalf of Robert MacLean, who was fired three years after he leaked the information…

Jan 21, 2015 10:06 AM CST

Lawyers for accused terrorist recruit seek his release pending trial in exchange for civic training

Lawyers for a Minnesota man accused of trying to travel to Syria the Islamic State group have asked that he be freed until trial if he promises to participate in a program that promotes civic involvement. A hearing on the request, which had been set for Friday, has been canceled,…

Jan 16, 2015 2:40 PM CST

Security measures at Boston Marathon bombing trial extend outside courthouse

As jury selection began this week in what is considered by many the highest-profile U.S. terrorism trial since Timothy McVeigh’s over the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, security was high. In addition to a fleet of U.S. Homeland Security vehicles parked outside Boston’s federal courthouse and driving around it and the…

Jan 12, 2015 6:15 AM CST

Two suspects in French magazine massacre are now dead, along with five others

A massive manhunt for two suspects in a shooting massacre earlier this week in the offices of a satirical magazine in Paris, France, has ended in their deaths, as well as the deaths of others, in related incidents that comprise the worst terrorism spree the country has seen in decades.…

Jan 9, 2015 2:15 PM CST

Manhunt for French magazine massacre suspects aided by new law expanding social-media surveillance

As a manhunt continued in France on Thursday for two of the three suspects authorities said are responsible for a shooting massacre Wednesday at the Paris offices of the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine, law enforcement is being aided by a controversial new law. Enacted in 2013, it offers more leeway…

Jan 8, 2015 2:02 PM CST

1985-1994: The legacy of Nuremberg

Robert H. Jackson was one of America’s most illustrious lawyers during the mid-20th century. In 1934, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, a fellow New Yorker, appointed Jackson to serve as general counsel of the Bureau of Internal Revenue. Jackson later served as solicitor general and attorney general; in June 1941, Roosevelt…

Jan 1, 2015 5:00 AM CST

1995-2004: A new millennium

It was to have been a decade defined by the promise of the new millennium, a seemingly magical moment that would sever us from the last few years of the 1990s—the tawdry politics of impeachment, the irrational exuberance of the dot-com bubble, the dread of a Y2K digital disaster that…

Jan 1, 2015 4:55 AM CST

Lawyer and cafe manager killed in Sydney hostage siege hailed as heroes; why wasn’t suspect in jail?

A lawyer was killed early Tuesday after being held hostage along with 16 other people in a cafe in Sydney for most of the day Monday by a self-described Muslim cleric, and she is being hailed as a hero. However, as Prime Minister Tony Abbott paid tribute to barrister Katrina…

Dec 16, 2014 12:15 PM CST

Is torture unconstitutional? Scalia returns to the subject

Torture isn’t necessarily unconstitutional, Justice Antonin Scalia claimed in a radio interview last week. Scalia said the U.S. Constitution says nothing about torture, though it does bar cruel and unusual punishment. Swiss National Radio provided the MaddowBlog with a transcript of his remarks. Torture is forbidden “if it’s imposed as…

Dec 16, 2014 11:24 AM CST