THE CIVIL CASE AGAINST THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT IS FINALLY PROCEEDING.

 

A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks that others throw at him.
-Sidney Greenberg

New Developments  Unprecedented Charges  WHO IS RESPONSIBLE?  Summary of Terrorism Case  The Terrorism Case 

Sketch of roads and major interchange near Queen Alia Military Hospital in Jordan.
With one full time FBI agent, a paralegal/secretary assigned to the case, and Convertino's supervisor, Chief of the Organized Crime Strike Force, Keith Corbett, Convertino headed up the team that would eventually win convictions against 3 out of the 4 defendants.

Throughout the case, he repeatedly requested additional support and resources for this vast and complicated case.

Convertino was frustrated throughout the investigation of the case and made these frustrations clearly known. He found it astonishing that only minimal resources were provided to him considering this was the first terrorism case in the country since 9/11.

After the 2-year long run-up to the 6 week terrorism trial, Convertino was contacted by Senator Charles Grassley (R) of Iowa. Senator Grassley's staff asked to be allowed to interview the chief witness in the case, Yousseff Hmimssa, about document and financial fraud in preparation for a hearing on the topic by the Senate Finance Committee.

After the Senator's staff met with Hmimssa, they requested that Hmimssa testify before the Senate Finance Committee to explain how false travel documents are made and they asked Convertino to testify about the background of the case. When Convertino was denied permission by the Justice Department to testify, Senator Grassley's office subpoenaed him to testify.

Justice Department officials were concerned that Convertino would expose the difficulties and incompetence within the Justice Department to senator Grassley, who was known to use "whistleblowers" to expose government corruption, fraud and waste. At that time, and completely unknown to Convertino, Senator Grassley was holding the nominations of Bush Administration appointees in a dispute over a whistleblower. Justice Department officials wrongly believed that Convertino exposed the difficulties he and others had in prosecuting the case to Senator Grassley.

In retaliation Convertino was immediately removed from the terrorism case, internal investigations were launched against him and defamatory leaks to the media began. That was the start of a vicious two-year onslaught of government leaks, smear and personal destruction against Convertino.

Eric Straus, an AUSA in the terrorism section was given the case. It was well known that Straus was jealous of all of the successes Convertino had after transferring to the Detroit office from Washington, D.C.

Straus resurrected an insignificant letter written by a drug king pin and murderous inmate who was facing the death penalty at the time. Straus never asked the trial team about the letter prior to sending it out. Convertino and his co-counsel, Keith Corbett, read about the letter being sent out to defense attorney's in a newspaper article.

The letter, which had been forwarded to Convertino by another prosecutor during the course of the terrorism investigation, was written by Milton "Butch" Jones.

 		The letter rambled on about the prosecutions’ witness Hmimssa, and alleged he had lied to FBI agents. He also alleged that the Bush family are drug dealers and that Hmimssa plkanned to overthrown the United States "electorally." Jones failed a lie detector test himself regarding the contents of that letter.

What makes this letter even more insignificant is that after deliberations, jurors in the case stated to the newspapers that they did not take into account Hmimssa's testimony anyway. When they considered the evidence, it was overwhelming, even without Hmimssa's testimony.

Convertino gave the letter to his supervisor who made the decision that the letter was nonsensical and did not rise to the level of exculpatory material.

Letters from inmates are received by prosecutors' offices all of the time. Little credibility is given to these outrageous letters because the claims are usually unbelievable. Although Convertino forwarded it to Jones' attorney, neither he, nor his supervisor Keith Corbett, gave credibility to Jones' claims. Indeed, other defense attorneys on the case later admitted to having had knowledge of Jones' allegations prior to or during trial, and they too discounted his reliability.

Straus' action prompted a complete file review and what was tantamount to a retrial of the case behind the scenes without benefit of testimony, cross-examination or a jury. Straus' pattern of sabotage and secrecy continued until ultimately, the case needed to be overturned.

Ironically, he received an award for his actions.
The two year investigation of Convertino is unprecedented. In other cases alleging misconduct by a prosecutor, the Department of Justice has consistently defended its employees. The difference in this case is in the politics. Convertino stood up for what he believed in and at times forcefully had to demand resources and respect for his case.

In a recent press conference, Convertino vehemently denied any intentional wrongdoing during the case. When his career is reviewed, it is clear his love for his country and deep respect for its justice system have permeated his being.


Could mistakes have been made? Of course. We defy you to analyze any prosecutorial case (especially one with limited resources assigned to it) and not find errors.

Certainly, any errors did not reach the level of criminal indictment or even the overturning of the convictions!

The investigation and indictment of Rick Convertino are a result of the Justice Department's desire to "cover-up" its own incompetence, and in doing so, inevitably led to the consequence of overturning a terrorism jury verdict based on overwhelming evidence of guilt.