The definition of “show trial”

posted at 1:36 pm on November 18, 2009 by Ed Morrissey

Jim Geraghty transcribes an exchange this afternoon between Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Attorney General Eric Holder on the administration’s commitment to the federal court system.  Holder had previously insisted that the federal court system gave the government its best opportunity to convict Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, although he failed to explain how he reached that conclusion.  When Grassley challenges Holder to explain how the administration would react to an acquittal or dismissal of the charges, Holder says it wouldn’t change anything:

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa: “I don’t think you can say that failure to convict is not an option, when we have juries in this country.”

Attorney General Eric Holder: I have thought about that possibility. Congress has passed legislation that would not allow the release of these individuals in this country. If there is not a successful conclusion to this trial, that would not mean that this person would be released into this country…

Grassley: My understanding is that if for some reason he’s not convicted, or a judge lets him off on a technicallity, he’ll be an enemy combatant, so you’re right back where you started.

Not only will we be right back where we started, it will expose the federal trial as nothing more than a show trial.  Show trials are conducted by despots and dictators to give only a thin veneer of legality to political detentions and executions.  If the state isn’t prepared to abide by the decision of the court, including dismissals and acquittals, then the use of the trial system is worse than useless.  It demeans the federal system needed for Americans to seek unbiased justice.

Lest we forget that dismissals could be a big problem with a KSM trial, Andy McCarthy reminds us of the Moussaoui trial and its circus atmosphere:

More importantly, though, Senator Durbin and the attorney general fail to point out that the Moussaoui trial was a three-ring circus, that the district judge actually tried to dismiss the indictment, and that we don’t know what would have happened had Moussaoui not surprised everyone by pleading guilty. When the Court of Appeals reinstated the Moussaoui indictment, it also said it was sensitive to the trial judge’s concerns and would look very carefully to ensure that the government made available to Moussaoui all the information he needed to present his defense. What would have happened if Moussaoui had continued to press his demand for access to classified information and testimony from al-Qaeda captives like KSM? We don’t know.

If Moussaoui is their shining example of how well the civilian courts handle international terrorism cases during wartime, they’re in trouble.

In fact, Jon Kyl used Andy’s columns to rebut Holder during his testimony.  McCarthy helped with the trial of the 1993 World Trade Center terrorist attack, exactly the kind of trial Holder wants to conduct again, but Holder dismisses Andy as a polemicist who just wants “fodder for the talk shows.”  One might think that Holder would have more respect for a man with a lot more experience at handling the prosecution of terrorists than Holder himself has.

As James Joyner also concludes, it’s impossible to see Holder’s assertion that the US will detain KSM no matter what the court finds as anything other than an endorsement for “a show trial and a sham.”


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Comments

Ed:

Did Holder make any follow up remarks, or did he ever specifically state what would happen if KSM is acquitted? Please update if you find out anymore. Thanks.

Erich66 on November 18, 2009 at 3:43 PM

crr6 on November 18, 2009 at 3:34 PM

Translation: PAY ATTENTION TO ME, NOT BLEEDS BLUE!

Mission Accomplished.

I don’t need to explain my objections, as others have more than sufficiently cited my concerns.

But since you ask, Holder has already publicly stated that KSM will be convicted. He’s also publicly stated that he could go free. He’s stated that KSM will never be released from jail, but also said he might be-but would never be released in the US.

I’ll leave it to the others here to provide all the cites showing how this flies in the face of all previous AQ terror trials by military tribunals, or how the Mossauai (sp?) civil trial turned into a show trial and circus.

Now back to work. The blackboards there at Moe Howard University Law School need cleaning, and then you have the lady’s room to clean.

And hurry up, after all, you want to watch your favorite cartoon show, “Wolfie and Hack Cafferty”, and they start in 15 minutes…

Del Dolemonte on November 18, 2009 at 3:46 PM

Did Holder make any follow up remarks, or did he ever specifically state what would happen if KSM is acquitted? Please update if you find out anymore. Thanks.

Erich66 on November 18, 2009 at 3:43 PM

All I heard Eric say was that KSM would never be released “in the US”. Whatever that means.

Del Dolemonte on November 18, 2009 at 3:48 PM

Del Dolemonte on November 18, 2009 at 3:46 PM

What’s your legal resume?

crr6 on November 18, 2009 at 3:51 PM

But since you ask, Holder has already publicly stated that KSM will be convicted. He’s also publicly stated that he could go free. He’s stated that KSM will never be released from jail, but also said he might be-but would never be released in the US.

Del Dolemonte on November 18, 2009 at 3:46 PM

Del, do you have some links to those statements? I need some ammo for an argument I’m having with a few turds who think trying KSM in federal court is a triumph for our system of justice.

Erich66 on November 18, 2009 at 3:52 PM

Let’s take a look forward in time, post-KSM release….

“Hey, remember when Holder said KSM wouldn’t be released even if he got off on a technicality? He lied!!!”

Does this simple short scenario sound at all familiar? Well of course it does. We can’t try KSM because we’ve already denied him due process (which he was never entitled to in the first place). So when we start whining over how someone else in the obama administration lied to us yet again, it will have exactly the same effect it always does. None.

Bush will get the blame for denying that due process (which, again, KSM was never entitled to, but it won’t matter) and republicans will pay the political price for a terrorist being released back on the world, whether in America or not.

Think this is far fetched? Really? Were you even watching last November???

runawayyyy on November 18, 2009 at 5:02 PM

Why is this article accompanied by an upside down picture of Don King?LibTired on November 18, 2009 at 1:41 PM

Needed the lol.

baldilocks on November 18, 2009 at 5:05 PM

“Show trials are conducted by despots and dictators to give only a thin veneer of legality to political detentions and executions.”

Maybe Barry is overreaching too soon?

As for Holder, the only thing he’s good for is getting pardons.

GarandFan on November 18, 2009 at 5:27 PM

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM) and other al Qaeda operatives will be put on trial in New York City civilian federal court. KSM, the mastermind of 9/11, is not an American citizen and never has been. Together with Osama bin Laden, KSM selected the 9/11 terrorists, arranged their financing and training, and ran the whole operation –from abroad. American and Pakistani intelligence forces captured KSM on March 1, 2003, in –Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Bin Laden had already declared war on the United States, and he remains free to this day.

Now, though, KSM and his co-defendants will enjoy the benefits and rights that the US Constitution accords to US citizens and resident aliens—including the right to demand that the government produce in open court all witnesses and accusers, including intelligence operatives, and all of the information that it has on them, and how they got it.

Trying KSM in civilian court will be an intelligence bonanza for al Qaeda and all hostile nations that will view the U.S. intelligence methods and sources that such a trial will reveal. Prosecutors will be forced to reveal U.S. intelligence on KSM, the methods and sources for acquiring its information, and his relationships to fellow al Qaeda operatives. The information will enable al Qaeda to drop plans and personnel whose cover is blown. It will enable it to detect our means of intelligence-gathering, and to push forward into areas we know nothing about yet which endangers all people world-wide.

This is not hypothetical. This is fact. During the 1993 World Trade Center bombing trial of Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman (aka the “blind Sheikh”), standard civilian criminal trial rules required the government to turn over to the defendants a list of 200 possible co-conspirators.

In essence, that list was a sketch of American intelligence on al Qaeda. It was delivered to Osama bin Laden in Sudan on a silver platter within days of its production as a court exhibit. Bin Laden, who was on the list, could immediately see who was compromised. He also could get a jump-start figuring out how American intelligence had learned its information and anticipate what our future moves were likely to be at that time.

Hence, the civilian trial of “the blind Sheikh” most definitely later resulted in assisting Osama Bin Laden, KSM, and their co-conspirators to plan and execute the successful attacks on the World Trade Centers and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001 that resulted in the deaths of thousands of American citizens, American military personnel, and the destruction of two skyscrapers and part of the Pentagon. If not for the selfless sacrificial bravery of the passengers on United Airlines Flight 93, the destruction of our nation’s capital, or even the White House, would have been assured as well.

President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder have to know this. How can they not know these things? But they are going forward with the civilian trial of KSM and his co-defendants in a civilian court in the USA anyways. They co-conspire to do this despite the grave danger of further death and destruction at the hands of terrorist’s and jihadist’s that the civilian trial will bring to American citizens, and the United States of America itself. Not to mention the judicial precedents and resulting case law that will tie up our courts and judges for years, and shred our Constitution, if KSM’s successful prosecution is already a ‘forgone conclusion’.

By going forward with this civilian trial of the mastermind of the most diabolical attack on America and American citizens at the hands of foreign enemies in history, they are directly responsible for all of the damage to our hard earned intelligence and our means of intelligence gathering that has, and currently still does, prevent further terrorist attacks in the US and abroad. The sacrifices of countless people whom have suffered and even died to keep America and our allies safe from further terrorist attacks since 9/11 will be for nothing.

By doing this, with knowledge aforethought and with specific intent, President Barack Hussein Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder are directly endangering untold numbers of Americans on American soil, and abroad, and have also therefore declared themselves enemys of the state in the process.

As a law abiding tax paying American citizen, I now demand the arrest and incarceration of Attorney General Eric Holder and the impeachment and prosecution of President Barack Hussein Obama as co-conspirators and enemys of the state.

SilverStar830 on November 18, 2009 at 6:05 PM

Show trials are conducted by despots and dictators to give only a thin veneer of legality to political detentions and executions.

So we should just skip the trial part and get right on with the detentions and the executions?

That’s totally NOT what despots and dictators do.

e-pirate on November 18, 2009 at 1:45 PM

Sure. That must be the point he was making. After all, it’s not like anyone might be referring to the military tribunals that were in motion before Obama suddenly decided to make it a civilian trial instead.

But you already knew that. Which makes you a dishonest little troll.

tom on November 18, 2009 at 6:18 PM

a conviction is not a certainty.

It pretty much is. The whole “acquittal” issue is a red herring.

crr6 on November 18, 2009 at 3:34 PM

Ok, that’s two dishonest little trolls now. There’s no way you can claim that a conviction is a certainty, unless you really want to prove the point about it being a show trial.

tom on November 18, 2009 at 6:37 PM

Am I the only one who thinks KSM looks like a Muppet now?

I say, bring on the Show!

RD on November 18, 2009 at 9:34 PM

I can guarantee you that if he is acquitted and not left to go free, the left Islamic world will explode. Obama is not ready for the backlash from this incredibly stupid decision.

Johnnyreb on November 18, 2009 at 1:43 PM

FIFY

One might think that Holder would have more respect for a man with a lot more experience at handling the prosecution of terrorists than Holder himself has.

But Holder has a lot more experience defending them.

darwin-t on November 19, 2009 at 8:30 AM