A federal judge has ruled that Attorney General Eric Holder violated government policy guidelines three times when he publicly commented on a Portland, Ore., terrorism case, The Oregonian reported.
Mohamed Osman Mohamud (Multnomah County Jail)
Somali-born U.S. citizen Mohamed Osman Mohamud was arrested last year on charges he attempted to bomb a Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Portland. Mohamud was arrested after undercover FBI agents provided him with bomb materials, authorities said.
At a news conference after Mohamud’s arrest, Holder said the suspect had declined “a number of opportunities” to back out of the alleged bomb plot and added that he was confident that “no entrapment claim will be found to be successful.” The FBI has come under fire for its tactics in the case and others involving Muslims. Holder recently defended the undercover tactics, saying in a speech: “Those who characterize the FBI’s activities in this case as ‘entrapment’ simply do not have their facts straight – or do not have a full understanding of the law.”
Attorneys for Mohamud asked a court to bar Holder from speaking about the case. They filed a motion in federal court accusing Holder of prejudicing the pool of potential jurors. Holder has strongly denied suggestions that Mohamud was a victim of government entrapment. Attorneys say Holder’s statements violate constraints placed on pretrial public comments by prosecutors under federal rules and the rules of due-process.
In a statement in December, the Justice Department said Holder’s “comments have been appropriate and entirely consistent with [DOJ's] filings in court.”
U.S. District Judge Garr M. King of Portland on Wednesday in his ruling wrote, “I do not believe that the Attorney General made the comments to influence the outcome of the trial.” He added, “In this high-profile case, however, there are statements which I conclude constitute a breach of the policy.” King also wrote that Holder’s public comments violated DOJ guidelines by venturing an opinion about Mohamud’s guilt. But he declined a defense motion to require Holder to stay silent on the case.
