Attorney General Eric Holder has asked a federal judge in Boston not to release some evidence against a Massachusetts man accused of conspiring to kill American troops in Iraq, arguing that releasing the material would disclose top secret data that could harm national security.
Holder maintains in court documents in the case of Tarek Mehanna that evidence gathered through electronic surveillance and physical searches under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act should be reviewed by a judge privately and not turned over to the defense. Holder says the materials contain “sensitive and classified information concerning United States intelligence sources and methods,” the Associated Press reported.
Mehanna, 28, was arrested at his parents’ home in Sudbury, Mass., in October 2009 and charged with conspiring to aid terrorist organizations, plotting to kill American politicians and planning to attack a shopping mall. He has been held without bail since his arrest. His lawyers have said the government’s case is flimsy and built on anti-American statements supposedly made by Mehanna.
