FBI Agent Testifies Warnings on Moussaoui Ignored

March 20, 2006 -- -- Defense lawyers for Zacarias Moussaoui painstakingly cross-examined FBI agent Harry Samit today about his efforts to obtain a search warrant as he built a case against Moussaoui before the 9/11 attacks.

Moussaoui's lawyers are trying to avoid the death penalty for their client, who pleaded guilty to being part of the 9/11 plot. They have tried to show that government incompetence, not Moussaoui's refusal to divulge details of the attack before it happened, was the reason terrorists were able to carry out their plan.

Samit testified that he was repeatedly prevented from obtaining a search warrant to look at Moussaoui's belongings and laptop computer even though his investigation revealed that Moussaoui was connected to a Chechen terrorist who had al Qaeda connections.

Defense lawyer Edward MacMahon presented the jury with an Aug. 18, 2001, electronic communication Samit wrote to FBI headquarters about Moussaoui and the leads he needed to get a search warrant. Samit, Moussaoui's arresting officer, testified for the prosecution last week but his cross-examination was delayed after allegations of witness tampering by a government lawyer.

Samit testified that senior FBI officials repeatedly denied applications for search warrants and thwarted his efforts to contact the U.S. Attorney's office, because of differing opinions on establishing probable cause for the warrant.

Samit's Aug. 18, 2001, memo mentioned Osama bin Laden three times and repeatedly voiced suspicious that Moussaoui was connected to an international terrorist group.

Samit described the inaction on this electronic communication as "criminal negligence."

The testimony, which pitted a current agent against FBI headquarters, shows legal interpretations about how intelligence information could be handled by FBI agents before the 9/11 attacks. The protocol that barred intelligence investigators from sharing information to bring criminal charges is often referred to as "The Wall."

Intelligence information provided by French officials described Moussaoui as "a cold stubborn man ... a strategist ... that should be surveilled by French authorities," an Aug. 30, 2001, FBI memo noted. "This information was critical to you," MacMahon told Samit.