Al-Arian defenders try to put his prosecutor on trial

It's not that Al-Arian has admitted to aiding Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and has clearly been deeply involved in jihadist activity in the U.S. It's that his prosecutor is "anti-Muslim." This is another variation of the phenomenon I discussed here: if you tell the truth about jihad and Islamic supremacism, it must be because you "hate Muslims." The focus shifts from defendant to prosecutor -- which is just what the jihadists want to accomplish.

"A Prosecutor Is Called 'Relentless,'" by Josh Gerstein for the New York Sun, July 28 (thanks to all who sent this in):

A federal prosecutor who has led a series of investigations into Islamic militants and Muslim groups based in Virginia, Gordon Kromberg, may soon be facing a trial of sorts himself, if defense lawyers get their way.

Attorneys for a former Florida college professor who pleaded guilty two years ago to aiding Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Sami Al-Arian, are asking a federal judge to hold a hearing on whether anti-Muslim bias led to the government's decision to obtain a new indictment of Al-Arian in June for contempt for refusing to testify before grand juries pursuing the Virginia organizations.

While the motion claims Muslim terrorism suspects are generally treated unfairly by the Justice Department, Al-Arian's lawyers argue that Mr. Kromberg, 51, has a particularly egregious record of intemperate statements and actions in a series of terrorism-related cases and investigations.

"Defense attorneys have objected for years that Mr. Kromberg, the lead counsel in many of these cases, has been using the Eastern District of Virginia to mete out his own brand of justice for Muslim terrorism subjects, often openly displaying his personal animus," Al-Arian's lead counsel, Jonathan Turley, wrote. "This long and controversial record forms the backdrop for the allegation of selective and malicious prosecution in this case." ...