Padilla case presents dilemma of law vs. security
To hear Deputy Attorney General James Comey tell it, the Bush administration is in a bind over what to do with Jose Padilla, a former Chicago gang member who allegedly plotted with al-Qaeda to blow up high-rise apartment buildings in the USA. It can’t charge him in civilian courts, Comey said Tuesday. He said a judge probably would throw out Padilla’s confession to U.S. interrogators because Padilla, 33, was denied access to a lawyer. The administration can’t set him free, Comey said, because Padilla has admitted plotting with some of al-Qaeda’s top leaders to kill hundreds of Americans. Padilla’s Plan B was to set off a radioactive device known as a “dirty bomb” in Washington, Comey said. Full Story