Trump Terror Comments Jeopardize NY Case, Says Former US Attorney

NEW YORK, NY – Dwight Holton knows a thing or two about prosecuting terrorists. He was an assistant United States Attorney in Brooklyn when the attacks of September 11 happened. He spent the better part of the next few months as one of the prosecutors assigned to the command post, working to make sure another attack did not happen, and he was in court for some of the cases that were brought.

He then went on to become the United States Attorney for Oregon where he oversaw the successful prosecution of Mohamed Mohamud, who tried to detonate a bomb at the holiday tree lighting in Portland in 2010.

His friends and colleagues over the years have successfully prosecuted numerous people on terrorism-related charges. In all, the Justice Department has obtained convictions of hundreds of people since September 11th alone.

So, Holton was a little surprised when the president started tweeting about Sayfullo Saipov’s Halloween attack in New York that left eight dead and nearly a dozen injured.

“NYC terrorist was happy as he asked to hang ISIS flag in his hospital room,” President Trump tweeted Thursday morning. “He killed 8 people, badly injured 12. SHOULD GET DEATH PENALTY!”

Holton says that the most surprising thing about the president’s decision to inject himself into the case is that, just the day before, Trump had made it clear he doesn’t think too much of the judicial system in the United States.

“We need quick justice and we need strong justice – much quicker and much stronger than we have right now,” the president had said. “Because what we have right now is a joke and it's a laughingstock. And no wonder so much of this stuff takes place.”

Holton could not disagree more.

“We have the best judicial system in the world,” he told Patch. “It’s efficient, it’s effective and, most importantly, it’s fair and respectful of the rights of its citizens.

“Casting doubt on the system is appalling and makes you question the motive of why someone would do that.”

Holton talks about September 13, 2001, walking into a command post that had been hurriedly established in a parking garage owned by the Martha Stewart Company in downtown Manhattan.

“The president had said we were at war,” Holton remembers. “And while we had complete faith in the military to prosecute the war overseas, we also had complete faith in the judicial system to work the way that it is supposed to.

“We never lost faith in the system.”

After all, he points out that the even before September 11, the federal government – especially in the Southern District of New York where the September 11 attacks occurred – had a long history of bringing successful terrorism cases.

It’s a history that goes back to 1961 when then-US Attorney Robert Morgenthau successfully prosecuted five men who were looking to blow up the Statue of Liberty.

That office also successfully brought prosecutions related to:

• the first attack on the World Trade Center;
• the 1993 Day of Terror plot to blow up bridges, tunnels, and government buildings in New York;
• the 1994 Manilla Air plot to blow up one dozen American planes as they flew over the Pacific; and
• the 1999 Millennium plot of Ahmed Ressam who planned to blow up a bomb at Los Angeles International Airport.

“It’s a great sign of the strength of our country, our democracy, that we are able to treat those who would harm us with the protections of the constitution,” he says. “It’s a great system and it works.”

Prosecutors have a nearly 98 percent conviction rate in terrorism-related cases.

“The system is why we are a great democracy,” he says.

Holton says that the president’s attacks on the judicial system comes across as propaganda intended to undermine the faith of people in the way things work.

“it’s a diversion,” he says. “It’s stuff to appeal to his base instead of confronting real issues.

“It’s the same with the immigration ban. Instead of confronting the fact that the majority of the people who have been convicted of terrorism-related charges are people who have been radicalized here.”

One example of that is the case of Mohamud that Holton brought in Oregon.

“The president needs to focus more on the real issues,” he says. “He needs to put more resources into fighting the problems, not cutting the budget for counter-terrorism efforts here at home.

“More time on real issues and less tweeting things that could jeopardize prosecutions.”

An example of that risk happened earlier this week at the sentencing hearing of Sgt. Bowe Bergdalhl, who pleaded guilty after deserting his unit.

Trump has made comments as both a candidate and president referring to Bergdahl is a traitor.

Bergdahl’s lawyers asked the judge to consider Trump’s comments when sentencing him.

“I will consider the president’s comments as mitigation evidence as I arrive at an appropriate sentence,’’ Col. Jeffrey Nance said.

Holton warns something similar could happen down the road in the case of Sayfullo Saipov, who has admitted to killing and injuring people in the attack in New York on Halloween.

“His comments about what the outcome of the case should be are not helpful,” he says.

"The only death penalty that Trump is delivering is to the prosecution."

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Dwight Holton file photo via Rick Bowmer/AP Photo