WASHINGTON — The federal prosecutor who won the first and only jury-trial conviction in the war on terrorism sued the Department of Justice on Tuesday, claiming that he was never given adequate support in the case and that senior government officials seemed more interested in publicity than in seeing justice served.
Richard G. Convertino, a 14-year veteran of the U.S. attorney's office in Detroit, also alleged in his lawsuit against Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft and other department administrators that Washington officials acknowledged that they were "enjoying" undeserved credit for keeping the country safe from domestic terrorism.
Although there have been numerous complaints from civil liberties groups since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the lawsuit marked the first time that someone inside the government's war on terrorism had publicly stated that there were problems within the Justice Department's terrorism and violent crimes division.
Convertino, 42, a highly successful federal prosecutor, has been in a dispute with senior Justice Department officials over the Detroit case, in which two men were convicted in June of conspiring to scout Disneyland, the MGM casino in Las Vegas and the Detroit Metropolitan Airport for terrorist attacks. The department removed Convertino from the case in September.
At issue is an allegation that Convertino failed to turn over certain information to defense attorneys about the government's star witness, a concern that has prompted U.S. District Judge Gerald E. Rosen to consider throwing out the two convictions. Convertino's lawsuit could give the judge more reason to question the verdicts.
Rosen's decision is expected soon. If the convictions are tossed out, it would be seen as a major blow to the Bush administration, especially in an election year in which the White House is trying to show that the president has been tough on terrorists.
Mark Corallo, chief spokesman at the Department of Justice, said Tuesday that "because this is a matter now of pending litigation, we have no comment."
Convertino could not be reached for comment Tuesday. But his lawyer, Stephen M. Kohn of Washington, said: "His career has been irreparably harmed. He's depressed. He's extremely upset."
The Detroit case is the only high-profile prosecution since Sept. 11, 2001, to go to trial. Others have ended in guilty pleas, which the Department of Justice has offered as proof the Bush administration is winning the war on terrorism.
