Letter from Yassin Aref’s lawyers to The Honorable Rush Holt
Chairman, House Appropriations Select Intelligence Oversight Panel

TERENCE L. KINDLON
LAURIE SHANKS*
________________
KATHY MANLEY
LEE C. KINDLON**
TODD G. MONAHAN†

*ADMITTED IN NEW YORK
ARIZONA, AND INDIANA

**ADMITTED IN NEW YORK
AND WASHINGTON D.C.

†ADMITTED IN NEW YORK
AND NEW JERSEY

January 9, 2009

The Honorable Rush Holt
Chairman, House Appropriations Select Intelligence Oversight Panel
1214 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

Investigation of NSA Warrantless Wiretapping

Dear Congressman Holt:

I was very glad to learn that you are asking the NSA Inspector General to investigate the warrantless wiretapping of Ali Al-Timimi, and whether it affected his right to a fair trial. I wanted to let you know that my client, Yassin Aref, was also clearly monitored by this same illegal program, as shown by the enclosed New York Times article. I would greatly appreciate it if you would include Mr. Aref’s case in your request for an investigation.

I pursued this issue over and over in the courts; the NYCLU filed a motion to intervene to obtain access to the sealed court opinions; and the ACLU and NYCLU filed an amicus brief to support our appeal of this issue. Even though we made a strong showing that the illegal wiretapping led the government to initiate the case against Mr. Aref, and that the wiretapping prejudiced Mr. Aref in several other ways, his appeal was denied by the Second Circuit in July, 2008. The courts have consistently refused to consider the wiretapping issue and the accompanying Sixth Amendment and other constitutional and statutory violations in the case. (A petition for certiorari is currently pending before the United States Supreme Court.)

Mr. Aref’s case is also particularly egregious because I went through the time consuming and invasive process of obtaining a security clearance, and then, despite having successfully obtained the clearance, was still unable to gain access to any of the relevant classified material, which was nevertheless shown to all judges involved.

Even more importantly, after getting to know Mr. Aref well, I am convinced of his innocence. The illegal NSA Program was used to target an exemplary, law abiding, religious person who happened to be a Muslim Kurd granted refuge in this country from the repression of Saddam Hussein. I believe that the layers of secrecy within which the NSA program are wrapped is designed to protect the relevant officials from prosecution for violating the rights of not only Mr. Aref, but of all Americans. Therefore, I request that you include Mr. Aref’s case in your call for an investigation. Thank you.

Respectfully,

KINDLON and SHANKS, P.C.

By:
Terence L. Kindlon

enc.
cc: Jonathan Turley, Esq.