“WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department has exaggerated its performance in the war on terrorism, interfered with a major terror prosecution and compromised a confidential informant, a federal prosecutor has alleged in an extraordinary lawsuit against Attorney General John Ashcroft.
The lawsuit by Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Convertino is the latest twist in the Bush administration’s first major post-Sept. 11 terrorism prosecution, a Detroit case jeopardized over allegations of prosecutorial misconduct. …
According to the suit, a senior official in the Justice Department’s terrorism and violent crimes section informed Convertino that news reports concerning the department’s anti-terror efforts were not accurate and that the “press gives us more credit than we deserve.” The lawsuit alleges “gross mismanagement” in the terrorism and violent crimes section.
Convertino says he complained repeatedly to the Justice Department in Washington that it placed “perception” over “reality” to the serious detriment of the war on terror. … “
> AP: “Prosecutor at center of controversy in terror case sues Ashcroft”