9/11 Defense Counsel on the FBI's Contacts with Defense Team Members

GUANTANAMO BAY, CUBA Today, defense attorneys in the 9/11 military commission revealed that the FBI had interrogated a Defense Security Officer, and required him to sign an agreement establishing a “special relationship” between the defense team member and the FBI. “The U.S. government’s breach of the integrity of the defense teams is outrageous,” said Lt Col Sterling R. Thomas, USAF, a former prosecutor now detailed to defend Ammar al Baluchi. Under Military Commission Protective Order #1, most recently amended in December 2013, a “Defense Security Officer is, for limited purposes associated with this case, a member of the Defense Team, and therefore shall not disclose to any person any information provided by the Defense, other than information provided in a filing with the Military Commission.”  The duties of a Defense Security Officer are: (1)    Assist the Defense with applying classification guides, including reviewing pleadings and other papers prepared by the defense to ensure they are unclassified or properly marked as classified; (2)    Assist the Defense in performing their duty to apply derivative classification markings pursuant to E.O. 13526 § 2.1(b). (3)    Ensure compliance with the provisions of any Protective Order.