Says Transcripts Were Provided By "Friends" At The Airlines

Last month, Aero-News reported on the possible connection between the two airlines being sued for negligence and wrongful death related to the 9/11 hijackings, and TSA attorney Carla Martin -- whose "incredible" legal blunders nearly derailed the government's case for putting admitted al-Qaeda terrorist Zacarious Moussaoui to death.

Shaun Waterman, Homeland and National Security Editor at United Press International, told ANN that transcripts of the prosecution's opening arguments in the Moussaoui case -- which Martin then shared with seven FAA witnesses, in an apparent breech of judical ethics -- came from attorneys representing United and American Airlines in those civil trials.

That smelled of collusion -- and those aren't our words, but those of attorneys of the families now suing United and American for the loss of their friends and loved ones on 9/11. On Thursday, they served papers against Martin, too, alleging she "colluded and/or conspired" with representatives from the airlines.

CNN reports as part of their lawsuit against Martin, the families want all documents related to her communication with the airlines -- as well as all other documents related to Martin, including an e-mail exchange between Martin and TSA officials in which she refers to two airline attorneys as "my friends."

The suit also acknowledges that Judge Leonie Brinkema, who is presiding over the Moussaoui case, has already ruled Martin engaged in misconduct in violation of an order shielding scheduled witnesses from trial proceedings.

In doing so, Martin "interfered with plaintiffs' right to fair trial," the families' suit alleges, by having "tampered with witnesses and evidence" in the Moussaoui case.

The families suing the airlines allege United and American had received prior warnings of possible terrorist attacks using airliners, and by failing to act upon those warnings contributed to the deaths of passengers aboard the four airliners hijacked on September 11, 2001. The airlines maintain that no matter what warnings were received, there was little that could have been done at the time to prevent the attacks.

The suit against Martin was filed March 31 in US District Court by the law firm of Motley Rice -- which has a history of aviation-related lawsuits.

"Our clients feel very strongly that full and equal access to information is essential to the protection of our nation. Our clients are patriots first and litigants second. We will seek the truth at every opportunity on their behalf," Ron Motley told CNN. "We have nothing but praise for the government in their prosecution of Moussaoui, but we have deep concerns about what was going on behind the scenes with Carla Martin, and we look forward to airing these matters in a court of law."

Martin's attorney, Roscoe Howard, declined to comment on the new suit. Spokesmen for the airlines have previously stated there was nothing improper about any of their communications with Martin or the TSA.

FMI: www.usdoj.com, www.motleyrice.com, www.tsa.gov