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.
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