By PAT MILTON, Associated Press Writer (June 20, 2006)
NEW YORK - A civil rights attorney convicted of aiding terrorists last year wants the federal government to reveal whether any warrantless or illegal electronic surveillance was conducted on her or anyone involved in her case.
In a court petition filed Monday, Lynne Stewart contends that such an inquiry is necessary to determine whether government surveillance compromised her case.
The motion in federal court in New York follows revelations last year that President Bush authorized the National Security Agency to monitor domestic communications — without court approval — when one party is overseas and terrorism is suspected.
Stewart, 66, was convicted in February 2005 of providing material support to terrorists by releasing the message of a notorious jailed client, Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman. She also was convicted of defrauding the government and making false statements.
Abdel-Rahman was convicted of seditious conspiracy for his advisory role in a plot to blow up five New York City landmarks, including the United Nations in 1995.
Stewart, who represented the blind sheik at his trial, remained one of his lawyers afterward, agreeing to special rules the U.S. government put in place to prevent Abdel-Rahman from communicating with the outside world.
She had argued that Rahman was engaging in free speech when he expressed his opinion about a cease-fire by Islamic militants in Egypt that she passed along in a 2000 press release.
Her sentencing was postponed indefinitely in March after she was found to have breast cancer. She faces as many as 20 years in prison.
