Thread by @BBuchman_CNS

A bit of housekeeping on the Assange matter in EDVA, US Atty Gordon Kromberg will serve as counsel for the govt. If you have been with me a while, you may remember Kromberg from the Nick Young trial, an American cop convicted of providing material support to ISIS...

Kromberg's lawyering eventually led to a jury finding Young guilty.

Background on Young's case here for those curious:
courthousenews.com/first-police-o…

I find this to be an interesting correlation because Kromberg was able to successfully argue the nuance of Young's support for ISIS at trial.

Young made two trips to Libya, claiming he was going there to help Libyans oust former leader Gaddafi.
The feds were monitoring him...

suspecting his activities were nefarious. He said he took the trips to help Libyans fight a civil war and oust then leader, Muammar Gaddafi. On his 2nd return to the US in '12, he was scooped up by the FBI at the airport. He wasnt arrested though.

But the agency didn’t stop watching him. Two more years passed and Young was befriended by an undercover FBI agent.
At trial Young claimed the UC asked him to purchase gift cards so he could make phone calls or buy data for text messages, and communicate w/his family overseas.

Based on captured texts/emails prosecutors said Young knew exactly what the cards were for, though: connecting ISIS fighters, not estranged fam members.

All of this to say: The notion of "assistance" in a criminal context was argued rather deftly by Kromberg in this matter.

It will be interesting to see how he works Assange's case.

Kromberg is bold in court and it has put him in the spotlight before.

In 2006, Kromberg was accused of expressing anti-Muslim bias by def attys repping Sami al Arian, a Palestinian civil rights activist and teacher who was indicted for racketeering for Palestine Islamic Jihad in 03.

Long after Arian's trial, Kromberg wanted Arian to testify before a grand jury on a sep. case involving terrorism financing but Arian refused.

According to Arian's attys, Kromberg displayed anti Muslim bias when he allegedly grew irritated at a request by defense...

to delay testimony in light of Ramadan.

Arian's attys claimed Kromberg had an outburst in court over this, saying: "They can kill each other during Ramadan. They can appear before a grand jury, all they can't do is eat before sunset."

Then US atty for EDVA, Chuck Rosenberg, insisted Kromberg had no bias or prejudice, calling Kromberg "dedicated, talented and scrupulous."
More on this from the archives of the NY Sun:
nysun.com/national/a-pro…