Perjury by Gates

Andy Worthington:

"Sullivan also ordered the Justice Department to secure an affidavit from
Gates. The defense secretary swore under penalty of perjury that all exculpatory
evidence in Mohamed’s case — including evidence relating to the alleged 'dirty
bomb' plot — had been provided to Mohamed’s lawyers.

'I will say that I am extremely disappointed in the declaration that was
filed on behalf of Secretary Gates on Friday,' Stafford Smith wrote, adding,
'There is no question but that it is false.' He said he couldn’t conclude
'whether I would categorize Mr. Gates’ statement as outright perjury, or as a
misguided consequence of his reliance on an erroneous definition of the legal
terms.'

'The vast majority of material (almost the entirety of the substantive
evidence) submitted against Mr. Mohamed consists of statements attributed to
him,” and therefore 'would qualify as "exculpatory" under Sullivan’s order,' he
said.

Stafford Smith says it’s apparent that a wealth of material has not yet
been turned over.

'Without going into anything that is classified, the Government has at
no point in this case even acknowledged that Mr. Mohamed was rendered by the US
to Morocco on July 21, 2002, or that he was held there for 18 months, or that he
was abused there,' he wrote. 'Nor has the government breathed a word about the
five months he subsequently spent being abused and tortured in the Dark Prison
in Kabul.'"

Rendition is not a "vital tool."