Katherine Russell, the widow of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev, has hired a criminal defense attorney with experience handling terrorism cases.

Amato A. DeLuca, who has been representing Russell since Tsarnaev and his brother, Dzhokhar, were identified as suspects in the marathon attacks, announced Wednesday that Joshua Dratel has joined Russell’s defense team.

Dratel is president of the Wall Street law firm Dratel & Mysliwiec, P.C. In a bio on the firm’s website, Dratel lists his fields of expertise as terrorism, national security and violent crime charges, among others.

DeLuca’s Providence, R.I., law firm, DeLuca & Weizenbaum Ltd., handles mostly medical malpractice and personal injury civil suits.

Federal investigators want to know what Russell knew, if anything, about her husband and his brother’s plans to detonate two homemade bombs at the Boston Marathon finish line.

Three people were killed and 264 others injured in the April 15 explosions, including a more than a dozen who suffered amputations. The Tsarnaevs are also suspected of killing an MIT police officer.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed in a shootout with police April 18, just hours after the FBI released pictures of the suspects. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is recovering from gunshot wounds at a federal medical facility, charged with using a weapon of mass destruction.

DeLuca said Russell, who married Tamerlan Tsarnaev in 2010, had no knowledge of the plot and is assisting with the investigation. The FBI would not confirm to the Associated Press that Russell is cooperating.

“Katie plans to continue to meet with investigators, part of a series of meetings over many hours where she has answered questions,” DeLuca said.

Russell has been staying at her parents’ home in North Kingstown, R.I., since Tsarnaev was killed, along with the couple’s 2-year-old daughter.

Follow Metro Boston on Twitter: @MetroBos

The post Marathon suspect’s widow hires criminal defense lawyer appeared first on Metro.us.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly confirmed today that Dzhokhar Tsarvaev told investigators last night that he and his brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, planned to drive to New York and detonate bombs in Times Square.

This plan apparently came out of a spur-of-the-moment decision after the brothers hijacked a Mercedes SUV Thursday night.

The driver of the SUV had previously told investigators that the brothers spoke a foreign language to one another while in the car, but that he had been able to make out the word “Manhattan.”

They had with them in the SUV six bombs, including a pressure cooker bomb similar to the two that were detonated at the Boston Marathon ten days ago.

The other five bombs were pipe bombs, Bloomberg said.

While he maintained that the decision to hit New York was spontaneous, Bloomberg said he did not know where the brothers had planned to take the bombs prior to setting their sights on Times Square.

Some details are apparently still unknown to Bloomberg and Kelly, though Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne did confirm that there is more information out there.

The investigation into the younger Tsarnaev brother has reportedly turned up photos of him in Times Square with friends last year, “on or before April 18,” Kelly said.

Tsarnaev was reportedly in the city again in November of last year.

Kelly said authorities “don’t know if the visits were related in any way” to the reportedly “spontaneous” decision to target Times Square.

The NYPD Intelligence Division is investigating Tsarnaev’s “movements” in the city and who he may have been with or interacted with while here. Some people in the Times Square photo have already been identified, Kelly reported.

Kelly had previously said, as recently as Wednesday, that the brothers had planned to come to New York to “party,” information which apparently came from the initial questioning by investigators.

Today Kelly said that authorities are inclined to believe last night’s confession over the previous statement because Tsarnaev was reportedly “more lucid” during the second questioning.

While they said there is no way to know if the NYPD would have been able to stop the Tsarnaev brothers if they had made it to Times Square, Bloomberg noted that there would have been numerous officers visible all around Times Square, as well as “an extensive network of cameras” that the brothers would not have seen.

Bloomberg and Kelly pointed to the large role surveillance camera footage played in the investigation into the Boston Marathon bombings, asserting that shows how crucial surveillance is to New Yorkers’ security.

The NYPD already uses a vehicle that takes 360-degree photos along the route of major events, like marathons, but Kelly said they want to expand the numbers of cameras around the city generally.

In particular, he said, they would like to increase the number of “smart cameras” they use, which use video analytics to conduct real-time facial recognition.

Bloomberg agreed that cameras are an integral part of the city’s security measures, noting that they work as a deterrent because “you’re never going to know where all our cameras are.”

Kelly and Bloomberg both assured the public there is “no evidence to suggest that New York City is currently a target.”

“Do I feel safe going out tonight?” Bloomberg asked. “Yes. Do I feel safe that every area of the city is protected? Yes, I do.”

The mayor said “it’s a dangerous world, but you’re probably safer here than you are anywhere else.”

Follow Danielle Tcholakian on Twitter @danielleiat

The post Authorities investigate Tsarnaev’s prior trip to Times Square appeared first on Metro.us.

Nearly half of New Jersey’s registered voters approve of an ethics probe into U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez’s ties to a Miami political donor under investigation by the FBI.

A Quinnipiac University poll released this morning had 48 percent of registered voters approving of the Menendez investigation, while 32 percent feel the ethics probe is politically motivated.

In January, reports surfaced that Menendez had sex with prostitutes in the Dominican Republic on trips funded by Miami eye doctor Salomon Melgen. The Democratic senator in early January reimbursed Melgen for the flights and has vehemently denied he had sex with prostitutes on the trips.

Melgen, his family and his business have donated nearly $1 million to Democrats in recent years. He was hit with an $11 million tax lien by the Internal Revenue Service in 2011, and saw his offices raided by FBI agents earlier this year.

From April 19-22, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,112 registered voters by phone for the poll.

Despite supporting the ethics probe by an overwhelming margin, 44 percent of New Jersey voters approve of the job Menendez is doing in Washington, according to the poll, compared to just 32 percent who disapprove. Meanwhile, 39 percent of those polled said Menendez is honest and trustworthy.

The post Probe Menendez dealings, say NJ voters appeared first on Metro.us.

Long Island Representative Peter King believes the FBI should be doing more to keep an eye on Muslims in America, the Washington Times reports.

King, a Republican, reportedly made these statements in an interview on Fox News Sunday.

“Ninety-nine percent of Muslims are outstanding Americans, but the fact is, that’s where the threat is coming from,” King said.

In another Fox News interview, King noted that he did not think probable cause was needed “just to follow someone.”

King is the chairman of the House Homeland Security subcommittee on counterintelligence and terrorism.

King said that the FBI “overall does such a great job” but asked if they’re “not flagging these people clearly enough to local law enforcement.”

Tamerlan Tsarnaev, and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the two brothers who are suspected of planting the bombs that exploded at the Boston Marathon last week, are ethnically Chechen Muslims.

The elder brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, was questioned by the FBI a year and a half ago because of his increasingly fundamentalist religious views, but was apparently not monitored further.

King advised that the FBI take a cue from the NYPD in their approach to surveilling Muslim communities.

“[They should be] going into the communities, monitoring, following if you will, and not being afraid of political correctness,” King asserted.

King, for his part, made clear that he is not afraid of political correctness.

Ater a clip of Tom Brokaw was played in which Brokaw stated, “The fact is that Islamic rage is still out there,” King was asked his thoughts on the comment.

He responded positively then scoffed, “If I had said it that strongly two years ago, the New York Times would’ve called for me to be impeached.”

Follow Danielle Tcholakian on Twitter @danielleiat

The post Pete King calls for FBI surveillance of American Muslims appeared first on Metro.us.

State Sen. Malcolm Smith was formally indicted by a federal grand jury Thursday for allegedly trying to bribe his way onto this year’s mayoral ballot.

Smith was arrested by FBI agents April 2 for allegedly scheming with Queens Councilman Dan Halloran, a Republican, to bribe the GOP party in order to get Smith on the Republican ballot for mayor. As a Democrat, Smith needed the support of at least three Republican county chairmen to get on the ballot.

Halloran and party leaders Joseph Savino of the Bronx and Vincent Tabone of Queens were also named in the indictment. Smith and Halloran face 45 years in prison if convicted of the charges, the New York Post reports.

The councilman allegedly set up meetings with the party leaders to negotiate thousands of dollars in bribes, while keeping some of the money for himself.

Spring Valley Mayor Noramie Jasmin and Deputy Mayor Joseph Desmaret were also indicted Thursday for taking money and property in a related bribery scheme.

The post State Sen. Malcolm Smith indicted in bribery plot appeared first on Metro.us.

Communities around Boston were put on lockdown Friday morning as authorities searched for one of the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombings. 

• 
  View Slideshow

  PHOTOS: Law enforcement searches for bombing suspects

Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, the man the FBI labeled “Suspect 1″ in the investigation, was killed by law enforcement officers during a shootout overnight, according Reuters.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, designated as “Suspect 2,” is still on the run and remains a serious threat. The two suspects were reportedly brothers from Chechnya.

Reuters was providing a live Twitter feed of developments in the case, as was Metro Boston.

Around 10:20 Thursday night, an MIT police officer was shot and killed on campus, the Middlesex County District Attorney said in a statement. An MBTA officer was critically hurt.

A short time later, police received reports of a carjacking by two men who kept their victim inside the car for about half an hour, the statement said.

Police pursued that car to Watertown, where explosives were thrown from the car at police and gunfire was exchanged, the statement said.

“During the exchange of the gunfire, we believe that one of the suspects was struck and ultimately taken into custody. A second suspect was able to flee from that car and there is an active search going on at this point in time,” Col. Timothy Alben, superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police, told a news conference.

The first suspect died at Beth Israel Hospital. Doctors said he had gunshot wounds and “blast injuries.”

Officials urged people who live in Watertown, Newton, Waltham, Belmont, Cambridge and the Alston/Brighton neighborhoods of Boston to stay inside.

In Watertown, SWAT teams were conducting a door-to-door search. No vehicles were being allowed in or out of the community.

All MBTA service was shut down until further notice. Boston Public Schools and colleges were also closed for the day.

The post UPDATE: Brothers from Chechnya ID’d as Marathon bombing suspects; 1 dead after police shootout, other on the run appeared first on Metro.us.

The New York Post’s cover Thursday morning read “BAG MEN” and showed a photo of two dark-skinned young men in a crowd.

The inside story reported an email being circulated internally by law enforcement officials “of two men chatting near the packed finish line.” Recipients were advised to pass it around to their “fellow agents elsewhere.”

According to the Post’s sources, authorities were also interested in two men seen on surveillance video. These authorities reportedly knew the names of the two men in the surveillance video, “but do not have enough evidence to make an arrest.”

“It was not immediately clear if the men in the law-enforcement photos are the same men in the surveillance videos,” the Post allowed.

In the hours after the paper hit newsstands everywhere Thursday morning, the two young men on the cover had been identified — through the work of internet sleuths on message board websites like Reddit — as local high-school students. The one whose face is most visible is a soccer player and track athlete named Salah Barhoun.

The Department of Justice had already released a statement: “Any images not released via FBI official channels should not be considered credible.”

Post editor Col Allan did not apologize.

“We stand by our story,” he said. “The image was emailed to law enforcement agencies yesterday afternoon seeking information about these men, as our story reported. We did not identify them as suspects.”

Indeed, what the Post had said was that “cops are seeking these two men who were spotted near the site of the Boston blasts.”

Barhoun told the Daily News that he and his friend are “just athletes.”

“We love running and we love to watch running,” he said.

Gawker noted that he had posted a couple of enthusiastic photos to his Facebook page of himself at the marathon.

In reference to the Post headline, Barhoun pointed out, “A lot of people have bags, not just me. I thought, ‘why me?’”

His bag contained gym clothes and sneakers, he said. He and his friend had left the race two hours before the explosion.

“Last night I couldn’t sleep,” Barhoun said. “Just thinking about the consequences. What are people going to say, and what the result is going to be.”

Police reportedly advised the 17-year-old to delete his Facebook account.

Follow Danielle Tcholakian on Twitter @danielleiat

The post New York Post cover draws public ire, response from Feds appeared first on Metro.us.

FBI releases images of Boston bombing suspects.

The post PHOTOS: FBI releases images of Boston bombing suspects appeared first on Metro.us.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation today released surveillance images of two suspects connected to the Boston Marathon bombings.

• 
  View Video

  Video of suspects in Boston Marathon bombings

FBI Special Agent Richard DesLaurien said two men are suspected of the crime.

They appear to be associated, he said, and are referred to as Suspect 1 and Suspect 2.

Suspect 1 is wearing a dark hat, suspect two is wearing a white hat. Number two is suspected of planting the devices, he said, although the FBI does not have video of the bomb being planted.

“We strongly encourage those who were at The Forum restaurant that have not contacted us yet to do so. Suspects one and two seem to be walking together ion Boylston Street in the direction of the finish line… as you can see the quality of the photos is quite good,” DesLaurien said.

“For more than 100 years the FBI has relied on the public to be its eyes and ears… Somebody out there knows these individuals as friends, neighbors.. any bit of info no matter how small… it is extremely important to contact us with any information,” he said. “We consider them to be armed and extremely dangerous.”

No one should approach them,  and no one should attempt to apprehend them except law enforcement, he said.

The FBI established a website: Bostonmarathontips.fbi.gov, which crashed shortly after the bureau’s televised announcement.

“The horror of that day will remain with us forever,” DesLaurien said.

Follow Morgan Rousseau on Twitter: @MetroMorgan
Follow Metro Boston on Twitter: @MetroBOS

The post FBI releases video images of two Boston Marathon bombing suspects appeared first on Metro.us.

Investigators said that two bombs that tore through the crowd at the Boston Marathon finish line Monday may have been fashioned out of shrapnel-filled pressure cookers that were transported in black nylon backpacks.

Boston doctors treating the wounded told reporters today that several of the victims were maimed by what appeared to be pieces of plastic and metal. The fragments were removed during surgery, and turned over to authorities.

Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Richard DesLauriers, who is heading up the investigation, said the pressure cooker bombs may have also contained ball bearings and nails.

As of this evening, no one had taken responsibility for the bombings, and investigators had made no arrests in connection with the attack, which killed three people and injured more than 170. The explosions happened around 2:50 p.m. Monday near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, on Boylston Street.

Authorities said they had received more than 2,000 tips as of noon, many of which were reviewed by 5 p.m.

“The investigation in its infancy. We will thoroughly review each and every piece of evidence,” DesLaurier said, also pleading with the public to provide more information.

The FBI is looking for people who might have seen or heard suspicious activity, including someone carrying a dark, heavy bag near the site of the blasts before the explosions. DesLaurier asked people to inform investigators if they heard any noises similar to an explosion in the days before the attack, as they may indicate a practice blast, and also if anyone overheard discussions a possible attack on the Boston Marathon.

“The range of suspects and motives remains wide open. We’re asking for tips from anyone who may target the event,” he said.

Forensic experts are reconstructing the suspected explosive devices at an FBI lab in Virginia to determine its components. More information is expected during a media briefing this afternoon, but in the meantime DesLaurier asked the public to “remain alert.”

Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino joined officials at the briefing this evening, commending civilians and emergency respondents for their assistance.

“We are Boston. We are one community and we will not let terror take us over,” he said.

Follow Morgan Rousseau on Twitter: @MetroMorgan
Follow Metro Boston on Twitter: @MetroBOS

• 
  View Slideshow

  PHOTOS: Acts of kindness and heroism at the Boston Marathon

• 
  View Slideshow

  PHOTOS: Front page news headlines from Boston Marathon coverage

The post The biggest question in Boston remains: Who did it? appeared first on Metro.us.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg reminded New Yorkers on Monday night that they should stay vigilant and immediately report any suspicious activity.

• 
  View Video

  VIDEO: Boston Marathon headquarters locked down after explosion, two reported dead

• 
  View Slideshow

  PHOTOS: Explosion during Boston Marathon

About 1,000 NYPD members assigned to counterterrorism duties were mobilized Monday. Police officers were deployed to major landmarks and prominent hotels. Police cruisers lined the streets around Times Square, and security was heightened around the Barclays Center for a Nets game Monday night.

The MTA also increased police presence at train stations, bridges and tunnels.

A massive FBI investigation remains underway. By Monday night, Boston police officials said authorities were speaking with persons of interest but no suspects were in custody.

The post Bloomberg to New Yorkers: Remain vigilant in days ahead appeared first on Metro.us.

The FBI has charged two local men in a plot to kidnap, torture and kill women.

FBI Assistant Director George Venizelos said today that the agency arrested two people who planned to kidnap and torture women.

The FBI charged Richard Meltz and Christopher Asch in the plot.

“Both of these defendants took affirmative steps to carry out the conspiracy to kidnap and torture women,” Venizelos said. “Their actions were not confined to talking about these ghoulish plans.”

He said the men had obtained a taser and chemicals to anesthetize their victims.

“They made detailed plans to use these instruments – plans that were foiled by the FBI’s intervention,” Venizelos said.

The case developed from another investigation against Gilberto Valle, a former NYPD cop accused of trying to kidnap, kill and eat women, according to The New York Times.

Prosecutors say that the Meltz and Asch conspired from 2011 and 2013 and met an undercover FBI agent in March.

They discussed killing a specific woman over the phone, prosecutors said, and Asch traveled to Allentown, Pa., to get a taser at a gun show.

They spoke about “snuffing” women, children and babies, according to court documents.

Agents released email excerpts where Asch allegedly spoke to a co-conspirator about how to rape and kill his wife.

“You’d need to have an alibi, like being at work,” Asch said, according to the complaint. “Have you thought it through and will you feel any guilt if she disappears?”

The co-conspirator suggested Meltz could break in posing as a repair person and “choke her out.”

They also said Asch had a number of items he thought were necessary for a kidnapping: a ski mask, hypodermic needles, handcuffs and leather ties.

Asch is a former librarian at Stuyvesant High School who was previously arrested and later exonerated for inappropriately touching male students, according to the Daily News.

Meltz is the chief of police at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Bedford, Massachusetts.

The post FBI charges two men in plot to kidnap and kill women appeared first on Metro.us.

The FBI informant in the mayoral ballot bribe investigation that has led to the arrests of state Sen. Malcolm Smith and Queens Councilman Dan Halloran is a business developer who owes Citigroup $126 million over a failed real estate project, according to various news reports.

Moses Stern, 40, is the man who helped the FBI secretly tape conversations with the senator which revealed a plot to bribe Republican county chairmen to get Smith on their ballot in the upcoming mayoral race.

But Stern is accused of plotting a fraudulent deal of his own. His realty firm borrowed tens of millions of dollars from Citigroup in 2007 to buy up 11 shopping malls, but Citigroup soon discovered that the firm lied about where the mortgage payments were going to, The Daily News reports.

In the criminal complaint against Smith, Stern is listed as a “cooperating witness” who presented himself to Smith and the others as a wealthy, connected developer who could deliver campaign money in exchange for political favors, the News reports.

In addition to Smith and Halloran, Republican County Chairman Jay Savino, Joseph Tabone, Spring Valley Mayor Noramie Jasmin and Deputy Mayor Joseph Desmaret were all arrested Wednesday for their involvement in a scheme to get Smith on the GOP ballot. As a Democrat, Smith needed the support of three Republican county chairmen to run on the Republican party line.

The post Informant in Smith bribery case is developer with $126 million in debt appeared first on Metro.us.

New York officials schemed to impact the 2013 mayoral race, telling people in a bribery plot that “money greases the wheels,” according to revelations in federal documents released today.

Prosecutors charged New York State Sen. Malcolm Smith and Queens Councilman Dan Halloran with wire fraud and bribery this morning, which could carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation said the alleged plots, which included cash handed over outside a Manhattan restaurant on Valentine’s Day, were targeted toward Smith’s wishes to be the Republican candidate for mayor.

“Senator Malcolm Smith tried to bribe his way to a shot at Gracie Mansion,” said Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara. “Councilman Halloran essentially quarterbacked that drive.”

Smith allegedly arranged for about $40,000 to be paid to New York City Republican county leaders Vincent Tabone and Joseph Savino.

The officials who were bribed complained about paying children’s college tuition, debts and for vacation homes, according to court documents.

The FBI accuses Halloran of receiving about $20,500 in bribes to be the intermediary between Smith and the Republican county leaders.

Halloran also received about $18,300 in bribes to steer about $80,000 in Council funding to a company he thought was bribing him, the FBI said.

Agents also arrested the mayor and deputy mayor of Rockland County’s Village of Spring Valley, accusing them of receiving financial benefits in exchange for official acts.

“Today’s charges demonstrate, once again, that a show-me-the-money culture seems to pervade every level of New York government,” Bharara said. “The complaint describes an unappetizing smorgasbord of graft and greed involving six officials who together built a corridor of corruption.”

According to the FBI, Halloran said he wanted to get his “mortgage situation resolved” and expected to be named deputy police commissioner.

During the scheming, Halloran said, according to the FBI, “That’s politics. It’s all about how much. … You can’t do anything without the f—ing money.”

According to court documents, Smith said, about the payments, “Let’s just say they screwed you and me and said, you know, ‘I’m not doing anything.’ … When you screw somebody over money like that … you’re looking over your shoulder all the rest of your life.”

“Elected officials are called public servants because they are supposed to serve the people,” FBI assistant director in charge George Venizelos said today. “At a bare minimum, we should expect public officials to obey the law.”

Council Speaker Christine Quinn said that the allegations were referred to the Council’s Standards and Ethics Committee.

“These allegations represent a reprehensible abuse of the public’s trust,” Quinn said. “If true, then the full weight of the legal system should be brought to bear on all parties implicated.”

The post Prosecutors detail bribery plot targeting 2013 mayoral race appeared first on Metro.us.

New York State Sen. Malcolm Smith and City Councilman Dan Halloran were arrested at their homes Tuesday morning in connection with a bribery scheme involving the upcoming mayoral race, according to the FBI.

The two politicians allegedly tried to get Smith on the GOP ballot in the mayoral race by offering money to Republican county chairmen.

Two Republican county chairmen, Joseph Savino of the Bronx and Vincent Tabone of Queens, have also been arrested.

Prosecutors are expected to detail the charges at a news conference later today.

Also arrested Tuesday were Noramie Jasmin, the mayor of Spring Valley in Rockland County, and her deputy mayor, Joseph Desmaret.

FBI Assistant Director George Venizelos said in a statement, “Public officials should obey the law. As alleged, these defendants did not obey the law; they broke the law and the public trust. There is a price to pay for that kind of betrayal.”

The post NY State Senator and City Councilman arrested in bribery scheme appeared first on Metro.us.

An FBI agent who shot out his second-story window in Queens at a man he believed was breaking into his car will not face criminal charges, according to reports from the Wall Street Journal.

The shooting occurred early in the morning on July 18, when the agent was reportedly woken by his wife, who told him their car was being burglarized. The agent reportedly told authorities he yelled out his window, “Police, get away from the car,” several times, and only fired one round when he believed the alleged burglar was reaching for a weapon.

The alleged burglar, 24-year-old Adrian Ricketts, was shot in the back, and arrested after seeking treatment at Brookdale Hospital. His 22-year-old brother, Andrae Ricketts was also arrested later, and both were charged with criminal mischief and petit larceny. Both pleaded not guilty, and no weapon was ever recovered from either arrestee.

The Journal noted that at the time of the shooting, FBI spokesman J. Peter McDonald promised a “thorough, independent investigation,” but also that FBI policy allows agents to use deadly force when they believe they or someone else is in imminent danger.

Yesterday, a Queens prosecutor reportedly told Queens Criminal Court Judge Dorothy Chin Brandt that both sides agreed not to testify against each other. The Queens district attorney’s office was reportedly “not a party” to the deal, according to prosecutor Robert Hanophy.

The deal means charges against the Ricketts alleging they broke into the agent’s car are dropped, and the DA’s office won’t ask a grand jury to consider felony charges against the agent.

The Ricketts brothers’ lawyer, David Levine, reportedly told the Journal the brothers were not compensated financially by the agent in exchange for not testifying against him in front of a grand jury.

Levine said the brothers chose not to testify because prosecutors would not give them immunity, and a conviction could have led to deportation. The Ricketts are from Jamaica.

The Journal withheld the name of the FBI agent because they were told the agent had taken part in undercover work.

Follow Danielle Tcholakian on Twitter @danielleiat

The post FBI agent shot man out window, won’t be charged appeared first on Metro.us.

Three people were arrested Tuesday in a three-year federal probe that exposed a scam that placed counterfeit auto parts on thousands of city taxi cabs, the New York Post reports.

The auto parts, including brake pads and suspension rings, were packaged to look like they were made by Ford and other manufacturers. They were sold by a multi-state counterfeit ring at higher prices and installed on potentially “thousands” of taxis.

Federal agents raided E&Y Distributors in Long Island City where the fake parts were found. No one from E&Y were arrested.

Officials said the public should not be worried as taxis undergo regular inspections, and any bad parts would show up in those inspections.

Shashi Malhortra, 67, of Norwood, N.J., Fadi Kilanie, 28, of Englewood, N.J. and Richard Dininni, 57, of Easton, Penn. carried out the fraud since October 2011 by operating separate sham companies that repackaged the knockoff parts.

The post 3 arrested in fake taxi parts scam appeared first on Metro.us.

Authorities raided three local warehouses this morning, seizing counterfeit taxi parts and arresting at least five individuals, the NY Post reported.

A dozen FBI agents were reportedly stationed outside of a brick warehouse in Queens, as authorities seized knock-off brake pads and other car parts inside.

Three arrests were made in Queens, and two in Paterson, NJ. Court appearances are scheduled for this afternoon.

The arrestees were allegedly producing knock-off car parts and selling them to taxi drivers under the impression they were receiving name brand goods.Follow Danielle Tcholakian on Twitter @danielleiat

The post Feds bust counterfeit taxi parts ring appeared first on Metro.us.

Suspected members of several of New York’s five organized crime families were caught up in the sweep in New York and New Jersey, said J. Peter Donald, a spokesman for the FBI’s New York office.

The investigation focused on suspected extortion and loan sharking schemes in which these figures targeted private New York area garbage haulers, Donald said.

As many as 30 organized crime figures were caught up in the sweep, according to the New York Post, which said the arrests began around 5 a.m. EST (1000 GMT).

The investigation was a coordinated effort between federal agents and police in New York City and Westchester, a suburb north of Manhattan.

The suspects are expected to be arraigned in Manhattan federal court on Wednesday.

The post Dozens rounded up in New York and New Jersey extortion probe appeared first on Metro.us.

Petraeus and Allen wrote letters in September to the District of Columbia Superior Court in support of the twin sister, Natalie Khawam, as she sought to gain more visitation rights with her son, according to a review of the court file.

The letters deepen the mystery of how two Tampa socialites developed close access to top military officials and raise questions about the specific nature of those relationships.

It is unclear why Petraeus and Allen, two of the U.S. military’s biggest names, felt the need to formally interject in a nasty custody dispute of someone they characterized as a family friend.

The court files also provide a glimpse into the connections Khawam had built with Washington elite, including U.S. Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts.

Defense officials said earlier on Tuesday that Allen is under investigation for alleged inappropriate communication with Khawam’s sister, Jill Kelley. Kelley is a fixture in military circles in Tampa, where she was a volunteer social liaison at MacDill Air Force Base.

Officials said they were combing through thousands of pages of email and other communications between Allen and Kelley.

Allen has denied that the two had a sexual relationship, officials said on condition of anonymity.

It was Kelley’s complaints about harassing emails from the woman with whom Petraeus had an affair, Paula Broadwell, that prompted an FBI investigation that ultimately disclosed Petraeus’ involvement with Broadwell, according to law enforcement officials.

Petraeus resigned from the CIA post on Friday.

‘DEDICATED MOTHER’

Khawam for months has been fighting for greater access to her 4-year-old son with Grayson Wolfe, a former Bush administration official who directed Middle East initiatives and Iraqi reconstruction efforts at the Export-Import Bank.

Wolfe could not be immediately located for comment. His LinkedIn profile identifies him as a founding partner of Akkadian Private Ventures, but when a Reuters reporter went to a Washington address listed for the firm, it was occupied by an unrelated private residence.

Wolfe, whose divorce from Khawam was finalized earlier this year, was awarded sole custody of their son in 2011.

District of Columbia Superior Court Judge Neal Kravitz found that Khawam “has extreme personal deficits in the areas of honesty and integrity.” He cited false domestic violence petitions and a lack of honesty in her dealings with her family and employers.

On June 21 of this year, Kravitz ordered Khawam to pay Wolfe $350,000 in attorneys fees and costs, but Khawam continued to push for more access to her son.

A lawyer for Khawam did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In his September 20 letter to the court, Petraeus said he had known Khawam for three years while serving in Tampa, through the friendship he and his wife, Holly, have with Jill Kelley and her husband, Scott Kelley, a Tampa cancer surgeon.

Petraeus said he had observed Khawam with her son during that time, including when the Petraeuses hosted them for Christmas dinner.

“In each case, we have seen a very loving relationship – a mother working hard to provide her son enjoyable, educational, and developmental experiences,” Petraeus said.

Allen in his September 22 letter said he and his wife, Kathy, came to know Khawam through social functions while stationed at U.S. Central Command in Tampa. “She is a dedicated mother, whose only focus is to provide the necessary support, love and care for her son,” Allen wrote.

LAWMAKER CONTACTS

Khawam not only tapped her military connections in her custody battle but also invoked broader contacts as she sought greater access to her son.

In emails with her ex-husband, Khawam wrote that Senator Kerry asked about the son and whether he would be coming to Martha’s Vineyard in the summer of 2012.

She also wrote that Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island invited the son to a summer clambake in the state, and that the son “would greatly appreciate attending this family clambake.”

Included in the court file is what appears to be a handwritten note from Whitehouse, writing, “I am excited to hear that you, Natalie and (the son) may be coming to the family clambake. That would be terrific!”

The Whitehouse note was addressed to Gerald Harrington.

Harrington served as national vice chairman of finance for Kerry’s 2004 presidential campaign, according to a biography posted on the website of Harrington’s lobbying firm, Capitol City Group.

A spokeswoman for Kerry said Kerry was introduced to Khawam by Harrington, whom the spokeswoman described as Khawam’s boyfriend.

A spokesman for Whitehouse also said Whitehouse knew Khawam through her relationship with Harrington, whom Whitehouse has known since college. “Ms. Khawam attended the Senator’s clambake fundraiser this summer as Mr. Harrington’s guest, and he was glad to see them there,” the spokesman said.

Harrington did not respond to requests for comment.

The post Petraeus, Allen supported Jill Kelley’s sister in child custody spat appeared first on Metro.us.

The revelation threatens to fell another of the U.S. military’s biggest names and suggests that the scandal involving Petraeus – a retired four-star general who had Allen’s job in Afghanistan before moving to the CIA last year – could expand.

The U.S. official said the FBI uncovered between 20,000 and 30,000 pages of communications – mostly emails spanning from 2010 to 2012 – between Allen and Jill Kelley, who has been identified as a longtime friend of the Petraeus family and a Tampa, Florida, volunteer social liaison with military families at MacDill Air Force Base.

It was Kelley’s complaints about harassing emails from the woman with whom Petraeus had had an affair, Paula Broadwell, that prompted an FBI investigation that ultimately disclosed Petraeus’ involvement with Broadwell. Petraeus resigned from the CIA post on Friday.

Asked whether there was concern about the disclosure of classified information, the official said, on condition of anonymity: “We are concerned about inappropriate communications. We are not going to speculate as to what is contained in these documents.”

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told reporters flying with him to Australia that he had asked that Allen’s nomination to be Commander of U.S. European Command and Supreme Allied Commander Europe be delayed “and the president has agreed.”

President Barack Obama has put the nomination on hold, the White House said on Tuesday.

Allen, who is now in Washington, was due to face a Senate confirmation hearing on Thursday, as was his successor in Afghanistan, General Joseph Dunford.

The FBI referred the case to the Pentagon on Sunday and Panetta directed the Defense Department’s Inspector General to handle the investigation. Panetta informed the top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee during the flight to Australia. The House Armed Services Committee was also notified.

The U.S. defense official said that Allen denied wrongdoing and that Panetta had opted to keep him in his job while the matter was under review – and until Dunford can be confirmed to replace him, a process that gains urgency given the cloud the scandal could cast over the mission in Afghanistan.

“While the matter is under investigation and before the facts are determined, General Allen will remain commander of ISAF,” Panetta said, referring to the NATO—led force in Afghanistan.

Only hours earlier, Panetta had said he was reviewing Allen’s recommendations on the future U.S. presence in Afghanistan after most troops withdraw by the end of 2014.

Commending Allen’s leadership in Afghanistan, Panetta said: “He is entitled to due process in this matter.”

At the same time, he noted that he wanted the Senate to act promptly on Dunford’s nomination.

The U.S. official said Panetta was informed of the matter involving Allen on Sunday as he flew to Hawaii, after the Pentagon’s top lawyer called Panetta’s chief of staff. The White House was informed next.

FBI RAID, SHIRTLESS PHOTOS

Evidence that the case involving Petraeus was not fully closed came late Monday when FBI agents searched the Charlotte, North Carolina, house of Broadwell.

Agents entered the house carrying boxes at around 9 p.m. (0200 GMT Tuesday) and about four hours later took away what appeared to be two computers and about 10 boxes.

During the search, agents inside could be seen moving through multiple rooms, gathering materials and taking photos.

Broadwell’s family was not at home at the time. The FBI and a Justice Department official would not comment on the raid.

U.S. officials had said in recent days that their investigation was largely complete and that prosecutors had determined it was unlikely they would bring charges in that case, which started when Kelley contacted an FBI agent in Tampa about harassing emails from an anonymous source.

That FBI agent, who has not been identified, has also come under scrutiny after it was discovered he had sent shirtless photographs of himself to Kelley, but “long before” this investigation, a law enforcement official told Reuters. The photographs were first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

The agent had never been on the Broadwell case, but had taken the information about the emails to the FBI cyber squad in Tampa, the law enforcement official said.

The FBI agent, who works in the Tampa office, apparently became frustrated at the pace of the investigation and complained to a member of Congress about it, the official said.

The FBI investigation of the emails received by Kelley traced them to Broadwell and subsequently uncovered emails that revealed an affair between Broadwell and Petraeus.

The emails between the two women were of a “childish”, jealous nature and showed some one-upmanship of trying to come across as being more important to Petraeus, the official said.

When Petraeus resigned as CIA director on Friday he publicly admitted to having engaged in an extramarital affair.

Lawmakers and others have questioned whether Broadwell, who co-wrote a biography of the decorated former general, obtained classified information from him or another source.

Panetta had earlier said Petraeus did the right thing by stepping down, given the security concerns, but he was saddened by the end of the retired general’s distinguished career.

The post U.S. General John Allen now under investigation, Petraeus scandal widens appeared first on Metro.us.

A person familiar with the investigation identified the second woman as Jill Kelley, a long-time friend of the Petraeus family and a Tampa, Florida volunteer social liaison with military families at MacDill Air Force Base.

Kelley went to the FBI after receiving threatening emails that eventually were traced to Broadwell, law enforcement and security officials have said, prompting an investigation that turned up evidence that Petraeus and Broadwell were having an extramarital affair.

“We and our family have been friends with General Petraeus and his family for over five years. We respect his and his family’s privacy and want the same for us and our three children,” Kelley said in a statement obtained by ABC News.

Broadwell has not been available for comment and both the FBI and CIA have declined public comment on the matter.

Petraeus has made no public comment since he announced his resignation on Friday.

The affair has raised questions about whether U.S. national security was ever at risk and the timing of law enforcement and intelligence officials’ revelation of the matter to the White House, as well as who knew about the investigation before last week’s presidential election.

Meanwhile, a former spokesman for Petraeus during his time as an Army general has said the affair with Broadwell, an Army reserve officer who co-authored a glowing biography of him, began after Petraeus retired from the Army in August 2011 to lead the spy agency and ended four months ago by mutual consent.

Retired Colonel Steven Boylan, who was Petraeus’ spokesman in Iraq and has spoken to the general since he resigned at the CIA, downplayed the question of whether U.S. security had been at risk. He said Petraeus never gave Broadwell classified information or communicated with her via his government email.

“My understanding is that she was only at the CIA twice. And at no time, based on conversations with him, did he provide her classified information, nor did she receive anything from him in that manner,” Boylan said in an interview.

“My understanding is that they mutually determined that it was time to end it,” he said, adding that Petraeus “knows he made a huge mistake” and is now trying to focus on his family. “It wasn’t right. And it was done. That was about four months ago.”

A law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Petraeus was first interviewed in connection with the FBI investigation during the week of October 28, about a week after Broadwell was questioned. The FBI informed Petraeus’ boss, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, in the early evening of Election Day, November 6.

Senior U.S. officials said Clapper then informed the White House’s National Security Council staff of the issue and Petraeus’ intention to resign on Wednesday, the morning after President Barack Obama was re-elected to a second four-year term. Obama was informed later that day, they said.

‘EXTREMELY POOR JUDGMENT’

Petraeus, a widely admired soldier-scholar credited with turning around the U.S. war in Iraq and who led NATO and U.S. troops in Afghanistan, announced his resignation in a letter to the CIA workforce on Friday, acknowledging “extremely poor judgment” in having an extramarital affair.

The person familiar with the investigation said Kelley initially approached a Florida field office of the FBI – not FBI headquarters – with a complaint of cyber-harassment. She had received numerous intimidating emails from a handful of different, opaque pseudonymous addresses.

The nature of the emails, according to the source, who was briefed on their contents, was “I know what you’re doing” and similar suggestions that someone was onto Kelley. There was no explicit threat of violence.

Upon tracing them, the FBI found out that Paula Broadwell was behind them, this source said. They also found correspondence between Broadwell and Petraeus leading to the revelation of an affair between them.

High-level Justice Department officials were informed in late summer 2012 of an ongoing investigation involving Petraeus, according to a law enforcement official. This source would not name the Justice officials or say whether Attorney General Eric Holder was among them.

The Justice Department followed long-standing policy by not revealing the investigation to anyone outside the department, such as White House or congressional aides, this official said. It would be inappropriate and unfair to do so, and it might jeopardize any potential prosecution, the official added.

As the investigation moved into the fall, the focus was potential cyber-harassment by one woman against another woman.

Petraeus was thought of by investigators as a potential witness or party to the investigation, but he was never a target of investigators. Prosecutors considered whether the conduct in question constituted a crime of cyber-harassment under the law.

During their interviews with investigators, Broadwell and Petraeus both admitted to the affair, the official said. After the interviews, prosecutors decided they likely would not bring charges, based on the available evidence.

Another U.S. government official said the FBI investigation into the emails was fairly straightforward and did not require obtaining court orders to monitor the email accounts of those involved, including the personal email account of Petraeus. Rather, the official said, investigators reviewed the emails that Kelley had brought to their attention.

“There wasn’t a court order,” the government official said, adding that that action would have been a last resort when other avenues had been exhausted.

A source close to the Petraeus family confirmed that Kelley, who is 37 according to published reports, and her husband, Scott Kelley, a Tampa cancer surgeon, became friends with Petraeus when he was stationed at MacDill from 2008 until 2010 as commander of the U.S. military’s Central Command, which runs operations in the Middle East and South Asia.

The Kelleys later visited the Petraeuses in Washington while on a trip to visit relatives.

The Kelleys did not answer phone calls to the number listed for the family’s mansion-style home on Tampa’s exclusive Bayshore Boulevard, close to the military base.

The Kelleys made the VIP guest list at military functions at MacDill and also hosted Petraeus and his wife at their home in 2010, for the city’s annual Gasparilla pirate parade, according to a report at the time in the Tampa Bay Times.

The post Jill Kelley: Identity of second woman emerges in Petraeus’ downfall appeared first on Metro.us.

Gilberto Valle III, 28, is also accused of planning to abduct and cook 100 other women, which he discussed in grisly detail during online chats. He is charged with conspiracy to commit kidnapping, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said today that the allegations “shock the conscience.”

“This case is all the more disturbing when you consider Valle’s position as a New York City Police officer and his sworn duty to serve and protect,” Bharara said.

The FBI accuses Valle of a sinister plot to kidnap, rape, torture, kill, cook and cannibalize a number of women.

Investigators also say he also negotiated a price with a co-conspirator to kidnap a woman, insisting on no less than $5,000, according to the FBI, to deliver a woman bound, gagged and alive.

28-year-old Janel Quarless graduated with Valle from the University of Maryland in 2006. The two were in the same resident advising class. Quarless told Metro she remembered Valle sometimes making misogynistic jokes and “playing up the stereotype about the angry New Yorker.”

“I’m floored, but somewhat unsurprised,” Quarless said. “He just came off kind of hostile, but in a joking way. In retrospect, I can see how it was a mask for deeper issues.”

Quarless said she had an eerie sense it was Valle when she first heard the news about the arrest of an NYPD who graduated from UMD.

“I started shaking, more so because, at one point, I was acquainted with a future psychopath,” she said. “I can’t say that I’m shocked.”

Valle allegedly created files on about 100 women, each including at least one photograph, and others detailing personal information such as addresses and physical descriptions.

Valle also is accused of illegally using the federal National Crime Information Center to find potential victims, and he also watched them at their homes and workplaces, prosecutors say.

Police revealed details they say are from his computer, such as a document entitled,  “Abducting and Cooking [Victim-1]: a Blueprint,” featuring the woman’s name, birthday, height, weight and bra size.

According to the criminal complaint, Valle, a cop with the 26th Precinct in Harlem from Forest Hills, had online conversations with a co-conspirator about his grisly plan to put his girlfriend’s body into his oven:

• “[My oven] is big enough to fit one of these girls if I folded their legs … The abduction will have to be flawless&I know all of them … [Victim 1], I can just show up at her home unannounced, it will not alert her, and I can knock her out, wait until dark and kidnap her right out of her home.”
• “I was thinking of tying her body onto some kind of apparatus … cook her over a low heat, keep her alive as long as possible.”
• “I love that she is asleep right now not having the slightest clue of what we have planned. Her days are numbered. I’m glad you’re on board. She does look tasty doesn’t she?”

According to the criminal complaint, Valle’s co-conspirator also asked him about his favorite cuts of meat:

• “It’s really hard to dislocate (lock) a jaw. Also, how would we put her over the fire, spitting kills the girl. Have to put her into a kind of cage. What is your favorite cut of meat?
• “You do know if we don’ waste any of her there is nearly 75 lbs. of food there.”

“The allegations in the complaint really need no description from us. They speak for themselves,” Mary E. Galligan, FBI acting assistant director, said in a statement. “It would be an understatement merely to say Valle’s own words and actions were shocking.”

Valle will appear in federal court in Lower Manhattan this afternoon, according to a spokeswoman at the Southern District of New York U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The post Gilberto Valle: Former classmate ‘not shocked’ after ‘cannibal’ cop’s arrest appeared first on Metro.us.

21-year-old Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis was arrested this morning after officials said he parked a van containing what he believed to be a 1,000-pound bomb outside the Federal Reserve Bank in the heart of the Financial District.

In the company of an undercover agent whom he believed to be a co-conspirator, Nafis reportedly tried to detonate the explosives, which had been rendered inoperable by law enforcement, from a downtown hotel.

Nafis, a Bangladeshi national, came to the U.S. in January of 2012. According to the FBI, he had overseas ties to al Qaeda and attempted to recruit terrorists when he arrived in the U.S. Undercover agents had been monitoring him as part of the FBI New York Field Office’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, in conjunction with the NYPD.

“Al Qaeda operatives and those they have inspired have tried time and again to make New York City their killing field,” NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly said today. “We are up to 15 plots and counting since 9/11, with the Federal Reserve now added to a list of iconic targets that previously included the Brooklyn Bridge, the New York Stock Exchange, and Citicorp Center.”

He added, “After 11 years without a successful attack, it’s understandable if the public becomes complacent. But that’s a luxury law enforcement can’t afford. Vigilance is our watchword now and into the foreseeable future.”

Nafis is charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and attempting to provide material support to al Qaeda.

Foiled plots targeting NYC in recent years

November 2011: The most recent terror bomb plot that was foiled before today happened nearly a year ago when Manhattan man Jose Pimentel was arrested for creating nail-studded bombs he planned to detonate around the city. Police said he learned to make the bombs from an al Qaeda magazine article called “How to Build a Bomb in the Kitchen of Your Mom.”

May 2011: Ahmed Ferhani and Mohamed Mamdouh were arrested after police said they plotted to blow up city synagogues and target the Empire State building. Ferhani, a 26-year-old Algerian native who lived in Queens, and Mamdouh, a 20-year-old Moroccan native who also lived in Queens, had been monitored by undercover NYPD officers.

May 2010: Faisal Shahzad, a Pakistani-born American, was sentenced to life in prison after he pleaded guilty to an attempted car bombing in Times Square. He admitted he received bomb-making training from the Pakistani Taliban and that a group known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, had funded the bomb plot.

September 2009: Zarein Ahemdzay, a  Bosnian-born cab driver who lived in Queens, was arrested for plotting to blow up New York City subways. He later pleaded guilty and testified against his alleged co-conspirator.

May 2009: James Cromitie, David Williams, Onta Williams and Laguerre Payen were arrested for placing explosives outside Jewish synagogues in the Bronx. They were later found guilty by a federal jury.

February 2009: Russell Defreitas, Kareem Ibrahim, Abdul Kadir and Abdel Nur were arrested and charged with plotting to blow up a jet fuel supply at John F. Kennedy International Airport.

The post NYPD: Federal Reserve Bank bomb plot is 15th foiled terror plan since 9/11 appeared first on Metro.us.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has arrested three suspected members of the hacker group LulzSec and charges will be made public against two more, a law enforcement official told Reuters on Tuesday.

LulzSec, an underground group also known as Lulz Security, along with fellow hacking group Anonymous have taken credit for carrying out a number of high-profile hacking actions against companies and institutions including the CIA, Britain’s Serious Organized Crime Agency, Japan’s Sony Corp and Mexican government websites.

Last month, the activist group Anonymous published a recording of a confidential call between FBI agents and London detectives in which the law-enforcement agents discuss action they are taking against hacking.

Of the three hackers arrested, one was 23 and the other was 19. This is making us feel really good about our life choices.

The post LulzSec hackers brought down from within as leader Sabu revealed as FBI mole appeared first on Metro.us.

Only he’s no protester — he’s a plainclothes private security consultant “monitoring” the group’s activities.

“The movement is so big, you don’t know what they want to do and what they’re capable of,” said Ryan, who said he was initially curious about the protest. “Everyone has a different agenda.”

He’s become so concerned Occupy Wall Street poses a danger to New Yorkers, he’s even sent their e-mails to the FBI and the NYPD.

“They keep saying they want their own Tahrir Square — but look what happened there,” he said. “People died.”

In one e-mail, he sent an NYPD detective a tip that protesters planned to crash a press conference where Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly was meant to speak.

Another time he sent the FBI a tip that protesters planned to reach out to union leaders to increase their numbers.

The FBI declined to comment on Ryan, but one source did point out that all of Ryan’s “tips” came from publicly available information.

Nonetheless, the Occupiers have labeled Ryan a snitch and a spy.

Occupy Wall Street spokesman Patrick Bruner called Ryan’s actions “disingenuous and unproductive.”

Death threats go both ways

Death threats abound on both sides of the debate. Since Tom Ryan chronicled his findings earlier this week on Andrew Breitbart’s BigGovernment.com, he said he has received hundreds of death threats.

One man wrote to him, “Let me slit your throat you corporate whore … I would slaughter your family as well if given the chance.”

And he’s not the only one getting threats.

Occupy Wall Street spokesman Patrick Bruner said he’s been getting threats from conservatives who oppose the protest.

“Just because I get a threat from a conservative, doesn’t mean it’s representative of that party,” he said.

Follow Emily Anne Epstein on Twitter @EmilyatMetro.
 

The post Thomas Ryan: Self-appointed spy of Occupy Wall Street appeared first on Metro.us.

Yesterday, they took a stand.

An outspoken group of family members issued a public letter to the FBI and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, asking to be included in the FBI’s probe of Murdoch’s News Corporation.

‘It is upsetting that there now exists an allegation that a newspaper would seek to illegally obtain information about their loved ones, and perhaps even their own personal lives, and exploit it for profit,” said their lawyer, Norman Siegel. “We need to determine whether or not such unconscionable acts in fact took place.”

“We want to find out what’s going on,” said Sally Regenhard, who lost her firefighter son, Christian, in the towers.

The letter was address to Holder, Robert Mueller, Director of the FBI, and Representative John Conyers of the House Judiciary Committee.

Yesterday, News Corp stocks continued to fall as Murdoch’s flagship US property, The Wall Street Journal, attempted damage control by publishing an editorial meant to separate the paper from its parent company, while accusing rivals of “schadenfreude.”

“We also trust that readers can see through the commercial and ideological motives of our competitor-critics … They want their readers to believe, based on no evidence, that the tabloid excesses of one publication somehow tarnish thousands of other News Corp. journalists across the world,” read the editorial.

“The Journal’s editorial is disingenuous,” said Columbia University media ethics professor Todd Gitlin. “It is a dishonest piece of right-wing propaganda. This is a case of doing the boss’s bidding. It deserves no respect.”

Follow Emily Anne Epstein on Twitter @EmilyatMetro

The post 9/11 family members want in on Murdoch probe appeared first on Metro.us.

U.S. authorities have acknowledged they are looking into a report by Britain’s Daily Mirror newspaper that reporters with the rival News of the World offered to pay a New York police officer for private phone records of some 9/11 victims. The Mirror’s report has yet to be independently verified but has fueled U.S. emotions over the wider phone hacking scandal.

New York attorney Normal Siegel sent letters yesterday requesting meetings with FBI Director Robert Mueller, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and U.S. Rep. John Conyers.

The Daily Mirror report said News of the World journalists had wanted the phone numbers of the dead as well as details of the calls they had made and received in the days leading to the attacks.

The post 9/11 families want to meet with FBI appeared first on Metro.us.

Afghanistan-born U.S. citizen Mohammed Zazi, 55, is on trial for charges of obstructing the investigation into a plot by his son, Najibullah Zazi, 26, to bomb the subway in 2009.

In opening arguments to a Brooklyn federal court jury, prosecutor Andrew Goldsmith said the FBI was frantically trying to stop a suspected attack when they showed up on Mohammed Zazi’s doorstep in Aurora, Colo., in September 2009.

Goldsmith said that Mohammed Zazi’s efforts to thwart the investigation included telling family members to lie and helping to destroy chemicals, masks and other evidence.

“In the midst of trying to stop this terrorist attack on New York City, the FBI wasted time and resources trying to untangle the defendant’s lies,” Goldsmith told jurors.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder called the plot the most serious security threat in the United States since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Najibullah Zazi admitted to having traveled to Pakistan, where he was recruited by al Qaeda and received bomb-making instructions.

When he returned, he put into motion a plan to bomb the New York City subway system near the Sept. 11 anniversary.

The post Father accused of hiding bomb plot appeared first on Metro.us.

“We’re looking into allegations raised by the letter by Peter King yesterday,” said an FBI source, asking not to be identified.

News Corp declined to comment on the FBI probe.

The Daily Mirror reported that News of the World journalists offered to pay a New York police officer to retrieve the private phone records of victims of the Sept. 11 attacks. The Daily Mirror, citing an unidentified source, said journalists wanted the phone numbers of the dead as well as details of the calls they made and received in the days leading to the attacks.

Murdoch last week shut down the News of the World, Britain’s top-selling Sunday tabloid, on a growing firestorm over allegations grew that its journalists had illegally accessed voicemails of thousands of people, from child murder victims to the families of Britain’s war dead.

Murdochs in hot seat

Rupert Murdoch on Thursday caved to pressure from Britain’s parliament to answer questions over alleged crimes at one of his newspapers, setting up a showdown with lawmakers keen to break the media mogul’s grip on politics. Murdoch, 80, and his son James, initially said they would not face questions and then reversed their decision after Prime Minister David Cameron said they should attend.

The post FBI sets its sights on News Corp. appeared first on Metro.us.