Gordon D. Kromberg
Prosecuting Assange case as part of the Grand Jury in Alexandria, Virginia.
bio: “Mr. Gordon Kromberg is an Assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia, where he has served since 1991. He has been the lead prosecutor in many cases of defendants attempting to support Al Qaeda and ISIS, and other terrorist groups. After 9/11, Gordon served on the United States Justice Department’s Terrorist Financing Task Force, and helped coordinate a nationwide enforcement effort to combat terrorist financing. Gordon is a graduate of Princeton University and the New York University School of Law, and a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army’s Judge Advocate General’s Corps.”
From Craig Murray:
When the best thing your most supportive colleague can say about you, is that out-and-out Islamophobes do enjoy temporary popularity in the immediate aftermath of a terror attack, then there is a real problem. There is a real problem with Gordon Kromberg, and Lewis may very well come to regret resting the weight of the credibility of his entire case upon such a shoogly peg.
Washington Post: "Relentless Terrorism Prosecutor Faces Accusations of His Own":
When Al-Arian's Tampa attorney, Jack Fernandez, asked Kromberg to delay the defendant's transfer 30 days until after the Islamic religious holidays of Ramadan, Kromberg responded: “If they can kill each other during Ramadan, they can appear before the grand jury. All they can't do is eat before sunset. I believe Mr. Al-Arian's request is part of the attempted Islamization of the American Justice System. I am not going to put off Dr. Al-Arian's grand jury appearance just to assist in what is becoming the Islamization of America.”
“He's a loose cannon,” said an expert in legal ethics who reviewed court documents in the Arian case. “If I were the Justice Department, I wouldn't want him on the front lines of these highly visible, highly contentious prosecutions.”
Washington Post:Mischaracterizing My Son in 'Va. Jihad Case':
Mr. Kromberg's parting thrust was to link the Sept. 11 attack on the Pentagon with Masaud's trip to Pakistan more than a week later, knowing that my son had planned his trip since July 2001 and that nothing linked him to that tragedy. That statement was the lowest blow of all, but the court did not chastise him for it. I assume Mr. Kromberg said it for the benefit of reporters in the courtroom, so that it would be printed.
Wall Street Journal: Introducing Gordon Kromberg, a Federal Prosecutor on the Hot Seat :
Through a spokesman, Kromberg declined to comment to the WaPo. But according to the story, Kromberg's critics say he has joked about torture, improperly confronted another suspect in public and has lamented “the Islamization of the American justice system.”
Bad Trip: How the War Against Drugs is Destroying America By Joel J. Miller:
Speaking at a 1999 conference on asset forfeiture reform hosted by the Cato Institute, Gordon Kromberg, assistant US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, defended civil forfeiture precisely on the basis that it can be used to punish people when a prosecuter cannot muster enough evidence to prove guilt.
Muslim Public Affairs Council: Justice For All?:
Lawyers are generally taught that deliberately using race, religion or ethnicity in prosecuting a defendant violates Equal Protection rights guaranteed by the 14th Amendment. In light of his repeated anti-Arab and anti-Muslim statements, it seems that Assistant U.S. Attorney Gordon Kromberg needs to be reminded of this fundamental principle.
Gordon Kromberg, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, has made repugnant statements about Muslim women, has suggested to a jury that Muslims believe it's religiously acceptable to lie, and has promoted the notion that Muslims are killers due to their nature. MPAC today filed a complaint with the Office of Professional Responsibility calling on the Department of Justice to review Mr. Kromberg's statements and to investigate the discriminatory remarks made by him about Arabs and Muslims.
Representing the U.S. government, Kromberg argued before a district judge last fall that Dr. Sami Al-Arian should not be released in to his daughter's custody because, “in this particular culture,” a woman could not prevent her father from fleeing.
The motion released by Dr. Al-Arian's attorneys calling in to question the bias of Prosecutor Kromberg states that Kromberg joked about the torture of a Virginia man name of Ahmed Abu Ali, who was then being held in Saudi Arabia. The suspect's lawyer, Salim Ali, said that when Mr. Kromberg was asked about Abu Ali's prospects for returning to America, Kromberg smirked and stated “He's no good for us here. He has no fingernails left.” Kromberg later stated in a declaration that he had no recollection of making the statement.
New York The Sun: A Prosecutor Is Called 'Relentless':
“Kromberg is absolutely relentless in his pursuit of everything that could be pursued in the way of forfeiture or prosecutions in this area. He's just indefatigable, relentless, tireless,” Mr. FitzGerald said. “If you say he's doing the country's work to fight terrorism, that's good, he's a good fighter, but a lot of people say it's overkill, he doesn't listen to reasonable arguments. Everything is black until somebody takes him to court to prove it's white.”
While most observers are wondering what is behind the continued pursuit of a case that was all but concluded, recent revelations have pointed in the direction of one particular individual: a federal prosecutor who has made no secret of his anti-Muslim and anti-Arab beliefs. Assistant U.S. Attorney Gordon Kromberg’s past actions and statements reveal a disturbing trend that supports the view that Dr. Al-Arian is being punished for his political activism on behalf of the Palestinian people.