FROM A
DIFFERENT ANGLE by Kenneth Rijock
Financial Crime Consultant, for World-Check
Trial date moved due to volume of evidence in Antonini case
12 February 2008

US District Judge Joan Lenard has moved the trial date in the case that charges several Venezuelan nationals with acting as unregistered foreign agents, after defence counsel requested a delay on the grounds that the massive amount of evidence and information in the case warranted an additional 30-days to prepare. Details of the government's case have emerged that indicate that the trial, which is estimated to require three weeks, will feature an extensive amount of electronic surveillance and documentary evidence.

The motion filed by one of the attorneys for Defendant Carlos Kauffmann gives us a small window into the government's case:

  • There are 41 audio CDs recorded during the surveillance, many of which are three hours long.
  • Eight videos exist. Neither the CDs or videos have not yet been transcribed or translated from Spanish by the US Attorney.
  • Counsel states that there are approximately 4500 documents available for inspection and copying.
  • According to defence counsel, " the prosecution also advises that there are many additional tapes that will soon be disclosed."

Additional tapes from where, you ask?  Counsel has also moved the Court to require the prosecutor to disclose whether there are any tapes from "warrant-less or illegal surveillance."  Since 9/11, the National Security Agency (NSA) has been eavesdropping on international telephone traffic in connection with the Global War on Terror, under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA. Some of this may constitute illegal surveillance under American law,

If the NSA was improperly listening in to attorney-client conversations, and said information was used to assist in this case, in any way, it must be disclosed.

Personally, I am also curious about the four thousand-odd documents the US Attorney reportedly has.  Do they signal a larger picture? We shall see, though later rather than sooner, now that the trial date has been moved off a bit.


The facts and opinions stated in this article are those of the author and not those of World-Check. World-Check does not warrant the accuracy of any facts and opinions stated in this article, does not endorse them, and accepts no responsibility for them.

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