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SDNY COURTHOUSE, August 29 – In the ongoing lawsuit "In Re Terrorist Attacks on September 11, 2001," originally filed in 2003, a conference was held on February 22, 2022 after the US' action on frozen Taliban funds. Inner City Press covered it, below.

  The conference concerned writs of execution levied against Afghan assets held in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Counsel cited applicable New York law in the CPLR, and expressed deference to US foreign policy. The UN, it's said, is complaining about the use of funds - it it doing its own fundraising off Afghanistan.

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn held the conference.

Inner City Press live tweeted Judge Netburn's November 10, 2021 conference, here.

On Thursday October 28, before a Monday hearing, John Fawcett's right to now invoke the Fifth Amendment to avoid questions about his leak of information from the case was taken up, and disposed of, by Judge Netburn. Inner City Press live tweeted here.  The rejection of Fawcett's Fifth Amendment claims by Magistrate Judge Netburn was upheld by District Judge George B. Daniels on October 29.

On Saturday October 30, two days before the hearing, Saudi Arabia proposed cutting off the audio line and closing the courtroom for some or all of Fawcett's testimony. Letter here. It is an outrage: "counsel for Saudi Arabia proposed that the  courtroom be closed for any testimony that reveals protected material, and counsel for Fawcett  proposed that, in order to avoid inadvertent disclosure of protected material, the courtroom be  closed and the audio feed be cut off for the entirety of Fawcett’s testimony, that counsel  promptly review the transcript and propose redactions, and that the transcript be made public as  soon as practicable after the hearing. Saudi Arabia takes no position on whether the courtroom  should be closed for the entirety of Fawcett’s testimony. If the courtroom is not closed for the  entirety of Fawcett’s testimony, we request that counsel and the witness be instructed not to  disclose Saudi Arabia’s or Al Jarrah’s protected information without giving us an opportunity to  object and to request that the courtroom be closed for that specific part of the testimony."

On November 10, the Hogan Lovells law firm dropped the Taliban as a client. Judge Netburn held a proceeding; Inner City Press live tweeted it here and below.

In late August 2022, Magistrate Judge Netburn recommended not granting victims access to the $3.5B the Administration had said would be for them: "These creditors hold judgments against the Taliban for its role in the September 11 Terrorist Attacks or other terrorist acts. They move under § 201(a) of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 (“TRIA”) for a turnover of the DAB Funds to satisfy these judgments. The Court recommends denying these motions... Only the President may recognize the government of a foreign sovereign nation." Only the President may - so what will the Administration do?

On August 29, Inner City Press called in to the US State Department briefing to ask about this. But Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel wouldn't take the question, while taking three from (his) Voice of America. In the UN Security Council, US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield intoned: "the United States has not turned our backs on Afghanistan. We have remained in the country*, we have continued to provide essential assistance to the Afghan people, and we are working closely with the international community, with partners to support the establishment of mechanisms that will protect, preserve, and disperse on a limited basis Afghan Central Bank assets for the benefit of the Afghan people.      But I also want to be clear that we will not turn these funds over to the Taliban to be used for their purposes that do not contribute to the wellbeing of Afghans.   FN  *We have remained engaged with the country."

Later on August 29, plaintiffs asked for an additional thirty days to oppose the recommendation.

Watch this site.

The case is In Re Terrorist Attacks on September 11, 2001, 03-md-1570 (Daniels / Netburn).

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