Just three months into his tenure on the federal bench, and before his formal investiture ceremony later this week, newly minted U.S. District Judge Christopher “Casey” Cooper has been handed one of the most high-profile and politically sensitive American terrorism cases in recent years.◼ D.C. Whispers: MUST KNOW Information Regarding Pending Khattala Trial - Ulsterman
Cooper, who was confirmed by the Senate in March, has been randomly assigned by the court’s selection system to preside over the U.S. government’s case against Ahmed Abu Khattala, a suspected ringleader in the deadly attack on U.S. outposts in Benghazi, Libya.
...Khattala had been residing in Libya in plain sight since the 2012 Benghazi Massacare, even granting interviews to the media. The Obama administration appeared unwilling, or disinterested, in placing him into custody.
That is, UNTIL Congress moved forward with the Trey Gowdy led select committee into Benghazi. Suddenly, the administration was pushing the media to cover the story that Khattala had been captured and was on his way back to the United States to face trial in a public court – treating the Benghazi Massacre as a criminal act, not a military one, thus ensuring the military would not control the trial, but rather the Obama Justice Department would....
Cooper was confirmed in March of 2014. Just two months later, the Obama White House declares that Ahmed Abu Khattala has been captured and will be facing trial in New York.
Judge Christopher Cooper has been selected to preside over the Khattala trial.
Now...Check out this blurb buried within a Washington Post story on the upcoming Khattala trial published yesterday:
Cooper, 47, was part of the Obama administration’s transition team and is one of the more connected people in D.C. legal circles. His wife, Amy Jeffress, is a former national security adviser to Attorney General Eric Holder.
…As an undergraduate at Yale, Cooper’s roommate and close friend was John Rice, brother of President Obama’s National Security Adviser Susan Rice.
