This is the story of an unusual alliance that will never be. Suburban terrorism suspect Adel Daoud and California Senator Dianne Feinstein. Mr. Daoud's attorney's requested the help of Senator Feinstein and the intelligence committee she chairs, to prove that federal prosecutors in Chicago used super-secret spy tactics to gather evidence against him. On Thursday, the request was denied, but there is an interesting backstory to all this that has captured the attention of the I-Team.
It is a precedent-setting terrorism case here in Chicago: Hillside teenager Adel Daoud was arrested on charges he plotted to blow up a downtown Chicago bar as part of a personal jihad.
Attorneys for the 19-year old contend that the Daoud terrorism investigation was rooted in the government's controversial spying and surveillance program.
The main evidence Daoud's legal team has relied on is a public hearing last year in which Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Dianne Feinstein pointed to Daoud's case as an example of the spying program successfully stopping a would-be terrorist.
In this letter, Daoud attorney Tom Durkin asks that the Senate committee produce any and all "assessments, reports, and other information on which Ms. Feinstein relied when speaking about the Chicago case last year.
On Thursday, the response is in this letter from Senate committee counsel: "Senator Feinstein did not mean to state that surveillance was used in the Daoud case the letter maintains. Her purpose was to refute the view that this country no longer needs to fear attack."
According to attorneys for the U.S. Senate, there are no assessments, reports and other information in committee possession.
Daoud's attorneys on Thursday suggest the senate reply is fishy, and they insist that U.S. intelligence officials are going to extremes to avoid any constitutional review of the spy program.
In Chicago, the federal judge hearing the terrorism case has already ruled that Mr. Daoud is not even entitled to know whether the case against him was sparked by the government's surveillance program.
