FBI Not Investigating Publication Of 9/11 Mastermind's Letter, DOJ Tells Guantanamo Judge

WASHINGTON -- The FBI is not investigating how The Huffington Post obtained a copy of a 36-page letter written by Sept. 11 terror mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, a Justice Department lawyer told a military court on Monday.

The DOJ court filing leaves unanswered the question of what two FBI agents were investigating earlier this month when they showed up at the home of a security contractor working on the defense of a man on trial in Guantanamo in connection with the Sept. 11 attacks. The agents reportedly spoke with the contractor about the publication of KSM's writings by The Huffington Post in collaboration with Great Britain's Channel 4 News, and got him to sign an agreement to cooperate with the FBI and to inform on the activities of lawyers on the defense team.

Fernando Campoamor-Sanchez, a DOJ lawyer who works in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, said in a court filing on Monday evening that the FBI was neither investigating the publication of KSM's writings, nor the dissemination of the writings to third parties. Campoamor-Sanchez' unclassified filing did not elaborate on what the federal agents were investigating.

"Contrary to the apparent belief of defense counsel ... and the Commission ... the FBI Preliminary Investigation does not pertain to the disclosure of Mr. Mohammad's written communications to third parties," Campoamor-Sanchez wrote. "Indeed, the FBI has informed the Special Review Team that it has not conducted and is not conducting an investigation into that disclosure."

The FBI's investigation was described in a classified submission also filed on Monday, but disclosed only to Judge James Pohl and not the defense lawyers who may be subjects of the FBI probe. Campoamor-Sanchez wrote that he and his team are still gathering information about the investigation and will provide additional details to the military commission in 30 days.