TerrorismTwo Chicago terrorism cases bring the issue of expanded surveillance to the fore

A Chicago attorney representing a teenager facing terrorism charges raised concerns during a pre-trial hearing about whether expanded surveillance methods were used in her client’s case.

Fox Newsreports that this is the second time in less than a month that the issue of expanded surveillance methods was brought up in a Chicago terrorism case.

The American-born Abdella Ahmad Tounisi, 18,  is being charged with lying to authorities and about attempting to provide material aid to the al Qaida-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra group, a fundamentalist Islamic militia  currently fighting the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria. Tounisi has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Molly Armour, Tounisi’s lawyer told a judge that it is not known whether law enforcement officials used enhanced surveillance against her client, but she would make an effort to find out.

In the other case, Adel Daoud, 19, has pleaded not guilty to attempting to detonate a bomb outside a Chicago bar. Daoud’s attorneys asked a judge to force prosecutors to reveal whether they used enhanced surveillance methods. If it is determined that they did, Daoud’s lawyers will challenge the evidence.

Prosecutors in both cases said in court filings that they followed the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which governs secret surveillance, but they have not said whether they drew on 2008 amendments to the law which allowed for to broader surveillance.

Since the 2008 amendments, the government has consistently refused requests in terrorism cases to reveal whether enhanced surveillance methods triggered wider investigations.

Federal prosecutors declined comment on both cases.