“I cannot begin to tell you how displeased this court is. Sit down, Ms. Wittenberg. McSheffrey, what do you have to say?”
McSheffrey was good on his feet and had acquired an impressive knowledge of the law over the years. “There is much law against what my consummately learned friend has said . . .”
Mordecai let him run for five minutes or so and put an end to it. “If you are saying that a man who tries to intimidate a witness, addresses the court and staff with contempt, and threatens to flee the jurisdiction of a court is not hostile, McSheffrey, you are nuts. Everyone in the court knows he’s hostile. And, by the way, I Googled what a GBU-57 is. He’s threatened to turn this courtroom into a smoking ruin. He’s more ornery than Genghis Khan. You are an idiot if you do not see that. The orders are granted. You may ask leading questions, Ms. Wittenberg. Proceed.”
Dana smiled brightly at McSheffrey and asked the same question again. Several lawyers again jumped up and shouted various objections.
“What is it now?” asked Mordecai with an exasperated sigh. “I have ruled that she can ask leading questions.”
“This cannot possibly be relevant. What does some Afghan bandit have to do with any of this?” said McSheffrey.
“I’m surprised that you would say that after what we heard yesterday,” the judge said. “Now sit down and shut up.”
“And I will show relevance,” said Dana with confidence. “Much relevance is coming.” She smiled and turned to face Dan. “Mr. Alexander, you have spent the last three days or so in cells here at the courthouse, correct?”
“Everyone knows that. And believe me, there will be political consequences.”
“I’m sure there will be,” Dana replied. “But were you not in the last two nights in contact with Kumar Hanaman, Zak Goldberg, and Richard Lawrence?”
“Yes. They were in a large cell close to mine. They are criminals. They belong there.”
“They were there for their protection. People have been trying to kill them. Do you know anything about that?”
“I don’t care what people are saying, or doing. Whatever evidence you have is obviously doctored. It’s a setup.”
“Yes, I’m sure it is. But back to your time in cells. When you were there, did you admit to the three that Yousseff Said al-Sabhan was the terrorist responsible for the Colorado attack?”
“I deny that.”
“Did you say that you were continuing to deal with him because it gave the US a strong position in Afghanistan?”
“I deny that.”
“Did you agree that Yousseff was the man who blew up the Glen Canyon
Dam?”
“I deny that.”
“You know, Mr. Alexander,” began Dana sweetly, “you know that Zak, Kumar, and Richard were in cells not because they were imprisoned, but for their own protection. Many attempts had been made on their lives, and they and the sheriffs felt that the safest place for them would be in cells.”
“Sure, whatever.”
“And because of that, they were not treated like prisoners. Their personal possessions were not taken from them when they were booked in.”
“So?”
“One of those possessions was Zak’s smartphone.”
“Big deal.”
“That cell phone has a record function on it.”
“Big deal. The guy had a fancy phone. So what?”
“Zak recorded one of your speeches while you were in cells. Would you care to hear it?”
Dan remained mute. He knew what was coming and was already formulating defenses. Data could be cooked.
“Actually, I don’t care if you answer or not. Listen to this. I would ask the court to direct Madam Clerk to increase the volume on this microphone to the maximum so we can all hear this. The first voice is yours. The second is Richard Lawrence. The third is Zak Goldberg. By the way, we made a little transcript of it. Here it is.” She handed it to Dan and to the judge. She took Zak’s phone, went to the “record” app, clicked “play,” and held the phone up to the microphone in front of the lectern.
DA: I hope you three are having fun.
RL: Oh, Dan, that’s you. I hope they’re taking good care of you.
DA: You’re done, you and Richard. Your treasonous conduct will not be forgotten. Get ready for a lifetime in Gitmo.
ZG: For what? Telling the truth? Bringing Kumar here to tell the truth? We all know Yousseff and what he did. You know that, Dan.
DA: Sure I know it. Yousseff is a terrorist. But we have our geopolitical interests on the table. We’re at war, you fucking idiots. We have bases in Afghanistan that have incredible strategic value. You attack Yousseff, you attack our objectives and interests in Afghanistan, and that’s treasonous fucking behavior. Got it?
ZG: No, we don’t get it. Yousseff murdered tens of thousands of American citizens. He was the man who supervised the destruction of the Glen Canyon Dam. He should be stuffed somewhere and never again see the light of day.
DA: So what? It’s politics, you two idiots. You don’t seem to get that. Deals have to be made, sometimes with people you don’t like, sometimes even with terrorists like Yousseff. It’s the way of history. This happens all the time.
ZG: You’re a sick and twisted little man, Dan. Some values cannot be compromised. Some lines cannot be crossed. You’ve crossed so many that you’ve lost your moral compass. You would make a deal with Satan if it suited your purposes. In fact you probably have.
DA: That’s right, asshole. That’s why I’m the director of TTIC and will be president before long, and you will spend the rest of your days in some cockroach-infested prison. Now shut the fuck up. I want to get some sleep.
“That’s you on that recording, isn’t it?” Silence. Dana waited, and waited. The longer the pause became, the greater the effect.
Finally the court interrupted. “Mr. Alexander, you must answer the question.”
“Fine,” retorted Dan. “It sounds like it’s me, but you are dealing with very sophisticated people on the other side of this thing. That recording is doctored. It might sound like me
