In early September 2021 - I walked you through Alexana Amon Kotey‘s Plea Agreement. Additionally, after reading the vast majority of Kotey’s docket I then pointed out a few unique carve outs of the executed plea agreement.
There is a very interesting provision contained within Defendant Kotey Plea Agreement and I’ll admit it was kind of shocking to read but I actually suspect it might have been the smartest legal maneuver by US Prosectors & UK Prosecutors to address the following;
See the September 3, 2021 Article - for a copy of Kotey Plea Agreement…and reiterated what I had tweeted back in 2020 —that there was an unnamed coconspirator
Supreme Court ruled on 25 March 2020 on two questions: (i) whether it is unlawful for the Secretary of State to exercise his power to grant an MLA request that could lead to the imposition of the death penalty and (ii) whether it is lawful under the Data Protection Act 2018 (‘DPA’), for law enforcement authorities in the UK to transfer personal data to law enforcement authorities abroad for use in capital criminal proceedings.
I’m not exactly sure why so many overlooked that article but ICYMI —my recommendation is that if you take a moment and perhaps reread the September 2021 article. Insofar as to help setting a factual foundation t the foundation, while providing you with ancillary facts and the Kotey & Khalifa intersection…
Defendant Khalifa is a Saudi-born Canadian citizen. He is also fluent in English and Arabic languages. He was part of the leadership the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham’s (ISIS) English Media Section. In November of 2013 and upon his arrival in Syria KHALIFA swore a fighting oath (Bay'at Al-Qitat in Arabic) to Abu Bakr at-Baghdadi
While serving in ISIS’ central media bureau, KHALIFA narrated at least two ISIS propaganda videos. And no I am not going to include any links to ISIS’ propaganda…
Flames of War: Fighting Has Just Begun -distributed September 19, 2014
Flames of War II: Until the Final Hour -distributed November 29, 2017
The criminal complaint charges Defendant Khalifa with conspiring to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, namely ISIS, and took actions that resulting in multiple deaths. In January of 2019 - United States Military and Syrian Democratic Forces captured Khalifa.
Defendant Khalifa production & distribution of ISIS’ propaganda;
…as further alleged in the complaint, KHALIFA worked within ISIS's central media bureau April 2014.
he narrated a series of recruitment videos entitled “Inside the Khilafah” that depicted various aspects of daily life within the Islamic State and featured ISIS members encouraging potential recruits to join ISIS and conduct terrorist attacks against non-Muslims.
The narration in one of these videos encourages recruits unable to leave their home countries to join ISIS in conducting attacks in countries outside the Islamic State, displaying footage of ISIS attacks in Europe, including attacks in Paris, France; Brussels, Belgium; and Nice, France.
The video also includes a voice recording of Omar Mateen, the Pulse Nightclub mass shooter (I recently wrote about a recent Appeals Court ruling), declaring his allegiance to ISIS during the June 12, 2016, terrorist attack in Orlando, Florida.
⛔️your obligatory trigger warning ⛔️ — pages 5 and 8 of the affidavit are incredibly difficult to read. The affidavit includes a summary of each of the barbaric videos Defendant KHALIFA, during August 2014 to January 2015. Please proceed with caution, if easily triggered.
Productions by the ISIS Media Bureau;
during the time period in which Khalifa was allegedly a prominent member include videos or images depicting:
the barbaric beheadings of American hostages James Wright Foley, Steven Joel Sotloff and Peter Edward Kassig;
an announcement concerning the death of American hostage Kayla Jean Mueller;
the beheadings of British citizens David Haines and Alan Henning;
the decapitated body of Japanese citizen Haruna Yukawa; and the beheading of Japanese citizen Kenji Goto.
It is also important to remember the protracted nature of KHALIFA’s ISIS Propaganda… at times the Defendant purposefully downplayed his role/leadership in ISIS. Once he joined ISIS’ central media bureau —the defendant embarked on an almost five year media campaign —showing the world just how barbaric ISIS is and used the murders as recruitment videos…
“KHALIFA admitted to FBI” Footnotes always read the footnotes
Because that’s where you tend to find tiny details that are actually pretty important. The inference here is the FBI turned the screws ever so tightly that Defendant KHALIFA. And eventually the Defendant became forthcoming but that’s pure speculation on my end — since none of us were in the interrogation of the Defendant…
KHALIFA’S oversight and guidance facilitated the translation and distribution of ISIS-produced propaganda, released under various ISIS media brands such as "Nashir" and "Amaq News Agency," in order to reach Westem audiences. KHALIFA admitted to FBI agents that he used an account (ACCOUNT1) on PLATFORM1 to coordinate the production and dissemination of Nashir and Amaq releases with the assistance of the supporter networks.
“…Pursuant to a court authorized search warrant for KHALIFA's electronic mail account, I have reviewed communications sent by KHALIFA…”
That might be the best compound sentence I’ve read in a long time -was it wordy? Yes but it is exquisitely written…
KHALIFA became an influential English-speaking member of ISIS. At various points, KHALIFA has made claims to Western media outlets that he was a simple translator and rank and file member of ISIS's media establishment. However, FBI investigation has determined KHALIFA played an important role in the production and dissemination of ISIS propaganda across multiple mediums targeting western audiences.
A primary focus of much of KHALIFA's propaganda production was aimed at enticing ISIS supporters to travel toISlS-controlled areas to join ISIS and/or to conduct attacks in the West, including in the United States, on ISIS's behalf. KHALIFA was also an active participant in armed hostilities on behalf of ISIS. Just prior to his capture by the Synan Democratic Forces (hereafter "SDF") in January 2019… KHALIFA engaged in armed conflict on behalf of ISIS, inciuding throwing grenades against his combatants.
Also Fun-Fact-File: Bayan Broadcasting, al-Bayan Radio, are an ISIS media brand which is primarily responsible for releasing daily audio newscasts in multiple languages… also social media companies should be held accountable for allowing ISIS’ content on their platforms (this was recently discussed, found here)
When reading pages 11 thru 13 the interference is pretty clear - that during KHALIFA’s various “Mirandized, custodial interview” with FBI Agents, it actually appears that KHALIFA explained the ISIS media hierarchy and various components for both production and distribution of their barbaric propaganda content…
In short one has to think that KHALIFA entered into a cooperation agreement pursuant to a plea agreement. And no, I’m not pulling that out of thin air. If you’ll recall my Kotey Twitter threads —I ruminated that in the end Kotey would enter into a plea agreement… and sure enough September 2021 ← it took longer than I expected. So if you don’t think KHALIFA didn’t negotiate a plea agreement then after all this time, I’m not sure that I’ve taught you anything. But again that’s speculation on my end —I suppose in a few months we will know who’s right and who’s wrong. Also see October 2, 2021 DOJ-OPA Press Release
Khalifa is charged with conspiring to provide material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization, resulting in death. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of life in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
