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Amendment to Add Intent to ‘Material Support’ Laws Likely to Fail, Say Analysts
By Brian Monroe
printA proposed amendment to a Senate bill that would narrow the scope of when a person criminally aids a terrorist is unlikely to survive Congressional review, say former government officials. The proposal by Sen. Russell Feingold, a Wisconsin Democrat, and nine-cosponsors would limit the ban on providing "material support" to blacklisted terror groups to cases when a person "knowingly and intentionally" did so. Under the amendment, prosecutors would have to show that defendants intentionally aided someone tied to a terrorist activity. If passed, the revision would have a "devastating" affect on current and future terrorism prosecutions, according to Michael Kraft,...
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