Mayor Michael Bloomberg made a personal appeal for the federal government to pick up the tab for the September 11th trial, which he says will cost hundreds of millions of dollars.
In a letter sent to federal budget officials, senators, congressmen and Attorney General Eric Holder, Bloomberg says New York will do what it has to in order to secure the trial and the suspects while they’re detained in the city.
He says the costs could amount to $216 million for the first year of the trial alone and hundreds of millions more if the proceedings drag on.
The mayor adds that the city’s financial and police resources are not infinite.
“I don’t want to be in a situation where I have to take security away from other parts of this city,” said the mayor. “We only have so much money, and we only have so many police. We can only afford so many police.”
It is not yet known when the alleged mastermind of the terror attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, above, and four other suspects will be transferred to the city from Guantanamo Bay.
So far, a trial date has not been set.
(Source: NY1)
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6 Responses
Appeal??? The President had this cockamanie idea of putting this master terrorist on trial in NYC-why shouldn’t the whold country share the costs??
Here’s an idea Mr. Mayor…
Instead of having the trial in the court house, why not have it in Yankee Stadium, and sell tickets. That should greatly help defray the expenses. What? It will be harder to guard the “suspects” there? Nu? So you do the best you can.
Go bloomberg! Brilliant move to delay the trial and put more pressure on Obama to possibly change this trils court back to a millitary court due to hightened terroristic activity.
how much does a noose cost?
I thought this was Obama’s idea first off. Second, chuckie cheesie’s the shlepper had put in a request for Senate appropriation for the cost of the trial. What happened?
You aren’t allowed to sell tickets to a trial (constitutional issue), however you could televise the trial and sell advertising to the broadcast (a mere statute would be needed, perhaps just approval of the presiding judge). You also have an execution in Yankee Stadium, though it would take a special statute (not a problem, it isn’t a constitutional issue).
The problem is that since it is a FEDERAL trial, the money would go to Mt. Obama, and not Mr. Blumberg or Mr. Patterson. Remember that since this is a FEDERAL trial, the FEDERAL government pays for the courthouse and jail security, which will be in federal (not city or state) facilities.