Prosecutors Quietly Drop Charge Over Leaked Video of D.C. Plane Crash

Months after the collision between a U S Army helicopter and a tourist jet that killed people in Washington D C Congress and federal aviation safety regulators are still analyzing what happened In the immediate aftermath as the Trump administration scrambled to blame the tragedy on diversity equity and inclusion policies functionaries took swift action against two men they accused of leaking dramatic footage of the crash to CNN which aired videos that appeared to come from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport s guard cameras The charges filed by local bureaucrats in Virginia came as President Donald Trump and his allies vowed to crack down on journalists and their sources But on Wednesday local prosecutors in Virginia dropped charges entirely against one of the men Jonathan Savoy who worked at the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority The second MWAA employee Mohamed Mbengue indicated he would not contest the charges according to court records reportedly as part of a pretrial diversion agreement with prosecutors In early February the MWAA publicized that Mbengue and Savoy had been charged with computer trespass a misdemeanor under a Virginia law for making an unauthorized copy of airport records An MWAA press message issued on February specified that Savoy was charged following further police analysis of the leak Weeks after both men were arraigned in Arlington County court prosecutors dropped the charge against Savoy through a filing called a nolle prosequi according to the court docket Mr Savoy is grateful for the complete dismissal of the criminal charge filed against him his attorney Robert L Jenkins Jr wrote in an emailed comment to The Intercept It was clear from the facts that he never violated the law Related Army Helicopter Accidents Are Occurring at Near Record Rates The Arlington County Office of the Commonwealth s Attorney did not respond to The Intercept s request for comment about why charges were dropped against Savoy Also on Wednesday Mbengue entered a plea of no contest which local media shared was part of a pretrial diversion agreement that will expunge the charge after a year of good behavior Mbengue s attorney did not respond to The Intercept s request for comment Since February The Intercept has been trying to get arrest reports for both Savoy and Mbengue The MWAA denied a population records request on the grounds that the records might interfere with the ongoing court proceedings against them On Thursday the MWAA notified The Intercept that since charges were dropped against Savoy its basis for withholding the records in full is no longer applicable and withheld records about Savoy would be processed It appears that the event against Mr Mbengue may also be concluded early next week which would similarly affect the basis for withholding them in full an attorney for the MWAA wrote by email The post Prosecutors Quietly Drop Charge Over Leaked Video of D C Plane Crash appeared first on The Intercept