NATIONAL BRIEFING / COLORADO
The federal government’s most secure prison has determined that two books written by President Obama contain material “potentially detrimental to national security” and rejected an inmate’s request to read them.
Ahmed Omar Abu Ali is serving a 30-year sentence at the federal supermax prison in Florence for joining Al Qaeda and plotting to assassinate then-President George W. Bush. Last year, Abu Ali requested “Dreams From My Father” and “The Audacity of Hope.” Prison officials, citing FBI guidance, determined that one page from “Dreams” and 22 from “Audacity” could harm national security. They didn’t specify passages, but nearly half of the pages are in a chapter on foreign affairs.
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