The Justice Department — whose name is becoming uncomfortably Orwellian under Ashcroft — has refused to comply with a judge’s order that they produce one of their witnesses against accused 9/11 accomplice Zacarias Moussaoui so that he may be questioned by the defense (in this case, Moussaoui himself, since he’s going the pro se route). Their excuse is “national security,” but I’m not clear on how that abrogates the right of the accused to confront witnesses. This refusal could open the door for a number of sanctions from the judge, apparently up to and including outright dismissal of the charges against Moussaoui.