New judge urged in assassination plot trial

An Iraqi man accused by U.S. authorities of plotting to assassinate former President George W. Bush for initiating the Iraq War asked on Tuesday for a different judge who was not appointed by Bush.

Shihab Ahmed Shihab Shihab, 52 — who had lived in an apartment in Columbus’ Northland area and in Indianapolis after arriving in the U.S. in 2020 — made the request at a hearing in U.S. District Court in Columbus through his attorney. Shihab appeared in court with an Arabic interpreter.

U.S. District Judge Michael H. Watson, who was appointed by Bush in 2004, appeared somewhat annoyed by the request. He told Shihab’s defense attorney to make a formal request in writing for the change while Watson decides what he will do.

“There are no Reagan judges,” Watson said in court. “There are no George W. Bush judges. There are no Obama judges. There are no Clinton judges. There are no Trump judges. There are just judges on this court. We have the finest judicial system in existence.”

The request for a new judge came about a month after a hearing on Jan. 7, at which Watson began the proceeding by asking Shihab if he would prefer a different judge on the case because he is a Bush appointee.

After conferring with his client, Assistant U.S. Public Defender George Chaney said then Shihab felt comfortable moving forward.

At the January hearing, Shihab pleaded guilty to a single count of attempting to provide material support to terrorists. But before Watson could accept Shihab’s guilty plea, Chaney asked for the case to be continued so he could make sure his client understood the plea.

At the short hearing on Tuesday, Chaney said he has had more time to speak with Shihab, and his client would like Watson to recuse himself before proceeding.

Watson asked Chaney if Shihab understood that any judge on the court would handle the case the same way and follow the same federal sentencing guidelines.

“He said to me that in his country if he were accused of plotting the death of someone who had appointed a judge, he would likely get a death sentence or a life sentence,” Chaney said.

To which Watson asked, “Did you remind him he’s not in his country?” Chaney said he did so.

Watson explained that cases are randomly assigned to judges, and he believes he can be impartial on the case.

If Shihab pleads guilty, he will admit to the charging document, which states he told an informant he was part of a group overseas seeking to assassinate Bush and that his role in the plot was to conduct surveillance on Bush’s residences and offices and to obtain firearms and vehicles.

The plot included the intention to smuggle at least four Iraqi nationals into the country to kill Bush, federal authorities allege.

When Shihab was arrested last May, law enforcement officials said Bush was never in real danger because Shihab had unwittingly told his plans to confidential informants for the FBI between November 2021 and April 2022.

The FBI, in the original complaint filed against Shihab, accused him of planning to smuggle Iraqi nationals across the Mexican border in exchange for thousands of dollars per person.

In subsequent discussions with the informants, the complaint states Shihab said he “wanted to be involved in the actual attack and assassination of former President Bush and did not care if he died as he would be proud to have been involved in killing former President Bush.”

The charging document also stated Shihab traveled with one of the informants in February 2022 to the former president’s residence and the George W. Bush Institute, both in Dallas, where he recorded cellphone video of the buildings and surrounding area.

Shihab met with an informant at a hotel in Columbus in March 2022, according to the charging document, where the informant presented him with sample firearms and law enforcement uniforms — including an M-16 rifle and a U.S. Border Patrol uniform, according to the earlier complaint.

“Shihab asked if (the informant) could obtain grenade launchers that can be attached to the barrel of the M-16s,” the complaint states. The informant “advised that this should be possible.” jlaird@dispatch.com @Lairdwrites