ALBANY — New York Magazine has published an impressively detailed story on the Schoharie limousine crash that again invites a still-unanswered question: Does the FBI bear culpability for the tragedy that killed 20 people in 2018?
Prestige Limousine, after all, was owned by Shahed Hussain, a notorious and mysterious informant in several FBI terrorism stings that essentially entrapped people with no apparent ties to Islamic extremism, including, in one infamous case, the owner of an Albany pizza shop and an imam from a Central Avenue mosque.
After the crash, terrific reporting by Times Union reporter Larry Rulison revealed the extent of Hussain's troubling history, which includes a veritable laundry list of dubious business dealings and other eyebrow-raising interactions. But somehow, Hussain and his family always escaped consequences.
"As a rule," wrote Ben Ryder Howe, "people in power here will simply not discuss whether Hussain’s undercover work played any role in allowing his businesses to flout safety regulations. Take, for example, Democratic congressman Paul Tonko, a 'son of Amsterdam' who knew many of the victims. Last year, Tonko’s then–communications director, Matt Sonneborn, began an hour-long interview by specifying that neither he nor Tonko would have anything to say about the Hussains or the FBI."
https://www.timesunion.com/churchill/article/Churchill-Tonko-and-others-need-to-demand-16787770.php?IPID=Times-Union-HP-state-package
