The defense laced into the credibility of the Government's star witness at the Detroit terrorism trial today. First, they attacked his history of credit card scams and other misdeeds. Then,

The lawyers tried to paint Hmimssa, an illegal immigrant from Morocco, as trying to get a shorter sentence on fraud charges he pleaded guilty to last week in exchange for his cooperation. They said he was concocting stories about the men, three of whom were once his roommates.

You have lived a life of lies since you got here, haven't you," Leroy T. Soles, Koubriti's attorney, asked Hmimssa.

"I didn't lie," he responded. "I scammed for money."

Soles repeatedly asked him why he did not tell federal authorities about the alleged terrorism until six months after he was arrested in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Nov. 28, 2001.

....Defense attorneys have portrayed the four defendants as scapegoats in a national effort to show Americans that law enforcement is doing something to protect the nation from future terror attacks.

We'll stay tuned.

Update: The New York Times says the witness' testimony has moved from chilling to confusing.