Obama says NYC trial for KSM still an option – now says 190 terrorists convicted in federal courts

Last week we wrote about how the number of terrorists that the White House is claiming have been convicted in federal courts is all over the place (kind of like their ‘saved jobs’ number), depending who is in front of the camera.

In yet another highly controlled, one-on-one interview, President Obama told Katie Couric that he has not ruled out trying Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in New York City, even though New York officials and Congressmen are saying that they don’t want the trial in Manhattan.

However, the thing that stood out in that part of the interview was that President Obama stated that 190 terrorists had been successfully convicted in federal courts:

He also defended his decision, noting again that the administration of former President George W. Bush had handled terror suspects arrested in the United States in the same way.

“They prosecuted 190 folks in these Article III courts, got convictions and those folks are in maximum security prisons right now. And there have been no escapes,” Obama said. “And it is a virtue of our system we should be proud of.”

Just last week Eric Holder stated that 300 terrorists had been tried and convicted in federal courts.  It’s important to note that Attorney General Holder told a Senate panel in November that he would produce a list of the 300 terrorists convicted in federal courts, including what the actual charges were, and to date he has failed to live up to that promise.

As is often the case with the Obama administration, the ‘message’ changes based on who is speaking and who they are speaking to.  A few weeks ago, when Axelrod, Jarret and Gibbs made the rounds of Sunday talk shows, their ‘claims’ of jobs ‘saved or created’ ranged from thousands to two million.

In the case of these terrorist convictions, we have heard hundreds, 200, 300 and now 190, but the White House has continued to promise, but not deliver, a list of these convicted terrorists.