According to federal officials, the men told a JDL member who became a government informant that they believed “Arabs need a wake-up call,” and that the JDL needs to let people know it is “alive in a militant way.”
Both men, scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday in a U.S. District Court, maintain their innocence.
Lawyers for Rubin, 56, and Krugel, 59, described the charges as a hysterical reaction to the Sept. 11 attacks — and say the two were entrapped by an FBI informant.
The 24-page indictment charges that the men recruited a person, described as someone who joined the JDL in his teens, to bomb the King Fahd Mosque in Culver City and the field office of Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista).
Issa, an Arab-American of Lebanese descent,.is one of the more vocal congressional critics of Israel.
A third potential target was the Muslim Public Affairs Council, headquartered in a highrise in Los Angeles, but Rubin allegedly struck this target from the list.
During the course of a dozen meetings of the three alleged plotters between October and December of last year, the unidentified informant contacted the FBI and agreed to wear a concealed tape recorder during future sessions.
Rubin and Krugel were arrested on Dec. 11, after the informant delivered five pounds of explosive powder to Krugel’s garage, according to the indictment.
In separate phone interviews, defense lawyers for the two men attacked the government’s charges.
The second count, which accuses Rubin of conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction against a U.S. government office, is “outrageous,” said Peter Morris, who represents Rubin. “They’re trying to raise this to the level of the Sept. 11 attacks.”
Mark Werksman, Krugel’s lawyer, said “this case was initiated by, prodded along and overseen at every stage by an FBI informant. The informant provoked discussion about things that Krugel and Rubin would never have done on their own.”
Area Jewish organizations, including the federation, have expressed their horror at the alleged plot.