Former head of OLC: Attacks on Justice Department lawyers are "shameful"
March 05, 2010 6:39 am ET by Media Matters staff
From a March 5 Washington Post op-ed by Walter Dellinger, former head of the Office of Legal Counsel during the Clinton administration:
It never occurred to me on the day that Defense Department lawyer Rebecca Snyder and Lt. Cmdr. William Kuebler of the Navy appeared in my law firm's offices to ask for our assistance in carrying out their duties as military defense lawyers that the young lawyer who worked with me on that matter would be publicly attacked for having done so. And yet this week that lawyer and eight other Justice Department attorneys have been attacked in a video released by a group called Keep America Safe (whose board members include William Kristol and Elizabeth Cheney) for having provided legal assistance to detainees before joining the department. The video questions their loyalty to the United States, asking: "DOJ: Department of Jihad?" and "Who are these government officials? ... Whose values do they share?"
[...]
That those in question would have their patriotism, loyalty and values attacked by reputable public figures such as Elizabeth Cheney and journalists such as Kristol is as depressing a public episode as I have witnessed in many years. What has become of our civic life in America? The only word that can do justice to the personal attacks on these fine lawyers -- and on the integrity of our legal system -- is shameful. Shameful.
NYT: Bush Official Defends Lawyers Under Attack for Detainee Work
Memo to right-wing media: Bush DOJ lawyers also represented terror suspects
She is portraying 9 D.O.J attorneys as Dirty & Unworthy of Retrieval.
Hey Liz, why don't you show a doctored photo of The Al-Qaeda 9 with Towels around their Heads?
The Al-Qaeda 9, Be aware & Be Vigilant, because these DOJ attorneys want to see every American Dead.
Speak truth to power.
Mr. News
Liz Cheney is a reputable public figure?
Bill Kristol is a journalist?
The fact that these two have a connection to this hit piece should be the first tip off that it is nothing but a hack job, at best.
They give patriotism a bad name.
Well, the values of most reasonable Americans who support our justice system, despite its flaws. We support assuming that people are innocent until proven guilty, despite the fact that some guilty people go free occasionally. We support giving defendents competent defense attorneys and access to all the evidence against them, despite the fact that this sometimes allows guilty defendents to wriggle free of the charges against them.
We do this to protect everyone's rights, especially those innocent people who might be alleged to be guilty in error!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mr. Dellinger, with due respect, Mistake #1 . . .
BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA . .