The Justice Department’s disclosure that nine of President Obama’s appointees had either represented or advocated for Guantanamo detainees has touched off a firestorm of criticism.
The surprising admission came three months after Republican Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa asked Attorney General Eric Holder for a list of names of Obama DOJ appointees who had been involved in legal work for Gitmo prisoners.
Holder, in a letter to Grassley, admitted that nine of the agency’s appointees had done some kind of work on behalf of terror suspects.
“To the best of our knowledge, during their employment prior to joining the government, only five of the lawyers who serve as political appointees in those components represented detainees,” said Holder in the letter, which is dated Feb. 18.
“Four others either contributed to amicus briefs in detainee-related cases or were otherwise involved in advocacy on behalf of detainees.”
Holder refused to reveal the names of any of the DOJ lawyers who worked on behalf of terrorists or their positions in the department, except for two officials whose advocacy for Gitmo detainees had already been reported.
Neal Katyal, the department’s principal deputy solicitor general, was once the lawyer for Osama bin Laden’s driver. Jennifer Daskal, part of Obama’s Detention Policy Task Force, advocated for detainees at Human Rights Watch.
Holder insisted that there was nothing unusual about government counsel having once worked on the opposing side, and compared it to lawyers who represented tax cheats going to work for the agency’s tax division.
“A prosecutor of white-collar fraud cases may have previously represented defendants in such cases. This familiarity with and experience in the relevant area of law redounds to the government’s benefit,” he wrote.
But the revelation that the DOJ had staffers who had once backed America’s enemies left many critics fuming.
“It’s like they’re bringing al Qaeda lawyers inside the Department of Justice,” said Debra Burlingame, who lost her brother on 9/11 and a board member of the advocacy group Keep America Safe.
Long Island GOP Rep. Peter King said he was perplexed why Holder didn’t reveal the names of appointees who had worked for terrorists.
A DOJ rep reiterated that no ethics codes were broken.
“The department’s attorneys are subject to ethics and disclosure rules . . . which are the strongest in history,” said spokesman Matthew Miller.