Posted on 02/22/2011 9:44:39 PM PST by Nachum
The Justice Department under President Barack Obama has quietly dropped its legal representation of more than a dozen Bush-era Pentagon and administration officials - including former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and aide Paul Wolfowitz - in a lawsuit by Al Qaeda operative Jose Padilla, who spent years behind bars without charges in conditions his lawyers compare to torture.
Charles Miller, a Justice Department spokesman, confirmed Tuesday that the government has agreed to retain private lawyers for the officials, at a cost of up to $200 per hour. Miller said “conflicts concerns” prompted the decision. He did not elaborate.
One private attorney involved in the case, who asked not to be named, said the Obama administration apparently concluded “its duty to represent the defendants zealously, which includes the duty to argue any and all defenses, can’t be discharged for reasons of policy and other government interests.”
(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...
The list, ping
Let me know if you would like to be on or off the ping list
http://www.nachumlist.com/obamaethics.htm
Obama is scum.
The Feds are paying private lawyers to defend them. I think that’s actually better, given that it’s not clear that Obama’s Justice Department is capable of setting aside its prejudices against conservatives in order to conduct a thorough and diligent defense of members of GWB’s administration. Besides, private sector lawyers are generally sharper than the Feds.
“the government has agreed to retain private lawyers for the officials, at a cost of up to $200 per hour”
“Obama is scum.”
Unless $200 an hour is not enough, I don’t see why this is bad.
Good catch. Rumsfeld, especially has been around since the Carter era, and he knows every dirty trick in the book on how to get back at scumbags like Obama down the line.
you guys are too optomistic.
I think with a terrorist suing them, Holder saw a conflict of interest.
Only half-kidding. I wonder if the islamicist is one of the ones someone on Holders staff represented.
you guys are too optomistic.
what conflict???? he didn’t elaborate??? wtf!!!
You sort of indirectly hit the nail on the head. We aren’t dealing with a fender bender personal injury case. At this level a $200/hour lawyer is almost a laughingstock. It’s an indirect insult to say they will supply a lawyer but only up to 200 bucks per hour. In other words, they are saying, we will not support you, but we will give the appearance of doing the right thing.
Rumsfeld has been around since the Eisenhower era!
So have I!
Any private attorney worth a damn will charge WAY more than $200 per hour.
>>Rumsfeld has been around since the Eisenhower era!<
I read the Esquire interview on him and he claims/states he has never sat down during meetings because standing up subliminally hastens the meetings. Same thing with Eisenhower..reportedly. Eisenhower also claimed his meetings were done standing up because sitting down tends to drag the meeting for longer sessions. Everyone gets to the point when standing up.
I thought about the $500 to $1000 /hour rates being thrown around but maybe the government pays them the medicare rate :) or the lawyers pad the hours...or they agree to a flat rate. Other than that the government needs to defend them, or charge them with a crime if they did something illegal.
I am with you Frosty...why would anyone ever trust the o regime? to play by the rules? Can I please remind everyone about Philly 2008.
I read an account that Rumsfeld had a desk made that he would stand at (not sit)
Check out Greta who does many interviews standing as does the interviewee
That is very interesting. When SecDef, Rumsfeld also had a special standing desk in his office, he prefers to do his paperwork and such standing too. I guess this just shows he’s a real stand-up guy...!
Rummy first worked for VP Gerald Ford.
LOL, u could say that.
I will always remember Rumsfeld’s special FU to those nations who didn’t join America in the Iraq war..
“France, Germany...they’re Old Europe. Poland, etc..they’re the new Europe”. Truly a classic.
yep...I think that Rummy even used a lawyer’s desk, which is one that is standing up...
Yes...they are paying private lawyers to defend them, but the question is “why?” Why is there a conflict of interest unless they are considering investigated them themselves and are considering prosecuting them, or one of their lawyers has represented/is respresenting one or more terrorists?
BTW, $200 per billable hour isn’t very much for the caliber of attorney needed for a case such as this.
We must be sure the Obama administration (if it can be called that) receives equal justice when they are done destroying the country and its principles.
If it counts any and all legal service (including much cheaper paralegal pencil pushers and form filers) it might not be a bad deal overall.
Given that relatives of mine have spent much more than $200 per hour on lawyers, in a backwater town like Pittsburgh, means these are probably not top-notch lawyers in a more expensive town such as DC.
Gee, what a surprise.
Thanks for the ping Nachum. I’m actually surprised in a way this action wasn’t taken by this disloyal anti American lot of radical wienies earlier during their term of misadministrating our government.
Another one for the file folder. To paraphrase Maude “We’ll get them for this”.
Pittsburgh is not a backwater town, lawyer wise.
AAR of FReepers Supporting Rumsfeld at his house in DC, May, 2006.
Translation: the Kenyan Clown's circus is far more in tune with Jose Padilla than with Mr. Rumsfeld.
Darn tootin'. Mine does.
Then again, he puts 14 yo kids on the stand and makes them cry -- until they finally tell the truth. (he's never lost)
That won't happen. Republicans never do that.
The Democrat-Marxists can glue the keys and dig out all the “W” keys form the computers, rip out phone lines, trash Air Force One and steal it presidential seal, walk out with thousands of dollars of objects and furniture from the White House and graffiti its walls,....
And...The Repubs will do NOTHING!
Especially in the Washington, D.C. area.
Since the first time I saw a pic of Padilla, I’ve been convinced he’s one and the same.
Who is paying for Padilla’s attorneys?
Paul Wolfowitz, also mentioned in the above article, worked for SecDef Rumsfeld under Ford and was Rumsfeld’s Deputy SecDef under GW Bush.
The problem arises in part from the fact that many of the DOJ lawyers now setting legal policy for the war on terror previously waged lawfare against the War on Terror during W’s administration, Eric Holder among them. The lawyers now representing us against the enemy formerly represented the enemy against us on related matters. It’s actually scandalous, but the issue has gotten very limited traction. Various “recusals” have been required from these guys, but given the political corruption of DOJ under Holder, it’s a joke.
Rumsfeld’s private lawyers, David Rivkin and Lee Casey, are the best lawyers in America for this case. He’s got the dream team, and is much better off with them than with conflicted former lawyers for terrorists at DOJ driving him into the ditch.
For all we know, Rumsfeld’s private counsel wanted them off the case and provoked this withdrawal by DOJ.
Thanks for your reply.
Do you remember: Wasn’t there a request for a list of DOJ lawyers who defended Gitmo Gang members? Was that ever supplied?
Holder needs to be in prison already.
The "conflict" is that the 0bama Justice Dept. is working for al-Queada.
Grassley was the one asking for that. Just found this article on the subject.
http://liveshots.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/03/03/exclusive-unknown-doj-lawyers-identified/
More than five years before that, Joseph Guerra, now Principal Deputy Associate Attorney General at the Justice Department, was one of five lawyers from the firm Sidley Austin to help three civil liberties groups, including the self-described "conservative" Rutherford Institute, file a detainee-related brief with the Supreme Court.The brief urged the justices to hear the case of Jose Padilla, a U.S. citizen who was held as an "enemy combatant" before the Bush Administration decided in 2006 to prosecute him in a civilian court..
No no. He interfaced with Kissinger quite a bit in President Nixon’s administration. There’s alot of misinformation on Rummy in this post. Get his book, just came out days ago, “Known and Unknown, A Memoir”.
“If it counts any and all legal service (including much cheaper paralegal pencil pushers and form filers) it might not be a bad deal overall.”
You might be right.
However, in any big city where there’s a concentration of very successful attorneys, $200 per billable hour is still a drop in the bucket.
Double that, and you will be in the ballpark.
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