Attorney General

Some DOJ Lawyers Who Questioned Waterboarding Agreed it Was Legal

In 2005, Justice Department lawyers differed over the propriety of waterboarding and other harsh interrogation techniques for terrorism suspects, but all agreed that it was legal. Even lawyers who raised objections to some of the methods—including James Comey and Daniel Levin—agreed they were legal under a 1994 anti-torture law, the…

Jun 8, 2009 12:13 PM CDT

New DOJ Evidence Debacle: AG Says Gov’t Disclosure Dubious in 2 More Alaska Cases

In the latest prosecutorial embarrassment for the U.S. Department of Justice, the DOJ has admitted it may have fouled up concerning the required pre-trial provision of exculpatory evidence in the cases of two Alaska lawmakers. In a filing yesterday in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco,…

Jun 6, 2009 12:07 AM CDT

Immigrants Can Reopen Deportation Cases If Effective Counsel is Denied, AG Holder Rules

Updated: Only days before President Barack Obama took office, then-Attorney General Michael Mukasey issued an opinion finding that noncitizens have no right to counsel in deportation proceedings and hence can’t reopen their cases if private lawyers have inadequately represented them. But on Wednesday Attorney General Eric Holder reversed that order…

Jun 3, 2009 8:56 PM CDT

AG Orders US Protection for ‘Appropriate’ Facilities After Abortion Doc Killed

U.S. Marshals rarely offer protection for private individuals outside the court system, but the government is making an exception to the general rule after the slaying of abortion provider George Tiller at his Wichita, Kan., church yesterday. Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement yesterday: “I have directed the…

Jun 1, 2009 5:12 PM CDT

Philly US Atty Leaves Early in Unusual ‘Switcheroo’

The U.S. Attorney in Philadelphia has been replaced after just three months on the job and only one month before her term was to end. Laurie Magid is leaving her post as interim U.S. Attorney for a position in the office’s appeals division, the Philadelphia Daily News reports. “Still, the…

May 26, 2009 6:31 PM CDT

Prosecutor Recommended Over Foley Partners for Mass. US Atty

A prosecutor who grew up in Spanish Harlem is being recommended for the job of U.S. attorney in Massachusetts. Carmen Ortiz would be the first woman and the first Hispanic to hold the job in the state if she is nominated and confirmed, according to the Boston Globe and the…

May 21, 2009 11:23 AM CDT

Liberal Group Files Ethics Complaints Against Three Ex-AGs

A coalition of left-leaning advocacy groups has filed ethics complaints against three former attorneys general and nine other Bush administration lawyers for advocating the use of harsh interrogation techniques against terrorism suspects. The coalition calling itself the Velvet Revolution says the lawyers violated ethics rules by advocating methods that amounted…

May 18, 2009 6:39 PM CDT

High Court Rules Pakistani Held After 9-11 Can’t Sue Ex-AG on ‘Conclusory’ Claims

A cable TV installer who says his detention after the Sept. 11 attacks was motivated by racial, religious and national origin bias has failed to allege specific facts allowing him to sue the former attorney general and the ex-director of the FBI, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled. The court…

May 18, 2009 2:48 PM CDT

Schumer Aide Who Led Prosecutor Firing Probe Tapped for NY US Atty

President Obama has chosen a lawyer who led a probe into the firing of U.S. attorneys to fill the top federal prosecutor spot in Manhattan. Preet Bharara investigated the dismissals as chief counsel to Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., the New York Times reports. Bharara was an assistant U.S. attorney for…

May 18, 2009 11:24 AM CDT

Ex-Deputy AG Pushed for Supreme Court Consideration

Some White House officials are pushing a new name for inclusion on President Obama’s U.S. Supreme Court short list: James Comey, a former deputy attorney general who opposed the Bush administration’s legal tactics in the war on terrorism. Comey, who was deputy attorney general from 2003 to 2005, has law-and-order…

May 15, 2009 6:03 PM CDT

Karl Rove to be Questioned in Probe of US Attorney Firings

A special prosecutor who is investigating accusations related to the claimed political firings of at least nine U.S. Attorneys during the Bush administration is scheduled to question former senior White House aide Karl Rove tomorrow. The Connecticut prosecutor, Nora Dannehy, was appointed in September 2008 by then-U.S. Attorney General Michael…

May 14, 2009 7:59 PM CDT

Bybee a No-Show at ‘Circus’ Hearing on Interrogation Memos

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., says he doesn’t blame U.S. Appeals Judge Jay Bybee for being a no-show at a congressional hearing yesterday on Justice Department memos approving harsh interrogation techniques for suspected terrorists. Graham questioned why Bybee would want to appear in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee “circus,” the…

May 14, 2009 12:59 PM CDT

In a Reversal, White House Will Seek to Withhold Photos of Detainee Abuse

The Obama administration has reversed course and decided it will oppose releasing photos of claimed prisoner abuses at U.S. prisons in Iraq and Afghanistan. Anonymous officials told several publications that President Obama met with his legal team last week and said he feared that U.S. troops would be endangered by…

May 13, 2009 5:32 PM CDT

Craigslist Will Drop Erotic Services Ads in Deal with Three State AGs

Facing pressure from attorneys general in three states, Craiglist has agreed to drop its erotic services advertising. The online classified ad website will replace the category with “adult” listings that will be reviewed by its employees, the Associated Press reports. Craigslist acted after meetings with attorneys general from Illinois, Connecticut…

May 13, 2009 3:40 PM CDT

John Yoo Hired as Monthly Columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer

John Yoo, under fire for writing legal memos approving harsh interrogation techniques for terrorism suspects, will now try his hand at writing on a regular basis for the Philadelphia Inquirer. Yoo was hired as a monthly Inquirer columnist late last year, the Philadelphia Daily News reports. The Inquirer’s editorial page…

May 12, 2009 6:45 PM CDT