Under Mounting Pressure the Department of Justice Released Names of the Al Qaeda 7

The video called Al-Qaeda 7 which was released yesterday by the conservative group Keep America Safe was extremely effective. YEA!!!! This video proved to be more effective in pressuring the Department of Justice to release the names of the Department of Justice lawyers who represented terrorists at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba than the multiple requests which were made over a period of several months by some congressman. The names of the lawyers are listed below.  Finally, now there has been some transparency from this administration.


Rep. Frank R. Wolf (R-Va.) sent a letter to Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. on Tuesday asserting that "the decision to allow attorneys who advocated for terrorists held at Guantanamo to craft detainee policy during the war on terror would be akin to allowing attorneys for the Mafia to draft organized crime policy during the 1960s."

I agree with Rep. Frank R. Wolf. There are conflicts of interest for all of these lawyers  who are working at the DOJ now who had previously defended terrorists. I don't see how they could possibly have America's best interest at heart.

Jonathan Cedarbaum is now working at the Justice Department and previously worked at the firm WilmerHale. With his effort the firm brought the case Boumediene v. Bush to the Supreme Court, which reaffirmed the right of detainees to challenge their detention.

Karl Thompson is now working at the Justice Department and worked for the firm O'Melveny & Myers. He became one of seven attorneys to represent Omar Khadr, a Canadian citizen who was captured in Afghanistan in 2002 and transferred to Guantanamo Bay.

Joseph Guerra is now working at the Justice Department and worked previously at the firm Sidley Austin. He was one of five lawyers from the firm to help three civil liberties groups, including the self-described "conservative" Rutherford Institute, file a detainee-related brief with the Supreme Court.

Tali Farhadian now works at the Justice Department and previously worked at the firm Debevoise & Plimpton. In 2006, she helped file a brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, urging the federal appeals court to hear the case of Ali al-Marri, the only "enemy combatant" at the time being held on U.S. soil.

Beth Brinkmann now works at the Justice Department and previously worked at the firm Morrison & Foerster when she helped compile at least two Supreme Court briefs dealing with Guantanamo Bay detainees.

Tony West now works at the Justice Department and previously worked at Morrison & Foerster's San Francisco office. He represented "American Taliban" Johh Walker Lindh, a move that was hotly debated after West was nominated to the Justice Department in January 2009. West wasn't confirmed until April 2009.

"Weich acknowledged in the letter that Principal Deputy Solicitor General Neal Katyal previously represented a Guantanamo Bay detainee and that National Security Division Attorney Jennifer Daskal previously worked for Human Rights Watch, which advocates on behalf of detainees."

I have no problem with the proper counsel being able to help in the terrorists defense, but I don't think pro bono work is meant for suspected terrorists who either tried killing us or aided in that terrorism. It is only proper for the military to call on lawyers to defend terrorists under an arrangement that the suspected terrorists would be tried in the proper manner which is in front of a miliatry tribunal.

H/T goes to Fox News