Today's Washington Examiner posted an article by Byron York on Wednesday's meeting of the Senate Judiciary Committee and its discussion of terrorist trials. During the meeting, Attorney General Eric Holder refused to reveal possible conflicts of interest involving Justice Department lawyers who, before joining the Obama administration, worked on behalf of Guatanamo detainees.
According to the article, Senator Charles Grassley pointed out:
"I want to know more about who is advising you on these decisions. There are attorneys at the Justice Department working on this issue who either represented Guantanamo detainees, or worked for groups who advocated for them. This prior representation I think creates a conflict of interest problems for these individuals."
The article concludes:
"..."Sen. Grassley expects Attorney General Holder to respond fully to all requests from committee members, including the important requests for ethics recusals discussed at today's hearings," a Grassley spokesman said after the hearing. "Those requests should be complete and timely.""
Some of the law firms Justice Department lawyers worked for before joining the Obama Administration will be representing terrorists in civilian trials. These law firms would probably not be involved in military trials. There is a major potential here for a conflict of interest.
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