Friday, July 29, 2005

 

John Roberts And Ken Starr's Ghost

I was arguing this very point yesterday over dinner:

WASHINGTON — The White House is citing the attorney-client privilege as the basis for refusing to reveal memos written by Supreme Court nominee John G. Roberts Jr. when he was representing the government before the high court. At the time, Roberts was the top deputy to Solicitor Gen. Kenneth W. Starr. But it is not clear that this legal privilege shields the work of government lawyers from the eyes of government investigators — thanks to a legal ruling won by Starr himself, when he was independent counsel investigating President Clinton. Usually, the attorney-client privilege protects private lawyers from being forced to reveal what their clients told them. It also shields their notes and memos from prosecutors. This rule of secrecy is seen as vital to the adversarial process. But in 1996, Starr challenged the notion that White House lawyers who worked for Clinton could invoke the attorney-client privilege when Starr sought notes they had written. Starr argued that the lawyers worked for the people of the United States, not for the president. Democrats are making a similar argument in Roberts' case: that the solicitor general represents the public interest. The dispute was one of many legal tussles during Starr's six-year investigation of the Whitewater matter. It resulted in a broad appeals court ruling that held that government lawyers did not have the same right to keep secrets as private attorneys did.
Ah, sweet irony. Looks like you did too good of a job trashing the concept of attorney-client privilege, Johnny! Oooops! The arrogance of these Federalist Society Republicans, believing that they can write laws that they themselves will never have to heed.


Comments:
Ah, the Law of Unintended Consequences peeks out from under the covers again. Why don't these guys think things through?

They are just too greedy. All through this mis-administration they have been doing such things that should turn around and bite them in the ass when the pendulum swings back.

Schadenfreude, anyone?
I know I'll enjoy mine.

pseudolus
 
There's another delicious irony: remember the jailing of Susan McDougal on a bogus contempt charge.

A New York Times reporter has now been jailed on a genuine contempt charge.

One only wishes that Jeff Gerth had done their Iraq reporting.
 
"There's another delicious irony: remember the jailing of Susan McDougal on a bogus contempt charge."

It's long past time for somebody on Air America Radio to invite Susan McDougal to give "expert" commentary on Miller's jailing. Or maybe Keith Olbermann, who's probably the only non-AAR media person who'd do it.
 
Paging Joe Conason!
 
oh, lord! I should have known. This may be why they aren't afraid of justice when the Dems re-take this country.

href="http://tvnewslies.org/blog/?p=69>CLICK ME

we're never getting this country back.
 
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