DOJ drops Defense of Rumsfield & a dozen Bush officials

I hope I'm reading this right.. The Justice dept just dropped Defense of Bush Officials over interrogations tactics. So they (Bush officials) or the US government have to hire private attorneys and are not represented by the US Justice dept. The only person not dropped is Robert Gates.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0211/49998.html

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.”

The Justice Department continues to represent only a single official, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, in the suit.


Holy Cow, is this what we've been waiting for? What does this mean?

It's a private law suit against Bush & Co on illegal detention & now the US Government is not going to represent them. I think.

http://blog.reidreport.com/2011/02/holder-unleashed-justice-drops-rumsfeld-wolfowitz-doma-defense/

excerpt:

Another potential complication: Attorney General Eric Holder signed three Supreme Court amicus briefs objecting to the Bush administration’s treatment of Padilla.

But a second case, one pulling in torture memo author John Yoo, is going forward, and likely to wind up before the Supreme Court. The Obama Justice Department had already stopped defending Yoo.


Should I do a new post

After all they are hiring private lawyers for these crooks on the public dime. How is that different than Halliburton exactly?

another series of departures and resignations (I'm not talking rank and file here) --

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2011/01/13/david-kris-resigns-from-doj/

Also mentioned, Glenn Fine, David Barron and Marty Lederman...



“Dream Team” at OLC Dismantled, as Marty Lederman Leaves Executive Branch
By: David Dayen Wednesday July 21, 2010 7:20 am

http://news.firedoglake.com/2010/07/21/dream-team-at-olc-dismantled-as-marty-lederman-leaves-executive-branch/



David Dayen quipped in that piece a while back: "Maybe OLC can get outsourced to the private sector now, too."

Is this the Internet Age, or what?

I like the sound of this.