Group Presses Holder on Lawyers Who Defended Gitmo Detainees
"Americans have the right to know the identity of the al-Qeada seven," the video says.
Earlier this month, Attorney General Eric Holder said in a letter to Congress that nine political appointees in the Obama administration had either provided legal representation for detainees in the prison at Guantanamo Bay or had been involved in some kind of advocacy for them, such as contributing to amicus briefs in detainee-related cases. Holder gave the names of two of those lawyers whose work for the detainees had already been reported but did not release the other names.
The video begins with a clip of Holder speaking at an event from 2008, in which he says of the new administration, "We're going to be looking for people who share our values"
The video later says, "Holder will only name two [of the lawyers in question.] Why the secrecy behind the other seven? Whose values do they share?"
By the end of the Bush administration, a number of lawyers objected to the detention policies at Guantanamo Bay on Constitutional grounds, Ben Smith of Politico reports, as Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich pointed out in a letter to Congress. Weich noted that 34 of America's 50 largest law firms represented detainees or filed amicus briefs on their behalf.
In response to questions about the non-disclosure of the seven names, Justice Department spokesman Matt Miller said in a statement that the Justice Department's attorneys are subject to ethics and disclosure rules that are the "strongest in history."
"One week after this Department secured a guilty plea from Najibullah Zazi for attempting to attack the New York subway system and indicted two of his co-conspirators for their alleged role in that attack, it should be clear that fighting terrorism and keeping the American people safe is our number one priority," he said.
