WASHINGTON D.C. (YBH.COM) – In November of 2009, on behalf of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Republican Senator Chuck Grassley asked U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder for “the names of political appointees in your department who represent detainees or who work for organizations advocating on their behalf…the cases or projects that these appointees work with respect to detainee prior to joining the Justice Department…and the cases or projects relating to detainees that have worked on since joining the Justice Department.”
Senator Grassley's Information Request Snubbed
On February 19, 2010, Mr. Holder responded via letter, conceding nine such new hires at the Department of Justice worked for terrorist detainees or on behalf of the rights of terrorist detainees. He did not name 7 of those, only affirming the names of two already known: Principal Deputy Solicitor General Neal Katyal, former lawyer to Osama bin Laden’s driver, and Jennifer Daskal, a detainee advocate at Human Rights Watch.
Holder goes on to note that the lawyers in question are only minimally and narrowly recused from dealing with detainee matters, despite their prior interest in advocating on their behalf.
Wonks see the letter as a non-answer to pointed questions and bordering on disrespectful of the information-gathering powers of the Committee.
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Laura spent years as a Hollywood story analyst, did a big 180, and is now an entrepreneur focused on web marketing and analytics. She's also a mom of one.Laura Glendinning article archive.
