[DOM edit -- Sorry SFL, I decided to take out the section you wrote up about my trial. I try not to blog about my ongoing trials...]
For more fun government facts, take a look at the previously-secret John Yoo Justice Department memos that explain how the United States should treat its citizens during wartime:
Oh well, past is past!"The current campaign against terrorism may require even broader exercises of federal power domestically," Justice Department officials John Yoo and Robert Delahunty wrote White House counsel Alberto Gonzales in the Oct. 23 memo.
"We do not think that a military commander carrying out a raid on a terrorist cell would be required to demonstrate probable cause or to obtain a (search) warrant," they said.
The U.S. Supreme Court has held that the Constitution's Fourth Amendment ordinarily requires a probable cause and a warrant to execute a search. However, the memo said those requirements "are unsuited to the demands of wartime."
Furthermore, it said, "First Amendment speech and press rights may also be subordinated to the overriding need to wage war successfully."
"The government's compelling interests in wartime justify restrictions on the scope of individual liberty," it said. The Justice Department under Bush had fought a lawsuit which sought to make the memo public.
This behavior by federal prosecutors is appalling and outrageous. They're just angry that yet another loss is on the horizon. Acosta should fire them both immediately.
ReplyDeleteAcosta has a documented history of improperly supervising his subordinates. This is just another example of acosta's failure in leadership. He should be fired and the office should seek to train its prosecutors better and fix its broken culture.
ReplyDelete1:22--Why basis do you have for imputing the behavior of 2 prosecutors to the rest of the prosecutors in the office? Wrong is wrong, but don't impute the behavior of some to all.
ReplyDelete3 prosecutors
ReplyDelete1:56.
ReplyDeleteYou missed the point. I am saying don't blame the trial attorneys - blame their training and the office culture.
It is not enough to say 'hey, here is out policy...follow it.' There must be an effort on the part of the senior staff --- from the US Atty down --- to demonstrate the standards of ethics that should be sought.
Acosta has demonstrated in the past a failure of that type of leadership...see the IG report re his tenure at Justice.
Hopefully the new US Atty will reinvigorate the office's integrity and professionalism -- he or she already has a VERY talented group of people to work with, who no doubt given the proper guidance, will be a terrific group.
The Yoo memo was what was chilling to me.
ReplyDeleteGlenn Greenwald on the Yoo memos-
ReplyDeletehttp://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/03/03/yoo/index.html
Pretty funny how Alex couldn't move fast enough to throw three of his best prosecutors under the bus. So obvious that Alex cares only about what his next employer thinks and could not care less about we AUSAs who have been so loyal to him these last few years.
ReplyDelete11:26 A.M.
ReplyDeleteAre you saying Acosta should have 1) supported and justified the actions of the AUSA's; 2) moved more slowly in his criticism; 3) not made the criticism public; or 4)moved forward in a baseless investigation of these upstanding and ethical defense attorneys?