As a lawyer, I am keenly aware of the ethical and professional responsibilities that lawyers owe to our clients to advise them and to represent their interests zealously.  I also know, however, that lawyers have a higher obligation to the rule of law, and that lawyers do not exist simply as the instruments of their clients’ will.  Based on some of the testimony from yesterday’s hearing before the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties by Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, who served as Chief of Staff to former Secretary of State Colin Powell, and Daniel Levin, who headed the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) at the Department of Justice, it appears that Bush Administration lawyers played a significant role in crafting, justifying, and implementing interrogation techniques that may be illegal.  In so doing, these lawyers failed in meeting their obligation to the rule of law.

Sadly, after a year and a half of serving on the House Judiciary Committee and participating in numerous oversight hearings, I cannot say that I am surprised by these latest revelations or by the apparent disrespect for the proper vetting of issues and the rule of law evinced by this Administration.  Col. Wilkerson’s testimony, in particular, pointed to the role of some of the highest-ranking Administration lawyers in crafting and justifying the Administration’s harsh interrogation policies, including Vice-President Cheney’s current Chief of Staff, David Addington, former Defense Department General Counsel William Haynes, former Defense Department official Douglas Feith, and former OLC attorney John Yoo.   I look forward to the Committee’s continued investigation into this matter.

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 19th, 2008 at 12:21 pm and is filed under Uncategorized .