Bush Official Calls for Boycott of Law Firms representing Gitmo detainees

[marmar]

Now if that's not a reason to do business with these firms, I don't know what is - OP's comment


From CommonDreams:


Published on Saturday, January 13, 2007 by McClachy Newspapers
Official Calls for Boycott of Law Firms Representing Detainees
by Carol Rosenberg

A Defense Department official has stirred up a maelstrom in the American legal community by calling on U.S. corporations to boycott law firms whose attorneys represent suspected terrorists held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Speaking to a morning radio talk show Thursday, Cully Stimson, deputy assistant secretary of defense for detainee affairs, rattled off a list of some of the most prestigious law firms in the nation.

Each apparently has attorneys providing pro bono, or no-charge, legal representation to captives at the U.S. Navy base, where the Bush administration is holding some 395 men and teens as so-called enemy combatants.

"I think quite honestly when corporate CEOs see that those firms are representing the very terrorists that hit their bottom line in 2001," he said, "those CEOs are going to make those law firms choose between representing terrorists or representing reputable firms.

"It's shocking," said Stimson, 43, a former federal attorney and Navy lawyer. "The major law firms in this country . . . are out there representing detainees."

By late Friday, major U.S. legal advocacy groups condemned his remarks - and a senior defense official distanced the Pentagon from them as well.

"Mr. Cully Stimson's comments in a recent media interview about law firms representing Guantanamo detainees do not represent the views of the Defense Department or the thinking of its leadership," said Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman.

Stimson was speaking to Federal News Radio, a Washington, D.C., radio outlet that runs long interviews targeted at commuting government workers. He spoke on Thursday, the fifth anniversary of the first arrival of detainees at the Guantanamo facility.

None of the Guantanamo captives has been convicted of crimes. .....(more)

The rest of the article is at: http://www.commondreams.org/headlines07/0113-04.htm

[msongs]

1. this creature needs to be called before a congessional committee under oath... nt

[Peace Patriot]

2. It seems like nothing but scum rises to the top in BushWorld! n/t

[MisterP]

3. holy crap, we're turning into 30s Japan!

[rodeodance]

4. i really just do not know what to say anymore.

[marmar]

5. Me either. I read this and was speechless.....

The Nazis would be ashamed.

[crim son]

6. Speechless here.

Somebody needs to haul Bush out of the WH and into the asylum. Or the nursery: it's like we have a small, angry and confused child running our country. It HAS to stop.

[uppityperson]

7. k& r for all appalled and for basic legal rights.

[BeFree]

8. Did you ever expect Justice from this bunch?

This is a bold statement from bushco. A desperate reach to keep their train on track.

Of course it will backfire. These firms bread and butter is Justice being served, and bushco has now said that it wants to do away with Justice once and for all.

[Tellurian]

9. Apparently, Bush believes America is a Third World country..

or perhaps he thinks his creation is complete and untouchable.

[ContraBass Black]

10. "None of the Guantanamo captives has been convicted of crimes."

There ought to be banners across the streets with these words.

[muntrv]

11. According to Stimson, 9/11 was evil because of what it did to bottom lines,

not because of 3,000 people getting killed.

[marmar]

12. He sounds like another BushCo prize.....

Where do they dredge up these creeps?

[donkeyotay]

13. When you apply the K-Street Project to the legal community,

what do you call it? In related news, the bush administration is using the Patriot Act to remove US Attorneys they don't like. They just removed Carol Lam of San Diego who was investigating corruption in the congress re: defense contracts.

[marmar]

14. "They just removed Carol Lam of San Diego who was investigating corruption"

Good grief. Sounds like despotism to me.

[donkeyotay]

15. You can read more about it at this post

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x256481

[Quantess]

16. Weird. K&R.

[dave123williams]

17. Stimson should be disbarred. Period.

While I'm sure he said it because he knew it would result in advancement and maybe a better job in a future Republican presidency (if there ever is one again), he should be goddamned ashamed of himself.

It's not that these guys are unaware of the Constitution, they just have outward contempt for the law.

You know, like a criminal might.

[MadMaddie]

18. It seems to be that this kind of talk against specific law firms is

damaging financially. Isn't there a law against this kind of thing? Doesn't this fall into the catagory of slander or libel? I am no legal scholer but these firms need to go after the Department of Defense. These firms have the depth of lawyers to really get something done.