First, Doug Kmiec praised the "torture memo", which had been issued by Bybee's OLC at the request of Gonzales.

Then, Doug Kmiec reversed himself, and praised Gonzales for getting the torture memo rescinded -- which was, of course, done by Goldsmith, not done by Gonzales.

Kmiec has shown that he's a hack who will support Gonzales and Bush in almost any cirumstance. (Although, to his credit, Kmiec says they've gone too far with signing statements.)

In today's WaPo, Kmiec makes the true statement that the Presiden't delegation of legal review authority to the OLC is a revocable delegation. Well yes of course it's revocable. That's why Comey, Ashcroft, et. al., saw their only recourse as mass resignation -- an extremely unusual threat, which had the desired effect of making the President agree to follow OLC advice, but which Kmiec castigates as a "futile and ethically dubious maneuver".

Kmiec's "scholarly" argument is that OLC's authority for legal review is revocable by the president, and therefore OLC's opinion that the president's actions had no legal basis is a revocable opinion.

That pretty much boils down to an endorsement of

FROST: So what in a sense, you're saying is that there are certain situations, and the Huston Plan or that part of it was one of them, where the president can decide that it's in the best interests of the nation or something, and do something illegal.

NIXON: Well, when the president does it that means that it is not illegal.

FROST: By definition.

NIXON: Exactly. Exactly. If the president, for example, approves something because of the national security, or in this case because of a threat to internal peace and order of significant magnitude, then the president's decision in that instance is one that enables those who carry it out, to carry it out without violating a law.

Marty Lederman speculates that, if one were the general counsel at a phone company, one might have been worrying about

http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/cybercrime/18usc2511.htm
18 U.S.C. §2511
Wire and Electronic Communications Interception and Interception of Oral Communications
(2)(a) . . . (ii) . . . providers of wire or electronic communication service . . . are authorized . . . to intercept wire, oral, or electronic communications or to conduct electronic surveillance, as defined in section 101 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 [50 USCS § 1801] if . . . provided with--

(A) a court order . . . or

(B) a certification in writing by . . . the Attorney General of the United States that no warrant or court order is required . . .

RicK :

[Gonzales's] conduct was, at best, malpractice.
- - RicK - - Friday, May 18, 2007 10:32 AM

Gonzales also said some things in the hospital room that Comey said he wasn't at liberty to repeat. That could mean that Gonzales broke laws regarding the handling and discussion of classified information.

The word is out. Cast doubt on Comey's loyalty. Senator Schumer consented to Comey's appointment as U.S. Attorney in Manhattan! That means that Comey's a commie, just like Schumer!

Well yeah, it's true that U.S. Senators have informal veto power over local federal political appointments in their states, but Schumer's a neocon (see http://defenddemocracy.org/biographies ) and Comey's reputation as a conservative Republican and hardline, loyal Bush follower is well deserved.

Comey, despite his threat to resign, apparently supported FISA violations and other forms of pro-Bush extremism.

Comey is also famous for

http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/03/11/padilla.decision/index.html
Judge allows lawyers to visit 'enemy combatant'
A setback for the Bush administration
From Phil Hirschkorn
CNN New York Bureau

Tuesday, March 11, 2003

NEW YORK (CNN) -- A federal judge Tuesday ordered the government to allow lawyers to meet with alleged "enemy combatant" Jose Padilla, an American citizen . . . He said Padilla "must have the opportunity to present evidence that undermines" the government's accusations stated publicly by Attorney General John Ashcroft, though no formal charges have ever been filed. "The only practicable way to present evidence, if he has any and chooses to do so, is through counsel," the judge said.

Mukasey is the same judge who ruled last December that the president's use of the "enemy combatant" classification is lawful. He also ruled that defense attorneys should be permitted to visit with Padilla, but Deputy Solicitor General Paul Clement and U.S Attorney James Comey asked Mukasey to reconsider that.

"The government's arguments here are permeated with the pinched legalism one usually encounters from non-lawyers," wrote Mukasey, who had signaled his impatience with the government's views at a January hearing . . .

- - CNN - - Tuesday, March 11, 2003

It's beyond any reasonable doubt that Ashcroft and Comey are pro-Bush extremists. If they threatened to resign, it could only have been for something that went *beyond* extremism.

N=A A=N B=O A=N L=Y Z=M B=O B=O F=S R=E