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Wednesday, January 7, 2009 12:00 AM

The DOJ pursues the "real criminal" in the NSA spying scandal

While the high-level lawbreakers are protected from consequences by our political class, only the courageous whistle-blower is subject to criminal prosecution.

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  • Wednesday, January 7, 2009 09:20 AM

    @David Tarrell

    Thanks for bringing up Matthew Diaz, and indirect thanks to your teacher for helping him out. He is a nearly unsung hero without whom there would have been no Rasul, Hamdan, or Boumediene decisions, and probably still 700+ instead of 250+ inmates at Guantanamo. Prying open Guantanamo has led to lawyers being able to follow clients back, in some cases, to Afghanistan and elsewhere, where the curtains of secrecy have been also pushed back, much more than they would have if Mr. Diaz had not done what he had done. So his influence on the fight to make the government obey the law has been enormous. I personally think he should be a candidate for an appointment in the Obama administration.

    One small correction: he sent the card to a lawyer named Barbara Olshansky at CCR, where they were having trouble getting standing to fight the detentions at Guantanamo in court. It became public after she brought it to the judge's attention, because she and others at CCR were unsure of what she had to do with it legally.

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