Through The Looking Glass: 'DOJ: Calling Out Government Lies Would Endanger National Security'

[WillyT]

DOJ: Calling Out Government Lies Would Endanger National Security
By: emptywheel
Thursday June 16, 2011 3:53 pm

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...

The real extent of the conundrum this places Remes, and similarly situated Gitmo counsel in is demonstrated by this from the Blog of Legal Times at the National Law Journal: http://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2011/06/doj-tangles-with-gitmo-lawyer-over-wikileaks-documents.html

Remes, the department said, cannot have unrestricted use of the documents that the government refuses to confirm or deny are authentic assessments of detainees. DOJ’s submission (PDF) expands on the scope of the guidance the department issued this month to lawyers in Guantanamo habeas cases.

In court papers, the DOJ theme is clear: the Justice Department over and over refused to confirm or deny that any individual WikiLeaks document is an official government record.

“Unfettered public use, dissemination, or discussion of these documents by cleared counsel could be interpreted as confirmation (or denial) of the documents’ contents by an individual in a position of knowledge, with corresponding harm to national security,” DOJ Civil Division attorney Kristina Wolfe said in court papers.

The government, Wolfe said, cannot acknowledge the authenticity of one document and then refuse to substantiate another document. The “very act of refusal would in effect reveal the information the government seeks to protect—the authenticity of the purportedly classified document,” Wolfe said.

This is beyond absurd, the DOJ is refusing to admit or deny, and limit the ability of lawyers to use, something the entire world is in on. They are treating the information like it is secret material under a Glomar exception to FOIA. And they do not even have the honesty to admit that is what they are doing, probably because an actual Glomar discussion would make them look like idiots. For those unfamiliar with Glomar, here is a description from the recent case of Wilner v. NSA:

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Much More: http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2011/06/16/doj-calling-out-government-lies-would-endanger-national-security/

:wtf:

:mad:

:nuke:

[Angry Dragon]

1. a double face palm and a hanging of the head

[WillyT]

2. Right There With You !!!

:banghead:

[chill_wind]

3. Yes. Beyond absurd.

K & R.

[riderinthestorm]

4. Wow, I'm a layman and even I can read/see it.

WTF is Obama thinking???