Looks like a ruling won by Ken Starr during his Clinton investigation is going to bite the White House in the ass:
WASHINGTON — The White House is citing the attorney-client privilege as the basis for refusing to reveal memos written by Supreme Court nominee John G. Roberts Jr. when he was representing the government before the high court. At the time, Roberts was the top deputy to Solicitor Gen. Kenneth W. Starr.
But it is not clear that this legal privilege shields the work of government lawyers from the eyes of government investigators — thanks to a legal ruling won by Starr himself, when he was independent counsel investigating President Clinton. [...]
A federal judge refused Starr’s request, but he appealed the issue to the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals. The court agreed with Starr that the attorney-client privilege did not shield the White House lawyers or their notes. “We decline to endorse the position of the White House where it is based on nothing more than political concerns,” the appeals court said.
The ruling set off a furor in legal organizations, which had maintained that the attorney-client privilege protected government lawyers as well. When the Clinton White House appealed the issue to the Supreme Court, the justices refused to hear the case. Only two justices — Clinton appointees Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen G. Breyer — voted to hear the appeal.
Oh, this just cheers me up.
Oops.
Actually, a lot of the crap Republicans are pulling now will come back to haunt them in the long run, I think. Changing the rules is a risky strategy.
You know how this works, though. “Clinton? That’s pre-9/11 thinking.”
There’ll be a different set of rules that BY A COMPLETE COINCIDENCE strongly favors the current WH position, and Our Only Media will take no notice other than to say that Rules Are Good and These Are Rules so These Are Good.
Shame on me, but that’s as much as I’m expecting. I’ll go sit in the corner now.
– Dog, etc.
I’m with Joe’s dog on this one. IOKIYAR…
meanwhile while the democrats on the hil feign outrage the gop has passed the bankruptcy bill, cafta, tort reform, patriot act extensions….
I’m in the corner with Joe’s dog too. In case you haven’t noticed since 2000 there are separate rules for Democrats and Republicans…actually there really are no rules for Republicans, they make them up as they go along.
I’ve noticed the same thing, Susie, just without an AP article to back it up. I’ve had a right-winger bothering me on my blog about it, since I argued there wasn’t privilege. This article is definitely helpful, thanks.