Posted on 01/11/2005 11:07:18 PM PST by crushelits
Michael Chertoff, President Bush's nominee to be secretary of homeland security, is widely hailed for his intellectual heft and tireless work habits as a federal prosecutor and judge. But he also faces criticism as an architect of some of the most controversial elements of the Bush administration's domestic war on terrorism that followed the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
As an assistant attorney general in the months after the attacks, Chertoff helped oversee the detention of 762 foreign nationals for immigration violations; none of them was charged with terrorism-related crimes. A subsequent report by the Justice Department's inspector general determined that Justice's "no bond" policy for the detainees -- a tactic whose legality was questioned at the time by immigration officials -- led to lengthy delays in releasing them from prison, where some faced "a pattern of physical and verbal abuse."
"We're very concerned that Judge Chertoff views immigration solely through the lens of national security and counterterrorism, and that his record on counterterrorism needs to be closely examined," said Kate Martin, director of the Center for National Security Studies, a civil liberties group.
But Chertoff's admirers say he is respectful of constitutional protections, and they stress his legal skills as a prosecutor and lawyer in private practice.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
We may have let the "perfect" one get away. I don't know. But I'm sure the media isn't going to accept anybody. There will always be something bad wrong. After all, they're picked by that supposed tyrant, President Bush. Someone needs to get a life and let me give a clue, it isn't the President.
"Chertoff was minority counsel in the first Senate investigation related to the death of Vincent Foster and majority special counsel in the second such Senate investigation. As any open-minded person the least bit familiar with the Foster case can see, it was decided in advance that nothing would come out of either investigation."
"Neither of them, in fact, had the stated purpose of even determining whether or not there was foul play in Foster's death, a fact which has not prevented defenders of the official suicide-from-depression line from representing them as among the "numerous" Foster death investigations that ruled out murder."
See his brilliant coverup work in questioning the Park Police in 1995 about trying to find Foster's keys.
What a guy.
"Great zot! Will the perfect person for each appointment PLEASE step forward. We're just looking for a few perfect people that everyone will laud as the perfect ones for the assorted jobs available."
I hear Jamie Gorelick is perfect.
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