Holder elevates al-Qaeda lawyer to top Justice Department post

Jim Kouri will guest on The Morning Zone with Dave Chaffin, Tuesday, March 6, 2012 at 7:07AM MST

~~~~~~~~By Jim Kouri~~~~~~

March 6, 2012--In a semi-stealth promotion, a major Barack Obama fundraiser who served as a defense lawyer for a convicted al-Qaeda terrorist is scheduled to become the third-highest ranking Department of Justice executive, according to a March 1 report from an "inside the Beltway" watchdog group.

California-based attorney Tony West was named Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division, making him the No. 3 man at the Justice Department, according to Judicial Watch.

"This is a disturbing turn of events when a lawyer is given such a sensitive position based on his ability to raise campaign funds for a politician. Here you have a man linked to a terrorist group who is now a top Justice Department official. It smacks of corruption," said political strategist and attorney Michael Baker in an interview with the Law Enforcement Examiner.
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"West fits the Justice Department hierarchy quite nicely. This is a DOJ that's more concerned with the treatment of terrorists by U.S. authorities than with the killing of Americans by terrorists. He's more interested in prosecuting police officers who arrest illegal aliens than he is in prosecuting illegal aliens who kill, rape and rob American citizens. It's the most politicized DOJ in my lifetime," said Baker.

West assisted candidate Obama in raising tens of millions of dollars as a co-chairman for Senator Obama's presidential campaign, notes Judicial Watch, a group known for its successful investigations and prosecutions of government corruption and abuse.

In 2009 West was appointed to help run the DOJ’s civil division which represents the government, Congress and presidential cabinet officers and handles cases dealing with significant policy issues.

In a statement announcing the promotion this week, Attorney General Eric Holder says West has served the department with “professionalism, integrity and dedication.” Holder also mentions West’s work before coming to the DOJ a few years ago, including a stint as a Special Assistant Attorney General in California and a lengthier career at a large San Francisco law firm.

"During his time as Assistant Attorney General, West has bolstered the Civil Division’s affirmative civil enforcement efforts in areas such as health care fraud, procurement fraud and mortgage fraud.   Since January 2009, the Civil Division has used the False Claims Act to recover over $8.8 billion in taxpayer money lost to fraud and abuse – the largest three-year total in the Department’s history," stated Holder.

Conveniently omitted from the press release is that West represented convicted al Qaeda terrorist John Walker Lindh, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence, according to Judicial Watch's blog.

Lindh -- or Jihad Johnny -- was captured in Afghanistan in 2001 while fighting against the U.S.-backed Northern Alliance as a member of the Taliban army. He actually pleaded guilty to aiding the Taliban and carrying explosives while fighting U.S. troops in the region, according to case records.

"Holder also knows a thing or two about defending terrorists. After all, he was a senior partner in a prestigious Washington D.C. law firm (Covington & Burling) that represented more than a dozen Yemeni terrorists held at the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay Cuba," according to the JW blog.

While Holder was a senior partner the firm employed a number of radical attorneys to provide the Islamic extremists with thousands of hours of free legal representation, according to a report by Michelle Malkin.

Another highlight in Holder’s resume is that he orchestrated Bill Clinton’s shameful last-minute pardons, including that of a fugitive financier and a pair of jailed domestic terrorists. In fact, shortly after the pardon scandal, Holder predicted that his public career was over, said the JW blogger.

"Anyone living in New York City in the 1970s remembers the rash of bombings at banks, financial institutions and government buildings by the Puerto Rican terrorist group the FALN," Baker told the Law Enforcement Examiner.

"The Clinton administration gave these terrorists full pardons in order to garner the Latino vote for Hillary Clinton during her run for the New York senate seat," Baker said.

Under his leadership the DOJ has been embroiled in a number of high-profile scandals, including a gun-running operation (Fast and Furious) in which weapons were sold to Mexican drug cartels. One was later used to murder a federal agent. Judicial Watch has sued the DOJ to obtain records involving the operation.
"Being a great fundraiser and campaign worker doesn't make Tony West (above) a plausible member of the Department of Justice's hierarchy," a political strategist tells the Law Enforcement Examiner.

By Jim Kouri
Law Enforcement Examiner

Jim Kouri, CPP, the fifth Vice President and Public Information Officer of the National Association of Chiefs of Police, has served on the National...