This show came about because I read Jesselyn Radack's article, OPR: Torture Lawyers Get a Pass; I Get Referred for Criminal Prosecution and Bar Discipline. That inspired me to invite her on the show.

Then, she sent me a link to this article by Scott Horton, Justice's Vendetta Against a Whistleblower: Six Questions for Jesselyn Radack, and that inspired me to invite Scott back, to again be a guest on the show, this time for a three way conversation with Jesselyn.

This post was written by GAP Homeland Security Director Jesselyn Radack for her Daily Kos blog.

Recently cleared of professional misconduct by Justice Department bureaucrat David Margolis, torture memo author John Yoo contends in the Wall Street Journal that his irresponsible lawyering and depraved advice regarding interrogation techniques are actually a "gift" to President Obama.

Well, I hope Yoo included a gift receipt, because no U.S. President who values the Constitution and separation of powers should want a "gift" of power from any extreme unitary executive theorist who passes his ideas off as mainstream legal thinking and authorizes torture and cruel and inhumane treatment in the U.S.'s name.

Yesterday, members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee grilled James E. Lentz, president of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., for more than two hours about Toyota's decision-making. During his testimony, Lentz admitted that fixing the floor mats and sticking acceleration pedals may not fix all the problems with the cars, and acknowledged that the issues may have to do with electronics. From WaPo:

"Do you believe that the recall on the carpet changes and the recalls on the sticky pedals will solve the problem of sudden, unintended acceleration?" Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) asked James E. Lentz III, president of Toyota Motor Sales USA.

"Not totally," Lentz replied.

This post was written by GAP Homeland Security and Human Rights Counsel Kathleen McClellan for her Daily Kos Blog.

All accountability hawks have been fuming over David Margolis's memo, which effectively immunizes torture memo authors John Yoo and Jay Bybee from professional discipline despite a Justice Department Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) report finding that they committed professional misconduct. Margolis's softening of OPR's report means no bar referrals for now tenured law professor Yoo and federal judge Bybee.

As the only attorney to be referred to a bar counsel for advice given in a terrorism case, Ms. Radack has a right to be particularly frustrated by the decision to let Yoo and Bybee off the hook. And, by the way, Ms. Radack's legally sound advice in the "American Taliban" John Walker Lindh case was to properly afford the suspect his rights.

Over the weekend, The New York Times broke the news that internal FDA reports question the safety of Avandia – a controversial (and explosively popular) diabetes medication. The confidential report details how:

…if every diabetic now taking Avandia were instead given a similar pill named Actos, about 500 heart attacks and 300 cases of heart failure would be averted every month because Avandia can hurt the heart.

The article spells out how the issue has created great debate within the FDA. However, one author of the internal FDA report has a tremendous amount of respect throughout the industry as a drug safety advocate and expert – GAP client Dr. David Graham, who successfully blew the whistle on Vioxx several years ago. That arthritis drug caused some 40,000 fatal heart attacks in America alone.

This post was written by GAP Homeland Security Director Jesselyn Radack for her Daily Kos Blog.

Although entirely predictable, I'm reeling from the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) decision--finally released late yesterday after 5 years--to give the authors of the infamous "torture memos" a pass.

This gives me the dubious distinction of being the only Justice Department attorney that OPR referred for bar disciplinary action stemming from advice I gave in a torture case--and my advice was to permit an American terrorism suspect to have counsel. If the Holder Justice Department had any inclination to rehabilitate OPR's lofty mission of

ensuring that Department of Justice attorneys perform their duties in accordance with the high professional standards expected of the Nation’s principal law enforcement agency,

they've blown it.

According to the Justice Department's website, OPR’s mission is to

investigat[e] allegations of misconduct involving Department attorneys that relate to the exercise of their authority to . . . provide legal advice.

But Americans, and especially lawyers, should be outraged at how the Justice Department and OPR have handled this totally unorthodox investigation of the authors of the infamous "torture memos," the icing on the cake of which was allowing the targets of the investigation to review and soften the report.

As the former Justice Department ethics advisor in the case of "American Taliban" John Walker Lindh, I blew the whistle when my advice to provide him counsel was disregarded and evidence of that advice "disappeared" in contravention of a federal court order. Contrary to OPR’s own policies, it hastily and vindictively forwarded my case to the state bars in which I’m licensed absent a finding of "professional misconduct," much less a finding of "intentional misconduct or reckless disregard of an applicable standard or obligation"--the benchmark that OPR uses. Instead, OPR referred me to the bar disciplinary authorities for "possible misconduct." Moreover, I was referred based on a secret report to which I did not have access. Finally, I was referred for conduct I engaged in as a private citizen, not as a public servant, after I had left the employ of the Justice Department.

Although the Maryland Bar dismissed the charges against me in 2005, my referral to the D.C. Bar (the same Bar to which Yoo and Bybee would have been referred) is still pending after almost seven years. (Politically-motivated treatment by the D.C. Bar, and allowing itself to be used as a tool of revenge by the Bush Justice Department, is a diary for a different day.)

If the Obama administration thinks that this outcome is going to tamp down the vituperative Republican assault on its counter-terrorism strategy, think again. You're just further alienating the people (well, at least this voter) who elected you to de-politicize justice.

Action:

1. File a bar complaint against Bybee and Yoo: D.C. office of Bar Counsel (202) 638-1501, X1751

2. Ask the Holder Justice Department to have the OPR withdraw its referral of me to the D.C. Bar: Call (202) 514-2000, ask to be connected the the Office of the Attorney General, and leave a comment.

MSM: If you want an informed comment, you can reach me at (202) 369-1749.

This post was written by GAP President Louis Clark for TakePart.com in advance of a GAP event on February 17, 2010. GAP, along with Participant Media, Warner Bros. Pictures, and The Paley Center, hosted an evening of whistleblowing with legendary whistleblowers Daniel Ellsberg, Frank Serpico and more. Watch the event here.

Transparency and accountability are essential for an effective government. Without such, the public finds routine unfettered corruption, threats to public health, and an eventual disenfranchised citizenry. Whistleblowers are catalysts for restoring integrity. With community support they expose wrongdoing, raise awareness of dangerous conditions, pave the way for reform, and restore openness.

There are few aspects of government, commerce, or public well-being that whistleblowers have not impacted positively. They are our eyes and ears preserving public safety, exposing corruption, protecting the environment, saving tax dollars, and challenging abuses of power. They work for governments, corporations, and other essential institutions.