Thomas J. Fiscus
Here it is. TJF
—Original Message—
{ |
| From: || Turley Andrew Col AF/JAR
|-
| Sent: || Tuesday, March 16, 2004 8:26 AM
|-
| To: || Fiscus Thomas Maj Gen AF/JA
|-
| Cc: ||Rives Jack Maj Gen AF/JA
|-
| Subject: ||FW: Allegations of misconduct and unprofessionalism against Chief Prosecutor |}
{ |
| From: ||Wolf, Carrie, CPT, DoD OGC
|-
| Sent: ||Monday, March 15, 2004 2:02 PM
|-
| To: ||Turley Andrew Col AF/JAR
|-
| Subject: ||FW: Allegations of misconduct and unprofessionalism against Chief Prosecutor |} —Original Message— { | | From: || Wolf, Carrie, CPT, DoD OGC |- | Sent: ||Monday, March 15, 2004 13:41 |- | To: || Borch, Fred, COL, DoD OGC; Davenport, Teresa, CAPT, DoD OGC; Lang, Scott, CDR, DoD OGC; Brubaker, Kurt, LtCol, DoD OGC; Couch, Stuart, LtCol, DoD OGC; Sullivan, Ronald, MAJ, DoD OGC; Trivett, Jr, Clayton, LT, DoD OGC; Khanna, Karunesh, Mr, DoD OGC; Keegan, Michael, Mr, DoD OGC; Ambrose, Bruce, LtCol, DoD OGC |- | Cc: || Bertottj, James, CW3, DoD OGC; Preston, Robert, MAJ, DoD OGC; Carr, John, CPT, DoD OGC |- | Subject: ||RE: Allegations of misconduct and unprofessionalism against Chief Prosecutor |} { | | Sir, As you know, I too have seen and been quite troubled by the incidents related by both Maj Preston and Capt Carr. Frankly-for my own sanity-l have made a point not to keep a running tally of the incidents that form the basis for my upcoming departure. That being said, the messages below (combined with what I'm about to add) are a pretty good reflection of how I think my "list" would look. The additional "situations" that come to mind: The Moot Court: I witnessed Maj Preston and Capt Sullivan being urged to raise only a fraction of the issues they originally forecasted. Essentially, CDR Lang directed them not to mount a zealous defense. It was clear that, instead of a genuine vehicle for improving the United States' position in Military Commissions, the moot court was mere window dressing-the goal being to avoid criticism of our case preparation or courtroom presentation. The sages assumed we were a team and that we had all played a role in the preparation of al Bahlul. As you know, that assumption was completely false. CDR Lang wouldn't even let his co-counsel, Capt Carr, get a peek into what he was doing. I recall asking John (because I was completely ignorant of the goings-on with prosecution cases as "the transfer attorney") why he wasn't playing more of a role in the moot court. He basically said he would be incapable of any greater role because he didn't know anything and CDR Lang had been flying solo for months. I also recall dancing around questions from one sage regarding the facts of the case because I knew she would be mortified if I told her only one guy in the office (the one who was reading his compound, leading questions from a piece of paper the entire time) knew the facts of what we had long thought would be the first litigated case. Finally, members of the office weren't asked once for our input regarding the outcome of the moot court. Maybe it was for the best, because my honest answer would have been that I was embarrassed. (Please note that I wasn't aware during the moot court that facts were being misrepresented ... I learned that afterward. I would have been even more embarrassed (and a few other things) had I known.) I was embarrassed that the person you have called "our best litigator" gave an opening with too much detail, too little eye contact, choppy delivery and no apparent theme or theory. I was embarrassed that he didn't know his case well enough to float seamlessly through "fake" witnesses with whom he'd practiced numerous times. And finally, I was embarrassed at his curt, often hostile reaction to what 1 really thought was very mild criticism. (Frankly, I've seen very junior attorneys at the Air Force's intro-level trial ad course give similar performances and get reduced to tears as a result of instructor critiques; I've taught at that course a couple times, and I can tell you I would not have recommended CDR Lang for future litigation duties, given his courtroom presence.) Allegations of abuse at Bagram: CDR Lang mentioned the allegation to me while I was detailed to Hamdan. His comment was "a couple of drunk FBI agents hardly constitute a prima facie case." I'm sure you recognize the problems with that statement...