The WaPo continues is laundering operation for Rahm Emanuel today with regard to the KSM trial.

President Obama’s advisers are nearing a recommendation that Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, be prosecuted in a military tribunal, administration officials said, a step that would reverse Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.’s plan to try him in civilian court in New York City.

Those advisors would be: Rahm, Lindsey Graham and John McCain all of whom, as usual are off the record. This is not Deep Throat blowing the whistle and WaPo has no business granting anonymity to the purveyors of this spin. It’s the news equivalent of money laundering.

It’s pretty well established –ON the record– that the members of Obama’s administration who were responsible for crafting his winning campaign policies positions, favor Eric Holder’s plan to use criminal trials for KSM.

I mean really: how transparent is this?

If Obama accepts the likely recommendation of his advisers, the White House may be able to secure from Congress the funding and legal authority it needs to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and replace it with a facility within the United States. The administration has failed to meet a self-imposed one-year deadline to close Guantanamo.

The administration officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, said the president’s legal advisers are finalizing their review of the cases of Mohammed and four alleged co-conspirators.

"Likely recommendation"?  It’s already well known that Rahm is pushing hard to put KSM down some legal rabbit hole that would make Democrats equally guilty with republicans in Cheney’s war crimes. It’s not a likely recommendation–it’s something he has been pushing and spinning and orchestrating for months!

Oh, and "Obama’s legal advisors" a/k/a the Department of Justice FINISHED their review last November and Eric Holder announced the decision. Liar, liar, pant on fire.

The only knew and useful piece of information in this article is as follows:

Privately, administration officials are bracing for the ire of disappointed liberals and even some government lawyers should the administration back away from promises to use civilian courts to adjudicate the cases of some of the 188 detainees who remain at Guantanamo.

‘A sad day’

Marine Col. Jeffrey Colwell, acting chief defense counsel at the Defense Department’s Office of Military Commissions, said it would be a "sad day for the rule of law" if Obama decides not to proceed with a federal trial. "I thought the decision where to put people on trial — whether federal court or military commissions — was based on what was right, not what is politically advantageous," Colwell said.

Administration lawyers are upset? It does not surprise me, and I see an opportunity for them here.

What if government lawyers repeated the heroic mass resignation plan that Comey, Goldsmith and company did when the White House tried to overrule DOJ on warrantless wiretapping?

Only this time, it’s not just DOJ. It’s obviously DOD lawyers–who by the way, need to tell Lindsey to STFU– because this odious plan tarnishes their service. It’s also CIA lawyers–who are being held hostage and being used as scapegoats by Yoo, Cheney et al.  Hell, it could be lawyers for the Fish and Wildlife service–Why?

Because you are all working for an administration that either believes in the Rule of Law or it does not. And every one of you has a stake in the ethics and integrity of the legal decisions made by this administration.

We have seen, to our horror, what happens when a White House politicizes purely legal decisions or allows politics into decisions making processes that are solely the purview of law. Just because you are Hatch Act employees does not mean you have lost the right to petition your government.

Here’s a sample petition, but feel free to improve upon it:

We, the undersigned, are lawyers employed by the various agencies of the federal government of the United States of America. We joined this Administration in part to restore the Rule of Law to our nation’s governance. Critical to this restoration is to keep politics out of charging decisions in criminal cases, otherwise all criminal prosecutions are subject to attacks on their legitimacy and the social contract is torn.

If need be, we the undersigned will resign from government service en mass should the legitimate charging and venue decisions made by the Department of Justice in the case of Khalid Sheik Mohammed be tampered with for political purposes. No lawyer, in good conscience, can be a party to such a blatant politicization of the prosecutorial function or to such an attack upon prosecutorial integrity.

Signed

_________, Department of _____                ___________, Department of _____

_________, Department of _____                ___________, Department of _____    

and so on.

BTW, it wouldn’t hurt the bar associations of any tier or any locale, to petition, nor the law schools, nor any civic groups, nor any 9-11 families who disagree with Liz Cheney’s business partner’s claim to speak for all of you to mount a petition of your own. We either are a nation that believes in the Rule of Law, or we are not. Period.