Karl R. Thompson

Karl R. Thompson is the Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel of the United States Department of Justice.

Education

Thompson received his B.A. from Harvard University in 1991, a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge in 1998, and his J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School with high honors in 2000.

Career

Thompson clerked for Judge David S. Tatel of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the United States Supreme Court. He worked in private practice at the law firm O'Melveny & Myers, specializing in international and appellate litigation. He then joined the Office of Legal Counsel as Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General. He later became Deputy Assistant Attorney General and also served as Counselor to the Attorney General. In March of 2014, he became Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the Office of Legal Counsel, serving as the acting head of the office.

Controversy

In late 2009 the New York Post and the Washington Times started to criticize the Obama Presidency for its employment of lawyers who had help provide legal assistance to Guantanamo captives.^[1][2][3] At first the New York Post and the Washington Times only named two of the nine lawyers they were reporting had "aided terrorists". But March 2010 the other seven had been named, including Thompson.^[4]

Thompson was one of nine lawyers whose appointment these commentators criticized. On March 9, 2010, Thompson's boss at O'Melveny & Myers, Walter Dellinger, described asking Thompson to aid Lieutenant Commander William Kuebler in preparing his defense for Canadian Guantanamo captive Omar Khadr. According to Dellinger Thompson's assistance on the Khadr case lasted several months, and was conducted in parallel with Thompson's prior duties with the firm.

Lawyers and commentators from across the political spectrum came forward to defend Thompson and the other appointees who had been singled out for criticism.^[5][6][7][8]

On May 24, 2010, Steven Edwards, writing for the Vancouver Sun, reported that the Canwest News Service had recently learned that there was internal controversy within the Obama administration over new rules for conducting Guantanamo military commissions.^[9] A new 281 page manual was prepared, to update the commissions to comply with changes following the passage of the Military Commissions Act of 2009. Edwards wrote that the change would have triggered dropping charges against a third of the Guantanamo captives the Prosecution planned to charge with murder.

Edwards noted that persons from OLC sought an edit to get new rules. Edwards also noted that OLC employed two lawyers including Thompson, who had been dubbed members of the "Al Qaeda 7" because they had worked on behalf of terrorism suspects prior to joining the government. The article does not state, however, that Thompson played any role in this matter or any role in seeking these edits. ^[10]

References

1. ↑ Jennifer Fermino (2010-02-23). "In-Justice! Furor over O's 'Gitmo' appointees". New York Post. Archived from the original on 2010-02-23. Neal Katyal, the department's principal deputy solicitor general, was once the lawyer for Osama bin Laden's driver. Jennifer Daskal, part of Obama's Detention Policy Task Force, advocated for detainees at Human Rights Watch. 
2. ↑ Meghan Clyne (2009-07-17). "A bleeding heart to 'fight' terror: An odd pick for justice". New York Post. Archived from the original on 2010-02-23. Then again, you're not President Obama. His Justice Department has raised eyebrows by tapping Jennifer Daskal, formerly "senior counterterrorism counsel" at Human Rights Watch, to work as counsel in its National Security Division and to serve on a task force deciding the future of Guantanamo and its detainees. 
3. ↑ Jennifer Fermino (2010-01-27). "Come clean, Mr. Holder". New York Post. Archived from the original on 2010-02-23. Months ago, Senate Judiciary Committee member Charles Grassley asked Attorney General Eric Holder to disclose who in the administration had previously represented or agitated for alleged terrorists. 
4. ↑ Fred Lucas (2010-03-05). "Justice Department Makes ‘Al Qaeda 7’ List Public". Cybercast News Service. Archived from the original on 2010-03-09. 
5. ↑ Charlie Savage (2010-03-04). "Bush Official Defends Lawyers Under Attack for Detainee Work". New York Times. Archived from the original on 2010-03-09. 
6. ↑ John Schwartz (2010-03-09). "Attacks on Detainee Lawyers Split Conservatives". New York Times. Archived from the original on 2010-03-10. 
7. ↑ "Gitmo defense? Representing Gitmo inmates serves America". Chicago Tribune. 2010-03-09. Archived from the original on 2010-03-10. 
8. ↑ Kevin Spak (2010-03-09). "Ken Starr Slams Liz Cheney Hit Job on Lawyers". Newser. Archived from the original on 2010-03-10. 
9. ↑ Steven Edwards (2010-05-24). "Obama officials pushed, but failed, for new rules in Khadr tribunal". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved 2010-05-25. Also involved in seeking an edit were people in the U.S. Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, insiders add. OLC, which assists U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder in advising the president, employed two lawyers of a group the politically conservative campaign Keep America Safe recently dubbed the “al-Qaida Seven” because they had worked on behalf of terrorism suspects. One of the two, Karl Thompson, did work for the Khadr defence team for seven months from October 2008 while he worked for the firm O’Melveny & Myers, Fox News reported in March.  mirror
10. ↑ Edwards, Steven. "Obama officials pushed, but failed for new rules in Khadr tribunal", Vancouver Sun, New York, 24 May 2010. Retrieved on 2010-5-25.