Former Justice Department official urges focus on policy issues, not personal attacks

Published on March 10, 2010   Comments (Be the first) by Brent Baldwin (OfficialWire) WASHINGTON, D.C

Liz Cheney continued to receive critical media responses this week for a web video questioning the loyalty of Justice Department lawyers who work on behalf of terrorism suspects. The video, released by Cheney’s advocacy group, called the U.S. Department of Justice “the department of jihad.”

David Rivkin, former Justice Department official under presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush, appeared on MSNBC’s “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” and called Cheney’s attack “inappropriate,” adding that the incident should be a lesson for both sides of the political aisle.

“We should not be demonizing. Let’s concentrate on the policy position and not impugn the integrity of people,” Rivkin said to guest host Lawrence O’Donnell. “Frankly, it’s inappropriate whether its done by the left or right because we’ve had numerous instances in the past where Bush administration lawyers have had their integrity impugned.”

Rivkin agreed with United States Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who recently spoke out against the video’s message.

“He is absolutely right; lawyers in our system are not the same as their clients and what they have done here is essential in the long run to the benefit of our justice system—even though I disagree with the positions taken by those lawyers,” Rivkin said.

Rivkin told the host he was “not comfortable slamming anybody” but that Cheney, a former law student, was most likely “carried away by her passion.”

“We should not be engaged in ad hominem attacks,” Rivkin said. “Lets argue passionately. Lets argue with serious intellectual content. What advances are national security interest? What’s most consonant with our values? Lets stop ascribing lack of patriotism and integrity to people we disagree with … that goes for both sides.”

American College of Trial Lawyers features debate over California’s controversial ban on gay marriage

Published on March 04, 2010 by Brent Baldwin (OfficialWire) WASHINGTON, D.C.

The heated issue of same-sex marriage is likely to produce plenty of fireworks when two of the nation’s most notable attorneys square off in a debate over the constitutionality of California’s Proposition 8, which restricts marriage to heterosexual unions.

David Rivkin, an expert in constitutional law and frequent media commentator, will face off with attorney David Boies during the American College of Trial Lawyers 2010 Spring meeting held at JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa in Palm Desert, California March 4 - 7^th.

Boies has a current lawsuit, Perry v. Schwarzenegger, challenging the constitutionality of Proposition 8 in federal district court in San Francisco. The meeting of these sharp legal minds should detail prominent issues in the highly watched case that media commentators predict will almost certainly end up before the Supreme Court.

Boies, lawyer and managing partner of Boies, Schiller & Flexner, is known for his work in high profile cases, from representing Al Gore in the Bush v. Gore 2000 election recount case to negotiating two of the highest civil antitrust settlements ever for an individual company.

About David Rivkin

David Rivkin is an attorney in private practice and partner at Baker & Hostetler in Washington, D.C., who has had a lengthy career distinguished by service in the White House during two presidents’ terms, in the U.S. Department of Justice and in the U.S. Department of Energy. He is a well-known writer and media commentator on matters of constitutional and international law, as well as foreign and defense policy. He is a visiting fellow at the Nixon Center, contributing editor at the National Review, and a member of the Advisory Council at National Interest magazine. He currently serves as co-chairman of the Center for Law and Counterterrorism at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. He also represents foreign governments and corporate entities on legal, political, defense, economy and public relations matters.

For more information, visit www.davidrivkin.com or contact:

David B. Rivkin, Jr.

drivkin@bakerlaw.com

202.861.1731

Suite 1100

1050 Connecticut Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20036-5304

Former White House lawyer brings Constitutional expertise to student Federalist meeting

Published on February 22, 2010 by Brent Baldwin (OfficialWire) WASHINGTON, D.C.

David Rivkin announced today that he will speak on the constitutionality of health care reform at St. Thomas University in Miami on Wednesday, February 24 at noon.

The discussion will be presented by the St. Thomas (Miami) Student Chapter of the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies.

Rivkin will be discussing the constitutionality of the individual mandate, the provision in pending legislation that requires every citizen to purchase health insurance. At issue is whether the individual mandate exceeds the limited, enumerated powers granted in the Constitution.  

Rivkin’s appearance follows a series of media debates with law professors, television appearances, and articles in publications such as the The Wall Street Journal and The Los Angeles Times. He is also a frequent witness before the House and Senate on constitutional matters.

Rivkin will discuss his evaluation of the individual mandate to purchase health insurance, as well as related Supreme Court rulings. The Constitution’s authority is limited to economic activity and to interstate commerce. It specifically limits the powers of the federal government, and has had only 27 amendments since its adoption in 1787. Rivkin has repeatedly expressed concern about the extension of federal powers beyond the limited powers granted in the U.S. Constitution. 


About the Federalist Society

The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies is a Washington, DC-based organization of conservatives and libertarians interested in the current state of the legal order.  The Federalist Society has chapters in more than 60 cities across the country and in cities in Europe.  The Society was founded on the principles that the state exists to preserve freedom, that the separation of governmental powers is central to our Constitution, and that it is in the province and duty of the judiciary to state what the law is, not what it should be.  The Society seeks both to promote an awareness of these principles and to further their application through its activities.  For more information, visit www.thefederalistsociety.org.

Additional information about the David Rivkin appearance in Milwaukee is available at the Milwaukee Chapter website.


About David Rivkin
David Rivkin is an attorney in private practice and partner at Baker & Hostetler in Washington, D.C., who has had a lengthy career distinguished by service in the White House during two presidents’ terms, in the U.S. Department of Justice and in the U.S. Department of Energy. He is a well-known writer and media commentator on matters of constitutional and international law, as well as foreign and defense policy. He is a visiting fellow at the Nixon Center, contributing editor at the National Review, and a member of the Advisory Council at National Interest magazine. He currently serves as co-chairman of the Center for Law and Counterterrorism at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. He also represents foreign governments and corporate entities on legal, political, defense, economy and public relations matters.

For more information, visit www.davidrivkin.com or contact:
David B. Rivkin, Jr.
drivkin@bakerlaw.com
202.861.1731
Suite 1100
1050 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036-5304

Former White House lawyer describes why the Constitution makes it hard to get things done in Congress

Published on February 22, 2010 by Brent Baldwin (OfficialWire) WASHINGTON, D.C.

People often complain about gridlock in Washington, but they may need a reminder of how this country was founded, according to some Constitutional law experts. In an opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal, David Rivkin explained that the political gridlock associated with health care reform is actually a good thing: It is “part of the Constitution’s design and consonant with our underlying political traditions.”

“In short, the government established by the U.S. Constitution, as well as the document itself, is ‘conservative,’” Rivkin wrote in the Feb. 21 editorial, which he co-authored with law partner and frequent co-author Lee A. Casey.

The authors briefly examined what the Framers achieved by making “legislative accomplishments difficult” through a regulation system that requires a high level of consensus for government action. Rivkin and Casey used several quotes from the Federalist Papers by founding Americans such as James Madison and John Jay to support their argument.

“When the country is fundamentally divided over an important issue—such as health-care reform—the necessary consensus may not be achieved … all of this may well mean that change, even necessary change, is postponed or permanently thwarted,” Rivkin wrote. “But that is the price of the remarkable stability of government that we have.” 

Rivkin closed the article by nodding to the American people, whom he said “appear to instinctively understand and accept” the sort of compromises the system is designed to protect.  

A recent Rasmussen Report poll found that 61 percent of the American public felt that Congress should start all over again on health care reform.

About David Rivkin
David Rivkin is an attorney in private practice and partner at Baker & Hostetler in Washington, D.C., who has had a lengthy career distinguished by service in the White House during two presidents’ terms, in the U.S. Department of Justice and in the U.S. Department of Energy. He is a well-known writer and media commentator on matters of constitutional and international law, as well as foreign and defense policy. He is a visiting fellow at the Nixon Center, contributing editor at the National Review, and a member of the Advisory Council at National Interest magazine. He currently serves as co-chairman of the Center for Law and Counterterrorism at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. He also represents foreign governments and corporate entities on legal, political, defense, economy and public relations matters.

For more information, visit www.davidrivkin.com or contact:
David B. Rivkin, Jr.
drivkin@bakerlaw.com
202.861.1731
Suite 1100
1050 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036-5304

Appearing on FOX News, former Justice Department official maintains call for stricter terrorist treatment

Published on February 15, 2010 by Brent Baldwin (OfficialWire) WASHINGTON, D.C.

Former Justice Department official David Rivkin continued to push the Obama administration this week for a more productive effort toward the prosecution of suspected terrorists, specifically Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.

Rivkin appeared on the FOX News program America Live with Megyn Kelly on Feb. 12 and said while the president’s recent decision to become more involved with high profile terrorist trials was welcome news, the effort needed to go much further. 

“I hope the President’s personal involvement will be substantive—not just political—and will cause the administration to reverse its original foolhardy decision to treat Khalid Sheikh Mohammed as a garden variety criminal, subject to trial in a civilian court,” Rivkin said.

As co-chair for the Center for Law & Counterterrorism, Rivkin has long been a proponent of holding suspected terrorists as “enemy combatants” to allow officials as much time as necessary for interrogation purposes. The Obama administration announced the formation of a High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group within the FBI last August, but it has only recently began operations.

"Having the President become personally involved in decisions on how to prosecute Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other senior Al Qaeda members—through Gitmo-based military commissions or U.S.-based civilian courts—is long overdue,” Rivkin said. 

About David Rivkin
David Rivkin is an attorney in private practice and partner at Baker & Hostetler in Washington, D.C., who has had a lengthy career distinguished by service in the White House during two presidents’ terms, in the U.S. Department of Justice and in the U.S. Department of Energy. He is a well-known writer and media commentator on matters of constitutional and international law, as well as foreign and defense policy. He is a visiting fellow at the Nixon Center, contributing editor at the National Review, and a member of the Advisory Council at National Interest magazine. He currently serves as co-chairman of the Center for Law and Counterterrorism at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. He also represents foreign governments and corporate entities on legal, political, defense, economy and public relations matters.

For more information, visit www.davidrivkin.com or contact:
David B. Rivkin, Jr.
drivkin@bakerlaw.com
202.861.1731
Suite 1100
1050 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036-5304

Former White House lawyer points to national security threats in Situation Room appearance

Published on February 16, 2010 by Brent Baldwin (OfficialWire) WASHINGTON, D.C.

Do criminal court hearings for terrorists pose a security risk for United States secrets? Lawyer David Rivkin thinks so. In an interview on CNN’s The Situation Room With Wolf Blitzer, Rivkin cited the example of terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui’s trial to show why military tribunals are better than civilian courts for terrorists.

“Moussaoui is an excellent example,” Rivkin said. “He ended up pleading guilty … but he was on the threshold of having the judge compel the government to disgorge a lot of information about results obtained during the interrogation of various high-value detainees.”

Terrorist trials have been the subject of heated debate since officials decided last month to move the trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed away from Lower Manhattan. Things got even hotter last weekend when Vice President Joe Biden argued with former Vice President Dick Cheney on the Sunday national television talk circuit. Biden said he felt the criminal courts were more effective based on their conviction rate. 

Among the arguments cited for military tribunals: They would not allow defendants to have a platform for their extremist views; they would be cheaper and eliminate political objections such as the one in New York; and our national security secrets would be better protected, as Rivkin illustrated on CNN.

“They [Biden and Obama] say that we are at war, but they don't act like it,” Rivkin said. “Our allies in Europe don't have the appetite for war, only our enemies. We need an honest debate, not this kind of misleading one promoted by Biden, Obama, and the left.”

The Obama administration more recently said it would be open to military tribunals considering there is no money guaranteed from Congress for a civilian trial. 
Rivkin added that the political game currently on display needed to get down to the most fundamental questions regarding criminal trials. 

“The debate should be: At what cost? The cost to security—disclosing information sources—or to safety, or ensuring protection of the location,” Rivkin said. “In both military and civilian trials, the best talent at the Justice Department can be deployed.” 


About David Rivkin
David Rivkin is an attorney in private practice and partner at Baker & Hostetler in Washington, D.C., who has had a lengthy career distinguished by service in the White House during two presidents’ terms, in the U.S. Department of Justice and in the U.S. Department of Energy. He is a well-known writer and media commentator on matters of constitutional and international law, as well as foreign and defense policy. He is a visiting fellow at the Nixon Center, contributing editor at the National Review, and a member of the Advisory Council at National Interest magazine. He currently serves as co-chairman of the Center for Law and Counterterrorism at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. He also represents foreign governments and corporate entities on legal, political, defense, economy and public relations matters.

For more information, visit www.davidrivkin.com or contact:
David B. Rivkin, Jr.
drivkin@bakerlaw.com
202.861.1731
Suite 1100
1050 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036-5304