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tj444 -> RE: lawsuits against the govt/NSA, Obama, Holder, etc.. (6/16/2013 7:30:17 AM)
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that does not justify the govt targeting Rosen (& his family) or any reporters.. and Kim strongly denies the charges
"STATEMENT OF ABBE D. LOWELL (OF McDERMOTT WILL & EMERY) AND
RUTH WEDGWOOD (ATTORNEY AT LAW) COUNSEL TO MR. KIM
In its obsession to clamp down on perfectly appropriate conversations between
government employees and the press, the Obama Administration has forgotten that wise foreign
policy must be founded on a two-way conversation between government and the public. It is so
disappointing that the Justice Department has chosen to stretch the espionage laws to cover
ordinary and normal conversations between government officials and the press and, in doing so,
destroy the career of a loyal civil servant and brilliant foreign policy analyst. There is no
allegation that a document was given, that any money changed hands, that any foreign
government was involved, or that there was any improper motive in the type of
government/media exchanges that happen hundreds of times a day in Washington.
This prosecution is intended to or will have a chilling effect on the work of policy
analysis and the debate that is necessary for the formulation of a democratic foreign policy. In
its campaign to look and act tough, the prosecutors have acted without heed to the cost levied on
worthy professional lives and has made it dangerous to even be seen talking to a journalist.
- 2 -
Stephen Kim is a dedicated, hard-working, law-abiding and extraordinarily talented
analyst who has given 10 years of valuable service to the U.S. government and has helped it
better understand issues ranging from North Korea to Iran. He has briefed and been a vital
resource for high-level officials in the Departments of State, Defense, and Energy, the National
Security Council, the Defense Policy Board, the combatant commands, and the Office of the
Vice President and has been consulted by national leaders such as Henry Kissinger, George
Shultz and Stephen Hadley. Unlike what these unproven charges state here and what the
government has to prove, Mr. Kim never would take any action for which he had any reason to
believe would harm the interests of the United States.
The news report at the heart of these charges contains completely unremarkable
observations about what a country would do if it was sanctioned for its poor behavior. These
kinds of observations were well known to anyone paying attention to public sources and ought
not be the basis for making someone a federal felon.
This is why Mr. Kim has pleaded not guilty to what the government has charged. He
hopes those with whom he has worked and his friends and acquaintances will recall that he is the
man they know him to be, a man who would never willfully or intentionally violate the law, and
that they stand by him and give real meaning to the presumption of innocence."
https://www.fas.org/sgp/jud/kim/mwe082710.pdf
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