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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.”
Rivkin said there was “no fundamental difference between slamming lawyers in the Obama Justice Department and [Bush administration attorney] John Yoo or [federal judge] Jay Bybee” for their positions.
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