This is Awkward

Politico reports that Obama's Justice Department is now charged (b/c it defends the gov't) with defending a lawsuit against John Yoo brought by Jose Padilla. The ironic part is that Obama has been trying to undo all of Yoo's atrocious legal opinions on torture, detentions and the like.

The suit contends that Yoo’s legal opinions authorized Bush to order Padilla’s detention in a Navy brig in South Carolina and encouraged military officials to subject Padilla to aggressive interrogation techniques, including death threats and long-term sensory deprivation.

That’s not all. On Thursday, Justice Department lawyers are slated to be in Charleston, S.C., to ask a federal magistrate there to dismiss another lawsuit charging about a dozen current and former government officials with violating Padilla’s rights in connection with his unusual detention on U.S. soil, without charges or a trial.

The defendants in that case are like a who’s who of Bush administration boogeymen to Obama’s liberal followers — former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, his deputy Paul Wolfowitz and former Attorney General John Ashcroft. ...

...Obama [] seems to be no fan of Yoo’s work. One of the new president’s first acts upon taking office last week was to nullify every detainee-related legal opinion issued during the Bush administration by the unit Yoo worked in, the Office of Legal Counsel. ...

...To an extent, the lawsuits against Yoo and Rumsfeld are symbolic. Padilla was transferred from military to civilian custody in 2006. A jury later convicted him on conspiracy charges unrelated to the alleged “dirty bomb” plot. A judge sentenced him to 17 years in prison, though an appeal is pending. While Padilla does want an order barring another involuntary trip to the brig, each suit seeks only $1 in damages, plus legal fees.