TOM MAGUIRE: “Work with me here – suppose we get a conviction on some terrorist who then discovers that his former defense attorney has been active on his case at the DoJ. Why wouldn’t that be grounds for a mistrial? If attorney-client privilege is an issue at all, it is an issue for the defendants, who have the right to assurance that their former defenders are not now aiding in the prosecution.”

UPDATE: Bush-era Justice Department alumni Jim Comey and Jack Goldsmith defend Holder’s decision. “Mohammed is many things: an enemy combatant in a war against the United States whom the government can detain without trial until the conflict ends; a war criminal subject to trial by military commission under the laws of war; and someone answerable in federal court for violations of the U.S. criminal code. Which system he is placed in for purposes of incapacitation and justice involves complex legal and political trade-offs.”