R
Roger
Guest
Thompson Linked to Work for Libyans
By JO BECKER
Published: September 09, 2007
A little over three years after Pan Am Flight 103 blew up over Lockerbie,
Scotland, Fred D. Thompson provided advice to a colleague about one of his
law firm's new clients: The man representing the two Libyan intelligence
officials charged in the terrorist bombing.
The colleague, John Culver, a partner at the Washington firm of Arent Fox
Kintner Plotkin & Kahn began advising the two suspects' Libyan lawyer in
February 1992. Mr. Thompson, according to a memorandum from that era written
by his secretary, held "discussions with Culver re: Libya" that same month.
At the time, Libya was facing international outrage for refusing to comply
with a United Nations demand that the two suspects be extradited to the West
for trial in the 1988 bombing, which killed 270 people. Revelations that
American firms were representing Libyan interests provoked a furor among the
Pan Am victims' families. Some law firms refused to represent the country or
the suspects, while others withdrew.
The involvement of Mr. Thompson, who worked part-time for Arent Fox as a
lawyer and lobbyist from 1991 until shortly before his election to the
Senate in 1994, never became public. But Arent Fox's chairman, Marc L.
Fleischaker, confirmed that Mr. Thompson, who is now seeking the Republican
presidential nomination, briefly provided Mr. Culver with advice about the
suspects' case, billing the firm for 3.3 hours of his time.
The firm was hired to provide guidance on the tense questions surrounding
where the two men should be tried, Mr. Fleischaker said, and Mr. Thompson's
background as a former prosecutor, as well as his government relations
experience - he had close ties to senior officials in the first Bush
administration - "gave him insight on jurisdictional issues such as that."
Karen Henretty, a spokeswoman for his presidential campaign, said that Mr.
Thompson had no authority to decide which clients the firm represented. Mr.
Thompson has faced questions about his work for two other Arent Fox clients.
He initially denied working on behalf of a family planning group seeking to
overturn an abortion counseling ban at federally financed clinics, but
billing records showed that he spent nearly 20 hours on the matter. His work
on behalf of Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the deposed Haitian leader - a phone
call to John Sununu, then the White House Chief of Staff - has also become
fodder for his rivals because of human-rights abuses during Mr. Aristide's
presidency.
The memorandum by Mr. Thompson's secretary reviewing his
work for Arent Fox, compiled in 1993 as he was running for the Senate, was
buried among thousands of Mr. Thompson's papers archived at the University
of Tennessee, and casts new light on his time there, beyond his work on the
Libya case.
It lists the clients he brought into the firm, which included construction
firms and a Texas chemical company embroiled in a case involving the illegal
dumping of hazardous waste.
Mr. Thompson also helped others at Arent Fox, the memorandum shows. He met,
for instance, with the Chilean ambassador in 1991 and then traveled to Chile
to try to garner business for the law firm from that country's government.
He
consulted with one of the firm's partners about a Mexican trade agreement
and helped other lawyers with introductions to important Republican
officials.
Mr. Thompson has said he makes no apologies for his legal and lobbying work,
emphasizing in one online essay that every person, no matter how unpopular,
is entitled to representation and that lawyers' work on behalf of a client
is no indication of their own personal views.
Asked about Mr. Thompson's participation in the Libya case, James Kreindler,
a lawyer who represents 130 of the victims' families, said: "Pan Am 103 was
really an attack on the United States, so while some families understood the
concept that everyone deserves a defense, a number were offended and angered
that American lawyers were willing to earn fees by doing anything to help
this pariah nation or the two bombing suspects."
Today, in the post-Sept. 11 political climate, all the presidential
candidates are jockeying to prove their antiterrorism credentials, with Mr.
Thompson vowing last week to
fight "radical Islamic terrorism" vigorously. Yesterday, his campaign noted
that during his eight years in the Senate, Mr. Thompson supported sanctions
against Libya.
In 1992, Libya was among those countries the United States listed as state
sponsors of terrorism for acts that included the 1989 bombing of a French
airliner and the 1986 bombing of a Berlin disco that killed two American
soldiers.
Arent Fox, in papers it was required to file with the federal government,
reported that from February
1992 to August 1993, it provided advice on American and international law to
Ibrahim Legwell, the Libyan lawyer appointed by the Libyan Bar Association
to represent the two intelligence officials charged with the Flight 103
bombing. Arent Fox received $833,960 in fees and expenses for its work on
the case.
Mr. Legwell, reached in Tripoli, said his main goal was to see that his
clients were tried in Libya or in a neutral country. He said Arent Fox
"contributed a lot" to the defense effort. Mr. Legwell said he had no record
of ever speaking with Mr. Thompson but noted: "I remember that this name was
mentioned."
Mr. Culver, a former Democratic senator from Iowa, said that Mr. Thompson
was not a primary member of his team, and that his contribution amounted to
"a couple of conversations."
"In a large firm, you frequently consult with people who have experience"
in the field of law at hand, he said. In the end, after protracted
negotiations with the United Nations, Libya agreed in 1999 to hand over the
two men for trial by a special court in the Netherlands. One of the men was
convicted and is serving his sentence in a Scottish jail.
In 2003, Libya accepted responsibility for the Pan Am bombing and agreed to
pay the victims $2.7 billion in compensation. After Mr. Qaddafi's
renunciation of terrorism and his agreement to end programs to develop
unconventional weapon, the United States last year removed Libya from its
list of state sponsors of terrorism.
http://mobile.nytimes.com/article;?a=102535&f=19
By JO BECKER
Published: September 09, 2007
A little over three years after Pan Am Flight 103 blew up over Lockerbie,
Scotland, Fred D. Thompson provided advice to a colleague about one of his
law firm's new clients: The man representing the two Libyan intelligence
officials charged in the terrorist bombing.
The colleague, John Culver, a partner at the Washington firm of Arent Fox
Kintner Plotkin & Kahn began advising the two suspects' Libyan lawyer in
February 1992. Mr. Thompson, according to a memorandum from that era written
by his secretary, held "discussions with Culver re: Libya" that same month.
At the time, Libya was facing international outrage for refusing to comply
with a United Nations demand that the two suspects be extradited to the West
for trial in the 1988 bombing, which killed 270 people. Revelations that
American firms were representing Libyan interests provoked a furor among the
Pan Am victims' families. Some law firms refused to represent the country or
the suspects, while others withdrew.
The involvement of Mr. Thompson, who worked part-time for Arent Fox as a
lawyer and lobbyist from 1991 until shortly before his election to the
Senate in 1994, never became public. But Arent Fox's chairman, Marc L.
Fleischaker, confirmed that Mr. Thompson, who is now seeking the Republican
presidential nomination, briefly provided Mr. Culver with advice about the
suspects' case, billing the firm for 3.3 hours of his time.
The firm was hired to provide guidance on the tense questions surrounding
where the two men should be tried, Mr. Fleischaker said, and Mr. Thompson's
background as a former prosecutor, as well as his government relations
experience - he had close ties to senior officials in the first Bush
administration - "gave him insight on jurisdictional issues such as that."
Karen Henretty, a spokeswoman for his presidential campaign, said that Mr.
Thompson had no authority to decide which clients the firm represented. Mr.
Thompson has faced questions about his work for two other Arent Fox clients.
He initially denied working on behalf of a family planning group seeking to
overturn an abortion counseling ban at federally financed clinics, but
billing records showed that he spent nearly 20 hours on the matter. His work
on behalf of Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the deposed Haitian leader - a phone
call to John Sununu, then the White House Chief of Staff - has also become
fodder for his rivals because of human-rights abuses during Mr. Aristide's
presidency.
The memorandum by Mr. Thompson's secretary reviewing his
work for Arent Fox, compiled in 1993 as he was running for the Senate, was
buried among thousands of Mr. Thompson's papers archived at the University
of Tennessee, and casts new light on his time there, beyond his work on the
Libya case.
It lists the clients he brought into the firm, which included construction
firms and a Texas chemical company embroiled in a case involving the illegal
dumping of hazardous waste.
Mr. Thompson also helped others at Arent Fox, the memorandum shows. He met,
for instance, with the Chilean ambassador in 1991 and then traveled to Chile
to try to garner business for the law firm from that country's government.
He
consulted with one of the firm's partners about a Mexican trade agreement
and helped other lawyers with introductions to important Republican
officials.
Mr. Thompson has said he makes no apologies for his legal and lobbying work,
emphasizing in one online essay that every person, no matter how unpopular,
is entitled to representation and that lawyers' work on behalf of a client
is no indication of their own personal views.
Asked about Mr. Thompson's participation in the Libya case, James Kreindler,
a lawyer who represents 130 of the victims' families, said: "Pan Am 103 was
really an attack on the United States, so while some families understood the
concept that everyone deserves a defense, a number were offended and angered
that American lawyers were willing to earn fees by doing anything to help
this pariah nation or the two bombing suspects."
Today, in the post-Sept. 11 political climate, all the presidential
candidates are jockeying to prove their antiterrorism credentials, with Mr.
Thompson vowing last week to
fight "radical Islamic terrorism" vigorously. Yesterday, his campaign noted
that during his eight years in the Senate, Mr. Thompson supported sanctions
against Libya.
In 1992, Libya was among those countries the United States listed as state
sponsors of terrorism for acts that included the 1989 bombing of a French
airliner and the 1986 bombing of a Berlin disco that killed two American
soldiers.
Arent Fox, in papers it was required to file with the federal government,
reported that from February
1992 to August 1993, it provided advice on American and international law to
Ibrahim Legwell, the Libyan lawyer appointed by the Libyan Bar Association
to represent the two intelligence officials charged with the Flight 103
bombing. Arent Fox received $833,960 in fees and expenses for its work on
the case.
Mr. Legwell, reached in Tripoli, said his main goal was to see that his
clients were tried in Libya or in a neutral country. He said Arent Fox
"contributed a lot" to the defense effort. Mr. Legwell said he had no record
of ever speaking with Mr. Thompson but noted: "I remember that this name was
mentioned."
Mr. Culver, a former Democratic senator from Iowa, said that Mr. Thompson
was not a primary member of his team, and that his contribution amounted to
"a couple of conversations."
"In a large firm, you frequently consult with people who have experience"
in the field of law at hand, he said. In the end, after protracted
negotiations with the United Nations, Libya agreed in 1999 to hand over the
two men for trial by a special court in the Netherlands. One of the men was
convicted and is serving his sentence in a Scottish jail.
In 2003, Libya accepted responsibility for the Pan Am bombing and agreed to
pay the victims $2.7 billion in compensation. After Mr. Qaddafi's
renunciation of terrorism and his agreement to end programs to develop
unconventional weapon, the United States last year removed Libya from its
list of state sponsors of terrorism.
http://mobile.nytimes.com/article;?a=102535&f=19
