Dawn Johnsen was one of Barack Obama’s most progressive nominees; a strong voice for the rule of law, her nomination to the Office of Legal Counsel would have been clear message to the world that the days of torture memos and overreaching executive power were behind the U.S.
So when she withdrew her nomination after over a year without a Senate vote, progressives and civil libertarians were distressed—not least because of the administration’s apparent lack of willingness to fight for its stellar nominee. Ari Melber wrote about the situation for The Nation, and he joins us in studio with Lynn Paltrow of National Advocates for Pregnant Women, who worked with Johnsen and who notes that prochoice and civil libertarian organizations deserve some blame as well.
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