NewsMax.com. Thursday, June 15, 2000
Ken Starr's Old Law Firm Joins Elian Case
NewsMax.com has learned that Kirkland & Ellis, the former law firm of Ken Starr, has joined the legal team around Elian Gonzalez's Miami family.
Kirkland & Ellis reportedly helped the existing legal team, headed by Miami attorney Kendall Coffey, prepare the appeal that is being filed today with the 11th Circuit in Atlanta.
The new appeal will argue that the ruling by the 11th Circuit three-judge panel should be overruled. The appeal argues that a May Supreme Court decision involving a Texas case demonstrated the INS did not have the right to deny Elian an asylum hearing.
The addition of Kirkland & Ellis, while bringing some higher caliber legal minds to the Miami family's legal team, also strengthens the legal team's ties to establishment Democratic party circles.
Kirkland & Ellis, a Chicago-based firm with offices in Washington, has had strong ties to the Democratic Party, and the firm's political action committee was one of the largest legal donors to Democratic congressional candidates in the 1996 election cycle.
The Miami family's legal circle has also come under fire for its failure to handle the case properly, as well as its ties to the Democratic Party in South Florida.
The Miami family's lead attorney, Kendall Coffey, is a longtime associate of Janet Reno and had been appointed by Bill Clinton as the U.S. attorney in Miami.
20 More Plaintiffs Join Donato Suit Against Reno
NewsMax.com. Thursday, June 15, 2000
Washington – On Wednesday Judicial Watch enlarged its legal actions against Attorney General Janet Reno, Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder, and Immigration and Naturalization Commissioner Doris Meissner concerning the illegal, unconstitutional and "Nazi-like" raid on the home of
the relatives of Elian Gonzalez in the Little Havana neighborhood.
Previously, Judicial Watch had brought suit on behalf of Donato Dalrymple, the "fisherman" who pulled Elian from the sea and saved his life, and a few other individuals who were gassed, beaten, threatened and had guns shoved in their faces amidst screams of profanity by INS agents and
other Clinton-Gore Justice Department personnel.
As a result of the new lawsuits being brought today, Judicial Watch is representing virtually the entire Little Havana neighborhood that was subjected to Reno's, Holder's and Meissner's totalitarian tactics, who effectively kidnaped Elian Gonzalez in order that the Clinton-Gore administration
could make good on its end of the apparent deal with Fidel Castro.
In recent days, through another Judicial Watch lawsuit, the public interest law firm has uncovered documentation of a plan of collaboration between the Clinton-Gore administration and Communist Cuba, whereby decisions to remove the boy from his Miami relatives and send him back to Cuba were not
made on the merits.
In this regard, Judicial Watch will be filing amicus briefs with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit supporting the legal efforts of Elian Gonzalez's Miami relatives to overturn the Court's decision of June 1, 2000.
A press conference will be held today at noon EDT on the courthouse steps of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida in Miami. The public is welcome to attend.
Judicial Watch has launched the Elian Legal Defense Fund to help pursue its case. For more information Click Here.
Miami Family To File in Atlanta Today
MIAMI – Attorneys for Elian Gonzalez's Miami family will file an appeal with the 11th U.S. Circuit of Appeals today in Atlanta, according to several press reports.
The family is seeking a hearing before the full 12-judge panel. Previously, a three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit had ruled against the family and Elian's petition before the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
The court ruled that since the law allowing for asylum petitions made no reference to the age of a person doing so, it was the INS' prerogative to decide the acceptability of the petitioner.
The INS has ruled that Elian's father alone can request an asylum hearing for the boy.
The decision by the Miami family to file in the 11th Circuit signals a change of strategy by attorneys handling the case. Attorneys for the family had indicated they planned on expediting their appeal directly to the Supreme Court.
Critics of the Miami attorneys, including Miami attorney Jack Thompson, noted that such a move would only help return Elian more quickly to Cuba while limiting other opportunities that might help keep the boy in the United States.
If the full panel of the 11th Circuit decides to hear the appeal filed today, a new court order would be issued to keep Elian in the United States.
Jack Thompson first broke the story of the planned Atlanta filing on NewsMax.com yesterday. To read this and other stories by Jack Thompson CLICK HERE.
Elian Appeals Filing Today – What Will Happen?
Jack Thompson
Today, June 15, is the day by which the Elian Gonzalez legal team must file its appeal, either with the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta or with the United States Supreme Court, of the 11th Circuit's June 1 order denying Elian an asylum hearing.
Kendall Coffey, head of the legal team, has indicated both publicly and privately that he was strongly leaning toward taking the appeal directly to the Supreme Court.
I have cited several legal experts who have been highly critical of Coffey's handling of this case, especially his effort to close the case through an expedited appeals process to the Supreme Court.
By jumping the appeal to the Supreme Court, Coffey will only allow Castro to get Elian more quickly, while narrowing the scope of the appellate process – something the Miami family should not be doing.
The good news is that Team Coffey is having second thoughts about its plan to end Elian's appeals early and may not go directly to the Supreme Court after all.
If true, this is the best news to come out of the Elian saga in a long time.
More than one Miami source in the Cuban-American community here is saying there is one reason and one reason alone for a re-thinking of Team Coffey's "expedited" Supreme Court strategy: NewsMax.com.
How so? I have been involved in a Spanish-language media blitz here in Miami since the June 1 order, appearing once with Donato Dalrymple and culminating Monday with my 30-minute appearance on Telemiami, the Miami Spanish television cable network. My articles and NewsMax.com coverage have been
the main topic of discussion.
In Miami like no other place in America, Spanish talk radio and TV set the political agenda. Team Coffey has been severely burned by criticism now coming its way in the Cuban-American community, ignited by a long-overdue critique of Team Coffey here in its backyard. NewsMax.com lit the fuse.
For example, Team Coffey was so panicked by my appearance on a morning TV talk show that aired today that a member of the team called the owner of the station threatening to sue if I went on the air.
The owner told me he said to the one making the threat, "Jack Thompson has a right to criticize this legal team. Go ahead and sue if you like."
[Members of Team Coffey have been libeling me all over Miami, claiming I am "insane," that I want to "make money," and that I am jealous because I am not the lead attorney. Let me state that I have no financial interest in this case and have no interest in being the Miami
family's attorney. If I was asked to be their lawyer I would not take the case but would refer it to a more experienced immigration or criminal attorney, something Coffey should have done in the first place.]
Team Coffey may now seek an en banc hearing in Atlanta, and for that it should be applauded.
They may finally do the right thing for all the wrong reasons – avoiding damage to their personal careers – but we'll take it. Thank God for NewsMax.com and the First Amendment.
What Coffey should then do is use some of that $170,000 that is just sitting there in the Elian Legal Trust Fund and hire a presitigious appellate lawyer to stand before all twelve judges in Atlanta to do a better job than Coffey did on May 11.
As I mentioned in a recent column, the hard-working people of Miami gave more than $200,000 to Elian's legal defense fund, and most of it was never used. It could have made the difference.
Larry Klayman's Judicial Watch is now setting up its own Elian Legal Defense Fund to move its civil case forward in the courts.
Its client is Donato Dalrymple and others who were wrongfully assaulted by Janet Reno and her INS troops in their SS-style April 22 raid on Elian's Miami home.
Already Judicial Watch's legal actions have produced documents showing that the Clinton administration was working working hand in hand with Castro, a fact that could be introduced in the 11th Circuit appeal to help sway the judges to keep Elian.
Many people believe the case is over. It is not over, especially if the appeal goes forward in Atlanta.
But one thing needs to be remembered. A terrible abuse of power took place in Miami on April 22, and Reno and her goons must be held accountable. If they aren't, we have begun our walk down a dangerous path in this country.
Congress is afraid to act. Larry Klayman is not. Support him and his Elian Legal Defense Fund.
Jack Thompson is a Miami Attorney. He has represented Donato Dalrymple on a pro bono basis. He will not receive any funds from the Elian Legal Defense Fund.
Elian's Legal Defense Funds Could Have Saved Boy
Jack Thompson. Tuesday, June 13, 2000
Even more disturbing news today out of Miami: It was confirmed today on Spanish-language radio station WWFE (670-AM) that substantial monies raised by the station to secure Elian Gonzalez high-quality legal representation have remained unspent.
Today, Dulce Cuetara, one of the three trustees of the the "Elian Legal Defense Fund," called into WWFE to explain what had happened to the funds received to make sure Elian had proper legal help.
The trustee said that months ago $210,000 was raised from listener donations, 90 percent of which was in anonymous gifts of $20 or less, many of those $5 or less. To date $40,000 has been spent on expenses, leaving more than $170,000 still sitting in the bank.
The trustees say the unspent $170,000 will be given to La Liga Contra Cancer, which helps provide cancer treatment to indigent patients in Miami.
That's nice.
Should I be so bold to ask a simple question: Did anyone tell the many people who contributed to save Elian, including hard-working immigrants, that their money was going for a cancer cure?
The revelation that a substantial war chest has been available for months to retain expert legal counsel, and was never used, is just one more piece of evidence that the Democratic Party hacks who have controlled Uncle Lazaro and the Miami family had no intention of saving the boy.
The revelations about the unused money apparently resulted from my exchange of faxes with Kendall Coffey, Elian's lead counsel, over the weekend. Coffey responded to one such fax with these words:
"As to your latest inquiry about whether the members of the Elian Legal Team are working pro bono [free of charge], you can be assured that we are. The Elian Legal Defense Trust Fund does not compensate attorneys for their time. It pays for some of the out-of-pocket costs, and is not
administered or controlled by any of the members of the Elian Legal Team."
What proves to be the truthfulness of this statement is what is so disturbing.
Let's remember that Coffey has no significant experience as an immigration or constitutional attorney to deal with the issues raised by the Elian asylum case and the illegal raid on the Miami home.
Let's also remember Coffey's most significant claim to fame is that he has been a good friend of Janet Reno for years. He has been a loyal Democrat and had been appointed Miami's U.S. attorney by Clinton-Reno.
Knowing he had little experience in the areas involving the legal case, he should have sought out the nation's top legal experts, asking their help. Some might have joined pro bono just for the publicity. Coffey could have made a special request of the Legal Defense Fund for additional
resources, if it came to that.
He didn't seek out the nation's best lawyers.
Nor did he excuse himself from the case considering his numerous conflicts of interests with the parties he was opposing, namely Clinton and Reno.
His disastrous handling of this case, which I have chronicled for NewsMax.com readers, should prove to you the accuracy of my concerns about Coffey.
When this writer shared Coffey's statement with a nationally recognized trial attorney, he was stunned by Coffey's admission.
"If the monies raised were substantial, then it means this trust has had a war chest with which the trustees should have hired the best lawyers in the country to represent this boy. Instead of the best legal talent available, this boy got a bunch of political wannabes who rode this thing to
notoriety, missing key opportunities along the way because of lack of skill, at least among those calling the shots, like Coffey. And Jose Garcia-Pedrosa is a politician talking to the media now about how he can't decide whether he should run for mayor of Miami or state attorney."
This lawyer concluded by saying: "This team had too many Indians and the wrong chief. They needed one criminal defense lawyer to go after the government's raid, one immigration lawyer free to argue things this team didn't, and one family law expert willing to get this thing into state court
and keep it there. What a shame Elian didn't get the legal help that all that money could have bought him."
If Elian is returned to Cuba, it will be thanks to the actions of Kendall Coffey and the company he keeps.
Just as they did after losing the last round before the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, Coffey and his legal team will no doubt call a press conference, announcing their stunning moral victory.
Pats on the back from Alex Penelas, Gus Garcia and all the Democratic Party hacks of Dade County.
All will say what a clever man Kendall has been. Indeed, he is a clever man.
Coffey Wanted 'Expedited Process' to Return Elian Quickly
Jack Thompson. Monday, June 12, 2000
The lawyers for Elian Gonzalez's Miami relatives have until this Thursday, June 15, to file their appeal of the 11th Circuit's June 1 order denying Elian an asylum hearing.
Lead counsel Kendall Coffey has publicly indicated he is leaning toward going directly to the Supreme Court and skipping an appeal to the 11th Circuit itself in which he could ask for an en banc hearing by all twelve judges that sit in Atlanta.
If Coffey does take his appeal directly to the Supreme Court, count that as just one more in a series of Coffey’s actions that have only served to help Janet Reno, the INS, the Clinton administration and Fidel Castro.
One must be blind at this point not to realize that Coffey has been instrumental in returning little Elian to Cuba – though he claims to have been representing Elian’s interests.
One nationally recognized trial lawyer, requesting anonymity, told me regarding Coffey’s likely plan to go directly to the Supreme Court as the next stop: "It is unthinkable that the Miami lawyers would forego 'two bites of the apple.' If Coffey doesn't persuade the Supreme Court to
take the case, it's over. If he goes to the 11th Circuit, however, he has his shot there and yet another shot with the Supremes. Delay serves the Miami relatives' interests, as anything might happen."
One need not be a great legal tactician to know that delaying the legal process can only further the chances that Elian may remain in the United States. For one thing, this case could have been easily delayed for months, putting any final determination in the hands of a Bush or Gore
administration – both of whom have expressed sympathy for Elian’s desire to remain a U.S. citizen.
The word I have been hearing from sources close to Coffey’s legal team has been their desire to "get the case over with as soon as possible." The goal of any real legal team would be to save the child, not for them to close the case so they can begin collecting political favors.
Incredibly, many prominent legal experts I have talked to were amazed that Coffey and his team agreed with the Justice Dept. to put the Elian case on fast-track expedited appeals process.
In fact, Coffey's law partner, Manny Diaz, said to Chris Matthews on CNBC's "Hardball" the day the 11th Circuit denied Elian an asylum hearing that their legal team had agreed to a fast-track appellate schedule because the whole case should be decided quickly.
Legal experts know that the losing side (and in this case, thanks to team Coffey, Elian and the Miami family are on the losing side) should stall the proceedings as much as possible, precisely because anything could happen that might help save Elian. For example, the longer his father stays in
the United States, the greater his chance of defection.
Another good reason to string out the appeals is that Washington-based Judicial Watch, which is representing some of the victims of the Easter weekend raid, is daily getting documents from the Justice Department that are showing direct collaboration between the Clinton administration and the
Castro regime to rush the boy back to Cuba.
Such explosive documents provide Team Coffey a new argument at the 11th Circuit: that the U.S. government was pursuing clandestine foreign policy moves masquerading as immigration policy.
This now-exposed charade could be used to persuade the en banc panel to grant Elian a brand new hearing on the asylum issue, since the government can be shown to have lied to the court that legitimate executive branch immigration policies should not be impeded by the judicial branch.
There is another reason not to go the Supreme Court now, and it is offered by a lawyer who is recognized as the best immigration lawyer in Miami. His name is Ira Kurzban. His law school textbook on immigration was cited by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in its June 1 Elian opinion.
Kurzban states in the June 2 Miami Herald that "he would argue that an alien has a constitutional right to request asylum on the grounds that the 11th Circuit never did away with that right." Still quoting from the Herald, Kurzban "observed that the Miami legal team already
conceded that argument to [Judge] Moore in the federal district court. 'They never pursued this and it was a big mistake,' Kurzban said."
Coffey has made many "mistakes" that consistently benefited his former boss and longtime political friend Janet Reno.
Thus, the only issue for the Supreme Court now to decide, if Coffey goes there directly, is that the various Circuit Courts of Appeal disagree with one another whether a child as young as six can apply for asylum.
Most legal experts say this is too narrow an issue to interest the High Court. Thus, this case has to be won in the 11th Circuit if it is to be won at all, since Team Coffey already kissed away valid constitutional arguments.
Here’s another "mistake" Team Coffey made: On April 13, Miami Dade Circuit Court Judge Jennifer Bailey ruled that Great-Uncle Lazaro was "too distant a relative" to be able to sustain a claim for custody of Elian in a family court proceeding.
On May 1, Team Coffey filed a notice of appeal of that decision. But for some reason yet unexplained, that appeal was dropped.
Says one legal expert requesting anonymity because of ethical prohibitions against criticizing a judge publicly: "This was a huge error in judgment by the Elian legal team. Judge Bailey's ruling is in error, and appealing it would have set up a potentially lengthy and possibly successful
fight over which takes precedence in a case such as this: federal asylum law or state family law. The answer to that question is not necessarily the federal law."
And there is support for this lawyer's analysis from the political arena, which is impressive: Vice President Gore and Governor George W. Bush both have said publicly that Elian's fate should be decided in state family court on the custody and not the asylum issue. Why would Team Coffey, with
such public political backing, run away from such a solution?
Again, had Team Coffey opened up this line of attack, it could have helped push the appellate process past the November presidential election and possibly all the way to inauguration on January 20. All of a sudden we might have a new president who can order his INS to drop its efforts to deport
Elian. But all this seems lost on Team Coffey.
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