The Freedom of Information Act says that government records on people can be released when they die. So when famous people die, there are FOIA requests for things like their FBI file. This just happened with late Chief Justice William Rehnquist and a 1,561 page file was released. Legal Times has a long summary Rehnquist FBI File Sheds New Light on Confirmation Battles, Drug Dependence.
The gossip part is that Rehnquist was addicted to a sleep aid from 1971 until he checked into a hospital in December 1981. He was taking 3 times the maximum dossage and this medication is usually only prescribed for one week. "The fact that Rehnquist checked into George Washington University Hospital for a week in late December 1981 to be treated for back pain and dependence on a prescription drug was previously known." But the details weren't previously known. Apparently during withdrawl he suffered paranoid delusions including that the CIA was plotting against him. The thing I haven't seen in the articles is that Chief Justice John Roberts was Rehnquist's clerk from 1980-81, at the height of his problems. But this is all just gossip because it doesn't seem to have affected his decisions.
The other thing people are talking about is how Nixon and Reagan used the FBI to invistigate the people that were going to testify at his confirmation hearings (for the court and then for chief justice). This is why we shouldn't trust the government.
"According to a memo in the Rehnquist file, an unnamed FBI official cautioned that the department 'should be sensitive to the possibility that Democrats could charge the Republicans of misusing the FBI and intimidating the Democrats’ witnesses.' But then-Assistant Attorney General John Bolton — who more recently served as ambassador to the United Nations — signed off on the request and said he would 'accept responsibility should concerns be raised about the role of the FBI.'"
No comments:
Post a Comment