Uh Oh, maybe Elena Kagan was more involved with Obamacare than she let on

Well it appears that Elena Kagan might have snowed everyone.  Thanks to The Media Research Center and Judicial Watch new documents have been obtained under the Freedom of Information Act reveals the possible involvement of Elena Kagan as the Solicitor General in the development of a legal defense for Obamacare.  Below is an excerpt from the Daily Caller.

In an email dated Jan. 8, 2010, then-Deputy Solicitor General Neal Katyal sent an email to Senior Counsel Brian Hauck and Deputy Attorney General Thomas Perrelli that indicates Kagan played a key role in coming up with a legal defense.

“Brian, Elena would definitely like OSG [Office of Solicitor General] to be involved in this set of issues … we will bring Elena as needed.”

Basically the Deputy Solicitor General is saying we need to keep Elena in the loop.  This is a very common practice in many organizations.  I do it all the time in my own organization.  I keep key players in the loop by either direct contact or emails.  What disturbs me about this is she did not disclose any of this.  Additional email traffic reveals just how involved she was in the process.

In an email on March 21, 2010, Katyal urged Kagan to attend a health-care litigation meeting on defending the law. “I think you should go, no?” wrote Katyal. “I will, regardless, but feel like this is litigation of singular importance.”

When I read the above email I get the sense that she was invested and keeping a close eye on this process.  After she was nominated for the Supreme Court the entire tone of the email traffic changed.

On May 17, 2010, for example, Tracy Schmaler, a Department of Justice spokesperson wrote to Katyal, “Has Elena been involved in any of that to the extent SG office was consulted … ?”

“No, she has never been involved in any of it. I’ve run it for the office, and have never discussed the issues with her one bit,” was Katyal’s response. He then forwarded the correspondence to Kagan, saying “This is what I told Tracy about Health Care.”

Kagan’s response: “This needs to be coordinated. Tracy you should not say anything about this before talking to me.”

Now the way I’m reading this is that they wanted to conceal any hint of her involvement in the process of developing a legal defense for Obamacare.  They wanted to coordinate and control the message if this topic came up.  They didn’t want anything to thwart her confirmation or force her to recuse herself from the eventual arrival of Obamacare at the steps of the Supreme Court.  You can almost feel the deception in Kagan’s words, “This needs to be coordinated. Tracy you should not say anything about this before talking to me.”

You can read the entire article at the Daily Caller.

If this is true I find it absolutely contemptible.  I mean we’re talking about a Justice on the highest court in the land and possible acts of deception to hide her involvement with one of the most controversial laws passed in the last 80 years.  If it turns out that she was involved, then I believe she needs to recuse herself from anything that has to do with Obamacare.  If she doesn’t recuse herself where does this leave us as a nation?  How can we trust in our system of checks and balances?  The answer is we can’t.  And if we can’t trust our system just how long will our republic stand?  My guess is not very long.

Liberty forever, freedom for all!