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So, last night, Dave Kelley, whom I have known for my entire adult life, told @AriMelber that the OLC memos were "just a policy" and "policies can be bent or broken". I went to sleep thinking he was just trolling Trump. 1/
I woke up this morning realizing that the Kelley I've known for 35+ years has always been incredibly cautious in his public statements and does not pull pranks on TV. What the hell was that? 2/
Is he signaling a) that there are serious discussions going on in the beer halls and lunch spots around Foley Square about when to violate an OLC memo? or, b) that some prosecutor (SDNY? OSC?) has found a crime so serious that a court would allow breaking "policy"? or, 3/
c) both a and b? B/C an OLC memo is not JUST a policy, like when you need something approved by your boss's boss or some mailroom or vacation time rules, it's supposed to be binding on the entire Executive Branch. 4/
An OLC memo is treated like a mini SCOTUS ruling within the Executive Branch. And Dave Kelley is a normally very cautious guy. He rarely pulls pranks (well, not unless PatFitz is in the vicinity), so why would he say this? 5/
Everything else he said in that interview was strictly plain vanilla. The answers were the same that any alumn of SDNY would anticipate and could have given themselves. All, except that last answer. Who was his intended audience? Who was he supporting or trying to persuade? /6
I AM SO INTRIGUED BY THIS. /fin
