Conflict of interest possible motivator of TNR "smear" against Sonia Sotomayor

[Old Hank]

Yesterday in The New Republic, writer Jeff Rosen wrote a hit piece against Sonia Sotomayor, the woman seen as favorite to replace retiring David Souter as Supreme Court judge.
Rosen concluded, based on what the anonymous sources allegedly told him, that Sotomayor "may not meet that demanding standard" to qualify as President Obama's pick.

But Glen Greenwald, who called Rosen's piece a "smear," has revealed a conflict of interest that may have motivated Rosen's attacks against Sotomayor:

Jeffrey Rosen's brother-in-law is Neal Katyal, the current Deputy Solicitor General in the Obama administration. If Sotomayor's prospects are torpedoed, that could clear the way for one of the other leading candidates to be named to the Court: current Solicitor General Elena Kagan. The selection of Kagan (rather than Sotomayor) would almost certainly result in Rosen's brother-in-law (Katyal) becoming Solicitor General. Additionally, Katyal himself was once a clerk for a Second Circuit judge, obviously raising the question of whether he was one of the anonymous sources for his brother-in-law's hit piece disparaging Sotomayor's intellect and character.

One can question whether this Rosen/Katyal relationship should have been disclosed by TNR (on balance, it was probably unnecessary), but at the very least, these are illustrative of the types of problems that inevitably arise when anonymous sources are used so casually in a political culture rife with incestuous relationships and conflicts of interest.

More from Greenwald: http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/05/05/tnr/index.html

[Duer 157099]

1. It's GlenN. Glenn. Glenn. Double N. (sorry, but it really bugs me) n/t

[mod mom]

2. DISGUSTING IF TRUE. Has anyone confronted Rosen? Wish I was around to recommend this.