Julie Myers has been nominated to run ICE (Immigrations and Customs Enforcement). She's the niece of Gen. Richard Myers and is married to Michael Chertoff's chief of staff. The most intriguing part of her background to me was her role in Kenneth Starrs's OIC investigation of President Clinton. Myers is mentioned a few times in Susan McDougal's book,
The Woman Who Wouldn't Talk. These are excerpts from that book, with explanatory comments in brackets.
[McDougal has scoliosis, and was having severe problems while in jail. Her attorneys wanted her to get treatment.]
p 323
Dr. Fisk's testimony was the key to the hearing, and he proved to be a compelling witness. His testimony about my medical condition was easily understandable, and it was obvious to anyone present that he was a true expert-he simply knew what he was talking about. He explained how important it was that I start receiving immediate treatment beyond what the jail could provide. I didn't envy the OIC attorney who had to cross-examine him.
That turned out to be Julie Myers, and from the very beginning it was a total mismatch. Although it was rumored that she had been a medical malpractice attorney, Myers seemed lost when her questioning veered into anything scientific. Over and over, Dr. Fisk had to correct her assumptions and explain how she wasn't looking at the right data. If their matchup had been a boxing match, it would have been stopped after the second round.
p324
[Myers] asked Dr. Fisk, "Do you consider Ms. McDougal to be a complicated woman?"
The puzzled neurosurgeon, unsure of what the question meant, replied, "Do you mean complicated medically?"
"No," Myers replied. "I mean complicated in the normal sense of the word."
"Actually, Ms. Myers," Dr. Fisk said patiently, "I'm a medical doctor, not a psychiatrist. I would have a hard time giving an expert opinion on that."
Myers went on to other areas, seemingly satisfied with the answer.
This was the first I'd heard of Myers being a medical malpractice lawyer. Does anyone else know more about her background?
p361
[during McDougal's criminal contempt trial in 1999]
When Claudia [Riley] finished her direct testimony the judge recessed for a morning break. We walked out of the courtroom, and Claudia sat on a bench in the hallway while I went to get her some water. Seeing Claudia sitting alone, the OIC's Julie Myers walked over, sat down next to her and inquired whether she could ask her a few questions. The always-gracious Claudia said, "I think that would be all right." Myers then asked two or three innocuous questions before getting to her real question.
"Did Susan McDougal ever tell you that she had sex with Bill Clinton?" asked Myers.
Claudia, a proper, polite, Southern lady in her seventies, was taken aback and was barely able to stammer out a negative response. With that, Myers got up and walked away. Claudia then called Pat and Mark over and told them what had just happened.
p362
[after returning to court Riley retook the stand to answer questions about her conversation with Myers] The OIC's other attorney, Mark Barrett, looked like he was going to explode. He had obviously not been aware of Myers's questioning of Claudia, and he immediately understood the damage she had done. With his back to the jury and as quietly as possible, Barrett tore into Myers. On her cross examination of Claudia, Myers tried to put a different spin on her sex question, but it only served to point out how ridiculous the question had been in the first place.
There are a couple more references to Myers in the book, but these sum it up well. She doesn't seem very bright, IMO. Eager and determined to see a particular result, sure. But those aren't qualities America needs in someone responsible for the security of our borders and shipments of goods entering this country.
Since she's 36, she probably graduated law school around 1994.
What was she doing from 94-98, before she joined the OIC?
Ok, one more excerpt, which is actually the first mention of Myers in the book.
p. 308
My questioner was a new recruit to the OIC team, Julie Myers. She appeared to have been cloned from the same genetic material as Amy St. Eve [St. Eve was also an attorney with the OIC]: she was short, peppy and looked a little like a feminine version of a Chucky doll.
After the hell McDougal was put through, she's entitled to be catty and bitchy. It's irrelevant to Myers's professional ability, so think of it as a gratuitous laugh for reading this diary to the end.