It appears that a lawyer who was involved in drafting Sen. Rand Paul’s (R-Ky.) lawsuit against the National Security Agency was indeed unhappy over the lack of attribution, according to a series of emails published by The Washington Post Friday.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. walks towards waiting reporters in front of federal court in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2014. (AP)
“My marginalization was thoroughly unfair. Going forward, I expect complete transparency and inclusion on all non-trivial decisions. My name will be on all future pleadings. Ken and I plan to meet shortly to discuss these matters,” Bruce Fein, a former Reagan administration lawyer, wrote in one email.
“My outstanding invoice for work indispensable to the lawsuit should be paid no later than Friday, February 14, an expectation which is completely justified in light of all the circumstances. Please alert me if the work description on the invoice needs alteration,” the email, which Fein confirmed was authentic in a phone call with the Post, added.
The new emails would seem confirm the Post’s earlier report that Fein was “furious” over his exclusion from the complaint filed this week against the NSA by Paul and former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli.
The initial Post report also suggested that large portions of the NSA lawsuit were lifted without proper attribution.
A “draft of the complaint written by Fein has long passages that are nearly identical to those in the complaint Cuccinelli filed Wednesday,” it noted. “Except for some cuts and minor wording changes, they are clearly the same documents.”
The Post cited Fein’s ex-wife and supposed spokeswoman, Mattie Lolavar.
“I am aghast and shocked by Ken Cuccinelli’s behavior and his absolute knowledge that this entire complaint was the work product, intellectual property and legal genius of Bruce Fein,” Lolavar said.
“Ken Cuccinelli stole the suit,” she said, adding that the Kentucky senator, who “already has one plagiarism issue, now has a lawyer who just takes another lawyer’s work product.”
Hours after the Post published its findings, Fein said in an email that they were inaccurate.
“I was working on a legal team, and have been paid for my work,” Bruce Fein, a former Reagan administration lawyer, said in an email provided to TheBlaze by Cuccinelli. “Mattie Lolavar was not speaking for me. Her quotes were her own and did not represent my views.”
Newly-released information also shows that Fein billed Paul’s political action group, RANDPAC, $46,849 for his work on the complaint. RANDPAC paid Fein $15,000 on Feb. 3.
A RANDPAC spokesman told TheBlaze Thursday that “the senator won’t be commenting on a false story.”
Paul has been harshly criticized recently for allegedly plagiarizing parts of his book “Government Bullies.” He has also been accused of lifting without attribution passages in several op-eds.
Read the emails, via The Washington Post:
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