There was no way the media company or its contractors could secure the release of prisoners from Gitmo the ponderous wheels of Western security, lawyers, and security consultants lost out.
The national security lawyers explained that it was a misunderstanding, the officials said.
In recent weeks, the White House counsel, Kathryn Ruemmler, and Homeland Security lawyers pored over the law and concluded they were on firm ground.
As a result, Mr. Verrilli sought an explanation from national security lawyers about why they had not flagged the issue when vetting his Supreme Court briefs and helping him practice for the arguments, according to officials.
Professor Hathaway brought the students in the course, National Security Lawyering, to Washington, D.C. for a series of meetings with national security lawyers working on the topics on which they wrote research papers.
Still, some national security lawyers said the practice of drawing up lists of people who are subject to lethal force might blur the lines drawn by government's ban on assassinations.
