Thomas W. Hartmann
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
lawyer and officer in the United States Air Force Reserve. He has 32 years of criminal, commercial and civil litigation experience. Between 1983 and 1991 he was a prosecutor and defense counsel in the Air Force, including duties as Chief Air Force Prosecutor in Asia-Pacific Region. From 1991 to 1996 he was an associate at Bryan Cave LLP and at SBC Communications (now AT&T). In 1996 he became Senior Counsel for Mergers & Acquisitions for SBC Communications closing multiple
deals worth several billion dollars in U.S., Europe, and South America as well as negotiating a strategic partnering agreement with a global internet service provider. From 1998 onwards he was General Counsel for SBC Communications (1999–2001), Orius Corp. (2001–2004) and MxEnergy
Inc. (2005–2007) in domestic and international settings. In July 2007 Brigadier General
Brigadier General
Brigadier general is a senior rank in the armed forces. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general. When appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000...
Hartmann was appointed the
Legal Adviser to the Convening Authority in the Department of Defense Office of Military Commissions.
In Sept 2008, as a result of the expansion of the Commission efforts that General Hartmann had led, Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England elevated General Hartmann to become the Director of Operations, Planning, and Development for the Commissions. Hartmann reported to Susan J. Crawford
Susan J. Crawford
Susan J. Crawford is an US lawyer, who was appointed the Convening Authority for the Guantanamo military commissions, on February 7, 2007.Secretary of Defense Robert Gates appointed Crawford to replace John D...
, a retired judge, who was the Convening Authority
Convening Authority
The term convening authority is used in United States military law to refer to an individual whose job includes appointing officers to play a role in a court-martial, or similar military tribunal or military commission...
until March 2010.
Private Sector Work
Mr. Hartmann has handled cases in the areas of contract disputes, civilrights, sexual and racial discrimination, interference with business relations, violation
of non-compete clauses, breach of employment contracts, denial of unemployment
benefits, employment rights, overtime reporting failures, construction, business
defamation, and fraud. Mr. Hartmann served as a General Counsel for several medium
sized enterprises (up to $1B in revenue). He has negotiated many hundreds of business
disputes in favor of his clients, shepherded a company through bankruptcy in 56 days,
and overseen the effort to gain temporary restraining orders in emergencies. Mr. Hartmann has negotiated commercial transactions in the U.S., Europe,
and South America worth billions of dollars. Additionally, he has been in charge
of Human Resources, Safety, Collections, Insurance, Benefits, Public Affairs,
and Regulatory and has saved many millions of dollars through streamlining,
cost cutting, better risk management, benefit renegotiation, and improved safety.
He has worked with boards, board committees and bankers.
Mr. Hartmann also has experience with arbitrations and mediations.
Civil Litigator as Associate at Bryan Cave LLP and at SBC Communications
Mr. Hartmann was a civil litigator as an associate at Bryan Cave LLP and at SBC Communications (now AT&T) from 1991 to 1996. During the course of his time at Bryan Cave LLP and SBC Communications (now AT&T), Mr. Hartmann covered cases involving equal opportunity employment, personal injury and products liability, sexual discrimination, contract breaches and fraud, employment status and unemployment, international attachments, state wage-payment class action, government contract and bid protest disputes, as well as pension rights. During the course of these cases, Mr. Hartmann was on at least one occasion first chair at a fully litigated federal trial. He also won two prisoner-rights arguments as well as multiple favorable summary judgments before Missouri's Supreme Court. He also successfully led arbitration worth $100 million and won SBC’s Best Summary Judgment Brief Award.General Counsel with SBC Communications, Orius Corp., and MxEnergy Inc.
Between 1999 and 2009 Mr. Hartmann was General Counsel with SBC Communications (1999–2001), Orius Corp. (2001–2004) and MxEnergy Inc. (2005–2007). Over the course of his career as General Counsel, Mr. Hartmann resolved several hundred critical litigation matters including workers’ compensation, business and contract disputes, and class actions. Apart from litigation, Mr. Hartmann also led successful arbitrations and mediations on multi-million-dollar matters as well as the effort to obtain two temporary restraining orders in N.Y. federal court to end a business-halting dispute. Additionally, Mr. Hartmann drafted and negotiated thousands of business, intercreditor, security, subordination, credit and lease agreements. He also directed regulatory compliance in 12 states for collections, procurement centralization, real estate, HR, Safety, and Benefits.Air Force Roles
Mr. Hartmann served on active duty (1977-1991 & 2007-2009) and in a reserve capacity (1991–2007) in the United States Air Force for 32 years, retiring as a Brigadier General in December 2009. In his early career (1978–1980) General Hartmann was a Security Forces Shift Commander (1978–1980). In this role he oversaw leadership, training, and performance of 90 airmen for the security of nuclear weapons andinitiated an antiterrorist training program. As a reservist General Hartmann held leadership positions with increasing responsibility at base, Numbered Air Force, Major Command and Air Staff levels. He helped lead a special trial advocacy training program and
was recognized with the Outstanding Judge Advocate award, Headquarters, Air Force Reserve, in 1993. General Hartmann's other active duty awards include: Chanute AFB Outstanding Company Grade Officer, Regional Finalist, White House Fellowship, 320 Bombardment Wing Junior Officer of the Year, Outstanding Performer, Calif. State and Sacramento AF Associations, Outstanding Young Man of America, and Honor Graduate of the Security Police Academy.
Prosecutor and Defense Counsel
General Hartmann was Chief Air Force Prosecutor in the Asia-Pacific Region between 1983 and 1991. He litigated in excess of 100 cases before judges and juries. These cases covered murder, manslaughter, rape, sexual assault, child sexual abuse, theft, drug conspiracies and alcohol-related crimes. In the course of these cases General Hartmann worked with experts in forensic pathology, oral and maxilla facial surgery, orthopedics, ophthalmology, hematology, neurosurgery, pediatric neurosurgery, neurology, drug testing, psychology, and psychiatry.Responsibilities
General Hartmann volunteered to return to active duty as Military Commissions Legal Advisor and then Director of Operations (COO) in 2007. As Legal Advisor General Hartmann oversaw investigation, proof analysis, charging, and inter-governmental coordination on cases involving conspiracy, murder, and war-related crimes. As part of this role he briefed the Deputy Secretary of Defense weekly. General Hartmann also briefed Attorneys General Holder and Mukasey and other senior government leaders on the Commissions system. He reduced the contract setup time from 12 months to 1 month. General Hartmann also increased the number of cases charged from 3 to 25 and accelerated the security clearance process. He oversaw the building of sophisticated courtrooms and significantly expanded other physical facilities. Under his leadership, the staff was grown from 50 to over 250.Dispute with Colonel Morris Davis, Senior Guantanamo Prosecutor
ColonelColonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
Morris Davis
Morris Davis
Colonel Morris D. Davis is a United States Air Force officer and lawyer, was appointed to serve as the third Chief Prosecutor in the Guantanamo military commissions....
, the Guantanamo military commission
Guantanamo military commission
The Guantanamo military commissions are military tribunals created by the Military Commissions Act of 2006 for prosecuting detainees held in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps.- History :...
's senior prosecutor complained that Hartmann was overstepping his authority.
He has issued a statement where he wrote:
The Wall Street Journal reported that Davis and Hartmann had clashed over which captives should face charges.
Its report states that Davis had refused to charge any more captives until the dispute was resolved.
Its report also stated that
William J. Haynes, II
William J. Haynes, II
William James "Jim" Haynes II is an American lawyer and former General Counsel of the Department of Defense during President George W. Bush's administration. Haynes resigned as General Counsel effective March 2008...
, the Pentagon
The Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...
's Chief Counsel, had assigned the chief judge of the Army Court of Criminal Appeals, Brigadier General Butch Tate to conduct an inquiry into the dispute. Tate's report backed Hartmann. The Wall Street Journal reports:
The Wall Street Journal speculated as to two areas the two officers' dispute could be focussed around:
- the possibility of plea bargain negotiations with Salim Ahmed HamdanSalim Ahmed HamdanSalim Ahmed Hamdan is a Yemeni man, captured during the invasion of Afghanistan, and imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay. He admits to being Osama bin Laden's personal driver claiming he needed the $200 monthly salary that came with the job....
, one of Osama bin LadenOsama bin LadenOsama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
's drivers; - Davis's preference to confine his charges to captives for whom there was unclassified evidence, so the trials could be open to the Press.
The Wall Street Journal also quotes a source regarding General Hartmann's motivation to accelerate the progress of cases:
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On Thursday November 8, 2007, before Guantanamo captive Omar Khadr
Omar Khadr
Omar Ahmed Khadr is a Canadian child soldier and one of the juveniles held at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. He was convicted of five charges under the United States Military Commissions Act of 2009 including murder in violation of the law of war and providing material support for terrorism,...
's military commission, his military defense counsel, Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant Commander is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander...
William Keubler revealed that he had been informed just two days earlier about an eyewitness whose testimony could help clear Khadr.
Major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
Jeff Groharing told reporters, in the courtroom, that Hartmann had ordered him not to talk about the case.
According to Jennifer Daskal
Jennifer Daskal
Jennifer Daskal is an American lawyer who serves as senior counsel for Human Rights Watch, and focuses on issues of terrorism, criminal law and immigration...
, an attorney at Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
:
Disqualified from participation
CaptainCaptain (naval)
Captain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The NATO rank code is OF-5, equivalent to an army full colonel....
Keith Allred
Keith J. Allred
-Early Life and Career:Allred entered the Navy in 1979. He received his juris doctorate in 1985 from the University of Washington. He served in the U.S...
, the Presiding Officer of Salim Ahmed Hamdan
Salim Ahmed Hamdan
Salim Ahmed Hamdan is a Yemeni man, captured during the invasion of Afghanistan, and imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay. He admits to being Osama bin Laden's personal driver claiming he needed the $200 monthly salary that came with the job....
's Military Commission, disqualified Hartmann from participating in Hamdan's prosecution.
He ordered that Hartmann be replaced. In a pre-trial hearing for Mohammed Jawad, Hartmann defended his "intense and direct" management style.
On August 14, 2008 Colonel Stephen Henley barred Hartmann from future participation in Mohammed Jawad's commission.
Henley had arranged for depositions to be taken from other officers at Guantanamo, including US Navy Captain Patrick M. McCarthy
Patrick M. McCarthy
Patrick M. McCarthy is an American lawyer and officer in the United States Navy.He was appointed Commander on July 12, 2001.He was appointed Captain on May 23, 2006....
, who testified that Hartmann had personally berated him.
The Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
reported that Jawad's attorney David Frakt was authorized to submit arguments directly to Susan J. Crawford
Susan J. Crawford
Susan J. Crawford is an US lawyer, who was appointed the Convening Authority for the Guantanamo military commissions, on February 7, 2007.Secretary of Defense Robert Gates appointed Crawford to replace John D...
, the Convening Authority, as to whether charges against Jawad were justified.
Jawad's lawyer David Frakt and chief prosecutor Lawrence Morris
Lawrence Morris
Colonel Lawrence J. Morris is a lawyer and an officer in the United States Army.-Academic career:Morris graduated from Marquette University's law school in 1982.Morris had previously earned a double major at Marquette in Political Science and Journalism....
both told reporters they anticipated that Hartmann's role in other Guantanamo commissions would be challenged. Morris stated, "We are going to have to address those in court."
The Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
reported that, in his testimony on August 13, 2008, Hartmann testified that he would not resign over his behavior because he believed he was doing his job properly.
In his August 14, 2008 ruling Henley wrote:
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Henley also noted that one of Hartmann's responsibilities was to review and summarize
for the Convening Authority pre-trial arguments from the Defense.
Jawad's Defense had filed pre-trial arguments, which Hartmann reviewed, and which he failed to forward and summarize for the Convening Authority. Henley noted that Hartmann failed to explain why he failed to forward or summarize the Defenses arguments for the Convening Authority.
Henley anticipated that Hartmann's failures to perform his duties during the pre-trial period would be arguments the Defense would want to submit to the Convening Authority during the post-trial period. He stated a new Legal Advisor, one not associated with Hartmann's judgment calls, would have to advise the Convening Authority on how to address Hartmann's actions.
In testimony at a pre-trial hearing for Jawad on August 20, 2008 US Army Brigadier General Gregory Zanetti
Gregory Zanetti
Gregory Zanetti is an officer in the United States Army.Brigadier General Zanetti is currently the deputy commander of Joint Task Force Guantanamo....
, deputy prison camps commander at Guantanamo, described Hartmann as, "abusive, bullying and unprofessional. . . pretty much across the board."
On Thursday September 4, 2008 Colonel Patrick Parrish
Patrick Parrish
Patrick Parrish is an officer in the United States Army.-Case of William J. Kreutzer Jr:ColonelParrish presided over the case of Sergeant William J...
barred Hartmann, from participating in Omar Khadr
Omar Khadr
Omar Ahmed Khadr is a Canadian child soldier and one of the juveniles held at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. He was convicted of five charges under the United States Military Commissions Act of 2009 including murder in violation of the law of war and providing material support for terrorism,...
's Tribunal because of his "undue command influence".
Khadr's Tribunal is the third that Hartmann has been barred from participating in.
On September 19, 2008 Hartmann was removed from his position as legal advisor and transferred to a position as director of operations, planning and development for the military commissions.
Hartmann was replaced by his deputy Michael Chapman
Michael Chapman (lawyer)
Michael Chapman is an American lawyer, and former senior officer, in the United States Army's Judge Advocate General corps, who was appointed the legal adviser to the Office of Military Commissions, in Guantanamo on September 19, 2008....
, who had been the deputy Legal Advisor since April 2005.
Hartmann attributed his removal, and appointment to the new position, to the:
"explosive growth of the commissions over the last 10 or 12 months."
When contacted by Time Magazine for comment a spokesman for General Hartmann said he was not available for interviews and would have no comment. However Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England, the Pentagon's second highest official, was willing to comment, saying:
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On August 24, 2009, Carol Rosenberg
Carol Rosenberg
Carol Rosenberg is a senior journalist, currently with the McClatchy News Service.Rosenberg works at the Miami Herald, which has provided extensive coverage of the operation of the Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba.-Biography:...
, writing in the Miami Herald wrote about Jawad's case that: "His case gained prominence when the Pentagon's legal advisor for military commissions, Air Force Brig. General Thomas Hartmann, found his file among those being considered for war crimes prosecution and propelled it to the top of the pile, in part because there were victims who could testify -- former, wounded reserve soldiers back in California."
Retirement request
On 2 November 2008 Carol RosenbergCarol Rosenberg
Carol Rosenberg is a senior journalist, currently with the McClatchy News Service.Rosenberg works at the Miami Herald, which has provided extensive coverage of the operation of the Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba.-Biography:...
, writing in the Miami Herald, reported that Hartmann had filed a request to retire from the Air Force on 17 February 2008.
Hartmann's boss at the Pentagon
The Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...
,
William J. Haynes, had resigned in February.
Obama briefing
William Glaberson, writing in the New York Times reported that Hartmann had been rehearsing a briefing he hoped to make to incoming President Barack ObamaBarack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
aides.
According to Glaberson Hartmann declined to respond to the reports of his briefing rehearsals, but he did issue a statement:
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