Quick Facts
Biography
Charles Douglas "Cully" Stimson (born June 13, 1963) is a former American career appointee at the Pentagon. Stimson was the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Detainee Affairs. He resigned February 2, 2007, following a controversy about his statements on legal representation for prisoners at Guantánamo Bay.
Appointment
The Pentagon created the Office of Detainee Affairs, and with it Stimson's post, in July 2004:
An as-yet-unnamed deputy assistant secretary who will report to the undersecretary for policy will head the office. The new deputy will chair a joint committee composed of the undersecretary for intelligence and representatives from the Joint Staff, the Office of General Counsel, the Department of the Army, and others who might be involved in detainee affairs.
Stimson, an attorney by profession, was formerly a U.S. Navy JAG officer from 1992-1997.
Issues during appointment period
Guantanamo Bay detention camp
Stimson first received press attention in October 2006, when he told Reuters that more than 300 Guantánamo detainees might remain there for the rest of their lives because nations refused to accept them.
In January 2007 he made comments concerning the legal representation of Guantánamo detainees stating that "corporate CEOs seeing this should ask firms to choose between lucrative retainers and representing terrorists." The Pentagon later issued a statement that Mr. Stimson's comments were not representative of Pentagon policy.
On January 17, 2007 Stimson wrote a letter of apology, published in the Washington Post. His apology was criticized by the New York Times in an editorial, for the appearance of insincerity.
Resignation
On February 2, 2007, a Department of Defense spokesman announced that Stimson had decided to resign because the controversy had "hampered his ability to be effective in" his office. Stimson said that the Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, had not asked him to resign.
Work at Heritage Foundation
Stimson is currently a senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation and an instructor at the Naval Justice School in Newport, Rhode Island. In September 2010 he authored a report entitled "Just Say No" asserting that California's proposed Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010 would "worsen the state’s drug problems— addiction, violence, disorder, and death".
Stimson continues to write on detainee issues.
On October 17, 2011 Stimson called for the US Congress to reaffirm the original Authorization to Use Military Force from the fall of 2001.