Colonel Michael Murphy joined the Air Force in 1983, and was disbarred a few years later.  The original article, from Air Force Times, is here.

Why is that important?

Well, it points up a huge hole in security, in the first place.  And there's a whole lot of his dishonesty running about, in the second.

As a former USAF JAG put it:

"This is another in a series of very public black eyes for a group of people who don't seem to get the picture that there is problem with the process for picking people for big jobs," said John J. "Lou" Michels Jr., a former JAG lieutenant colonel and former instructor at the JAG School who now is in private practice.

"The Air Force JAG did not need another high-profile misconduct case by its senior leadership."

Yeah, but that's what they got.

To get to be a Major, let alone a full colonel, one will go through a Special Background Investigation (SBI) so as to be eligible for a Top Secret clearance.  You're not going to get brass on your hat's visor without it.  An SBI involves the government actually sending people (i.e., FBI agents) out and interviewing people you went to school with, etc., etc.  An in depth look at your records, sometimes from grade school on (but usually from high school).

I'd have to suppose that, in this position, the holder of the job would be subject to even more scrutiny.  This because not only of things like the attorney-client privilege and the special trust reposed in JAGs, but also because in the USAF there are all sorts of secret programs that get kept really secret but that the head of the legal operations office might have to know about.  So they can adequately represent the Air Force.

And, these clearances get "refresher" investigations from time to time, too....

But, one has to go through a special clearance process to get White House access, let alone to work there.  And he slid through that, too.  From the looks of his official photo, he must have been pretty pleasing to those he worked for - he's got some very serious medals atop the array.  

One would think that the refreshers would have long since found this little problem with the good colonel's license to practice law.  Like, back in the 80s.

Of course (and I'm burying the lede here, sure), it wasn't like he didn't have big jobs coming up:

Murphy, who joined the Air Force in November 1983, previously served as general counsel to the White House Military Office from December 2001 to January 2003 and from August 2003 to January 2005, and as commandant of the Air Force Judge Advocate General School from January to June 2005.

As a staff judge advocate earlier in his career, Murphy advised commanders on whether Air Force members should be charged with crimes and what their punishment should be once they were convicted. Several lawyers in the Air Force community have questioned whether there will now be a rash of appeals stemming from cases in which Murphy was involved.

So, you think he might have been involved in discussions about whether "torture" is legal?  

Or, maybe, just maybe, he might have been a less-than-stellar choice to head the JAG school.  "Lead by example" is a central tenet of the military;  he sets a fine example to those who would defend torture....

As bad as the failure to detect his disbarment was, he was on active service when it happened. He joined, as a JAG officer, while suspended.  How did he slide through there?  Did he lie on his applications?  On his initial clearances?  That he didn't see fit to turn himself in, or to resolve the issue, makes matters even worse.  I mean, he had to sign documents and such - as an attorney - over the last 20 years, yet he couldn't be honest enough to deal with the issue that he was disbarred....

But, it turns out, he was disbarred precisely because he was dishonest:

Murphy, a graduate of the University of Texas School of Law, first ran into trouble in 1981, when he failed to file an appeal on time for a client convicted of burglary, according to court documents.

In August 1982, Texas sued Murphy, accusing him of professional misconduct. A year later, as a result of that suit, Texas suspended Murphy's law license for seven years. But in a January 1983 application to be admitted to the Louisiana bar, he stated under oath that he had never been sued nor been the subject of a disciplinary action.

Both Texas and Louisiana permanently disbarred Murphy for lying on his Louisiana bar application; Texas did so in May 1984 and Louisiana in September 1985.

Murphy joined the Air Force after being suspended by Texas but before being disbarred by either state.

So, to keep the chronology straight:

1981: as a civilian lawyer, failed to file an appeal on time for a client convicted of burglary
August 1982: Texas sued him, accusing him of professional misconduct.

January 1983:  Applies to the Louisiana bar and states under oath he had never been sued nor been the subject of a disciplinary action.

August 1983:  Texas suspended Murphy's law license for seven years.

November 1983:  Joined the Air Force - had to go through applications and clearances (under oath).

May 1984: Texas permanently disbarred Murphy for lying on his Louisiana bar application

September 1985:  Louisiana permanently disbarred Murphy for lying on his Louisiana bar application.

December 2001-January 2003: General counsel to the White House Military Office

[I suspect a combat tour in here next - he's got the Bronze Star's ribbon on his uni.]

August 2003-January 2005:  General counsel to the White House Military Office

January-June 2005:  Commandant of the Air Force Judge Advocate General School.

More pertinent than the risk to the gov't of appeals from airmen he may have tried to conviction, what is the state of the law regarding the attorney-client privilege, when the client (the WH, here) thinks the attorney is an attorney, but he really isn't?  Comments?

And people wonder why the torturers of Jose Padilla can say "he was treated humanely".  It's because they have no sense of any obligation to tell the truth, and have honed that deficit over decades.  OK?  Understand?

Maybe this just shows that, for all the fine words about "honor", there's a mindset of dishonor which one can have and still advance....  I'd hope to be wrong, but I think Colonel Murphy proves I'm not.