March 6 (Bloomberg) -- The Obama administration, seeking to dismiss a lawsuit by a U.S. citizen convicted of terrorism who claims he was tortured, defended former government lawyer John Yoo whose advice justified harsh interrogations.

Jose Padilla, convicted last year of supporting terrorists and conspiring to commit murder, was detained as an enemy combatant in the U.S. for three years. He claims Yoo, who said in government memos that terrorism suspects weren’t protected by Geneva Convention bans on physical abuse, created a system of torture.

President Barack Obama has banned use of the harshest interrogation techniques. His administration on March 2 released documents showing Yoo’s advice had been repudiated as either incorrect or highly questionable. Still, Justice Department attorney Mary Mason said the allegations against Yoo, now a professor at the University of California-Berkeley, don’t meet the legal threshold for holding a federal employee personally liable, drawing surprise from U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White.

“The allegation is that Professor Yoo knew what the law was, knew that he was not following the law, knew he was not following constitutional precedent, and intentionally gave incorrect information to give cover for illegal activity,” White said at a hearing today in San Francisco.

White took Yoo’s request to dismiss the case under submission.

Matt Miller, Justice Department spokesman, said the agency disagrees with the approach the previous administration took to issues of national security.

“Nevertheless, the department generally defends employees and former employees in lawsuits that are filed in connection to their official duties,” Miller said in an e-mailed statement.

The case is Padilla v. Yoo, 08-00035, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Francisco).

To contact the reporter on this story: Karen Gullo in San Francisco at kgullo@@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: March 6, 2009 19:50 EST