Entries by emptywheel

Did Bybee Say No to Waterboarding on July 24, 2002?

Earlier today, I showed that Jim Haynes personally pushed the SERE people to come up with some materials on waterboarding and other techniques on July 25, 2002, just one day after OLC had given CIA clearance to use some–but not all–of the techniques they had asked for.

I wish I had read this passage from this Charlie Savage story before I wrote that post.

One thing could change that dynamic, however.

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Did Condi Really Not Know Defense Was Sleeping with the Spooks on Torture?

There’s a weird detail in John Yoo’s prepared testimony for last year’s House Judiciary Committee hearing on Assholes Who Torture. He claims the National Security Committee (so, presumably John Bellinger or Condi or her boss) ordered OLC not to let on what it was doing to either State or Defense.

In particular, the offices of the CIA general counsel and of the NSC legal advisor asked OLC for an opinion on the

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NFL Entry Draft Trash Talk

Alright you mopes. There you were buggering up EW’s nice threads, demanding to talk football. Can’t blame ya there. The Motor City Kitties have a new QB, and a good one I think. And now the NY Jets Jets Jets do too, having traded up with KC in order to go full Sanchez.

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The Torture Document Dump Timeline

John Lopresti noted that it might be helpful to have a timeline of all the torture documents released in the last several weeks. And you know I can’t resist requests for timelines.

April 6: NYRB posts the Red Cross report on high value detainees

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Pelosi: Of Hidden Memos and Covert Ops Hidden in Supplementals

I wanted to point out two more details from the Pelosi press conference the other day when she made her comments about briefings on torture (the complete transcript of this section is below).

First, Pelosi points out that one thing BushCo did was put intelligence-related appropriations through without telling the intelligence committee what they were putting through.

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