Entries by emptywheel

Zelikow’s Dissent and Rockefeller’s Question

Yesterday, I showed how Steven Bradbury’s May 30 Memo was a failed response to Congress’ insistence that the Administration consider whether its torture program complied with the 8th Amendment. Well, that’s precisely what Philip Zelikow’s dissent was about.

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Addington’s Multiple Choice Torture Memos

When asked about his role in the Bybee One memo at the HJC hearing last year, Addington repeatedly made it clear he was answering the question ONLY as it pertained to Bybee One. I would bet the answers would be far different if he were asked about Bybee Two.

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Bradbury’s Bellybutton

Here’s the quality of Bradbury’s legal work. He argues we can waterboard people because, under torture, they confess to things that prove they’re very important and scary people so we can then point to them to argue it’s okay to waterboard.

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The Gestation of Bradbury’s Torture Memos

One of the reasons Jay Rockefeller wrote a narrative of the OLC memo process tied to torture was to document just how little the Administration gave a shit about what Congress had to say about the program–particularly it’s demand that the torture program comply with the Convention Against Torture.

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