New DOJ Report Could Contain A Bombshell-SCOTT HORTON-"LAST CHANCE TO GET THE BUSHIES"

[kpete]

Last Chance to Get the Bushies

John Yoo authored the Bush memos on torture and suspending civil liberties. But an upcoming Justice Department report could contain new revelations—perhaps that the memos were written to provide legal cover for programs already in place. Will Yoo’s fate decide that of top Bush officials?

by Scott Horton

A new Justice Department report could contain a bombshell that would spell fresh legal trouble for top Bush officials. The report may link controversial memos on civil liberties and torture—written by Justice Department lawyer John Yoo—directly to the White House, putting Yoo and other Bushies in the crosshairs of criminal prosecution.

......................

In law-school classrooms around the country, Yoo’s name is invoked as an example of a lawyer who, stirred by political calculus, acts unethically or at least unwisely. His appearances often draw crowds of angry protestors who shower him with epithets like “war criminal” and tie him personally to the torture and death of prisoners in the war on terror. Now, under advice of counsel, Yoo has stopped booking appearances. There is a distinct chill in the air.

In one of the memoranda the Obama Justice Department released last Monday, Yoo, then deputy assistant in the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, argued that President Bush was free to use the U.S. military domestically in counterterrorism operations and needn’t be bothered by the Fourth or First amendments. In an op-ed published last week in the Wall Street Journal, Yoo explained that fears about the Bill of Rights are misplaced—it was all just an exercise in justifying self-defense against a Mumbai-style attack and the references to the First Amendment are gratuitous.

But Yoo offers no clear explanation about the circumstances that led to his writing the memo nor do we know how it was used. The memo could have been written to authorize a sweeping domestic-surveillance operation put in place by military intelligence agencies, which former National Security Agency employees have now explained was actually in place and being tinkered with as Yoo was crafting his memorandum. No doubt Congress will soon give Yoo an opportunity to answer questions about the memo under oath.

more at:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-03-09/the-next-bush-torture-bombshell/

[pleah]

1. K&R

[babylonsister]

2. Bring it on! nt

[lyonn]

3. Sounds like he was bought and paid for...

He must have learned in law school that if you hold your mouth just right it will be the truth.....ok, that's stupid, but, he learned to twist the truth and dishonored the Constitution.

[AndyA]

4. Let's get the show on the road, folks!

Out the f*ckers and make them pay for their dirty, criminal deeds.

[Mira]

5. Looking up from praying on my knees. I am so ready.

[Joe Fields]

6. LET'S DO IT NOW!

[hootinholler]

7. We know the warrantless wiretaps started in Feb '01

Why not the torture and rendition programs also?

-Hoot

[Raster]

8. When the "heads on pikes" crowd decides to redecorate the National Mall, let's hope John Yoo

is a featured decorative item. Let's see how this torture thing works out for him.

[Lugnut]

9. K&R n/t

[pacalo]

10. Nowhere in the article does Horton explain why this would be "the last chance to get the Bushies".

:shrug:

[jbfam4]

18. check this out

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x275263

ProfessorPlum posted this on Mon Feb-23-09 07:54 AM

Rachel Maddow discusses statute of limitations for torture prosecutions w/ Daphne Eviator

[glitch]

19. How would those who died from torture figure into the statute of limitations?

Texaslawyer has a good answer to the statute of limitations on torture ploy http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=385&topic_id=275263&mesg_id=275357

[Blackhatjack]

11. I always believed the memos were written to CYA activities already in use ....

When you consider the Bush Administration's disdain for anything academic or hypothetical in planning, you have to believe that Yoo was informed of the activities they were engaged in and told to craft a memo that would cover those activites, and the people carrying them out, with immunity.

And don't forget everybody, we have seen only the tip of the iceberg with regard to total number of secret memos Bush had written during his tenure. You can bet there are worse memos being held back from public disclosure that likely would eliminate any doubt that these memos were written after the fact and not prospectively.

[chill_wind]

12. So did I.

And yes- I think I read last week there were 41 such memos, with only 9 of them disclosed so far. Either WAPO or the NYT suggested more may be forthcoming fairly soon. And we should always keep open the the possibility of what we're getting right now is a limited hangouts kind of thing perhaps, like the initial few CIA interrogation tapes...that turned out to be closer to 100..

[Blackhatjack]

13. You can guess as to why the other memos have not been publicly released yet ...

... but one seems blatantly obvious -- in the midst of the greatest economic crisis since the great depression therein lurks the roadmap to the the evidence of war crimes, constitutional violations, and corruption engaged in by the Bush Administration AND those who profitted from it.

[JDPriestly]

16. Profit -- that's the key word. Who was profiting from the policies

the Yoo memos were intended to sanitize?

[upi402]

14. A prime time TV trial would make Repub propagandists STFU! k/r n/t

[acmavm]

17. You wait, they'll walk. Thumbing their noses like the criminals from the

Reagan and Bush I eras.

All in the name of National Security and moving along.

[Frisbee]

23. Sadly, I think you may be right...

though I believe anything less than a lengthy prison sentence (say 20 years +) is a travesty of justice, and I personally would have no problem seeing a few of the worst offenders swing (I know that's an unpopular position here). It is a sad day in our nations history if there is no accounting for the crimes committed, and I fear the long term consequences may be far more reaching than most people realize. Still, I feel there is little reason to hope for justice at this point, at least from our own government. Hopefully the international community will step up with war crimes charges and at least prevent them from ever stepping foot out of the country.

[FailureToCommunicate]

20. Yup, make some popcorn! That would be 'fine time viewing' indeed! Why, watching

John Dean spill all at the Watergate Hearing still brings a fond memory to misty my eyes...

[chollybocker]

15. "The memo was a joke! Wha?! At the time, it was was so funny!"

"You just had to be there." - Shecky Yoo.

[elizfeelinggreat]

21. k & r !

[The Blue Flower]

22. I'm proud to know he isn't speaking publically anymore

Thanks to all who made things too uncomfortable for the rat to show his face!