CONYERS Demands Secret DOJ Torture Memos-WH Denies They Exist

[kpete]

House Panel Demands Secret DOJ Torture Memos
By Spencer Ackerman - October 4, 2007, 11:54AM

House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) and subcommittee chair Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) today demanded the Justice Department release secret legal opinions from 2005 and 2006 that The New York Times described today as "an expansive endorsement of the harshest interrogation techniques ever used by the Central Intelligence Agency."

The opinions, authored by acting Office of Legal Counsel head Stephen Bradbury, had been previously unknown until the Times wrote about them this morning -- even to the committee. And they were penned even as the Bush administration was publicly renouncing torture.

"Both the alleged content of these opinions and the fact that they have been kept secret from Congress are extremely troubling, especially in light of the Department’s 2004 withdrawal of an earlier opinion similarly approving such methods," Conyers and Nadler wrote. They also demand that Bradbury -- who has never been confirmed by the Senate despite serving as OLC chief for years -- testify about his justifications for such techniques as waterboarding. You can read their letter to acting Attorney General Peter Kiesler here.

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004380.php

..........

White House press secretary Dana Perino, however, denied that report today.

"This country does not torture," she told reporters, according to the Associated Press. "It is a policy of the United States that we do not torture and we do not."

"Asked about the story Thursday, Perino confirmed existence of the Feb. 5, 2005, classified opinion but would not comment on whether it authorized specific practices, such as head-slapping and simulated drowning," AP continued. "She said the 2005 opinion did not reinterpret the law."

Perino insisted the 2005 memo was not inconsistent with a 2004 opinion from the Justice Department declaring torture "abhorrent."

"We know that these are ruthless individuals who will do anything, and that they're very patient; that they'll do anything to try to carry out their attacks," Perino said. "And this president has put in place -- all within the foursquare corners of the law -- tools in the global war on terror that we need."

http://rawstory.com/news/2007/NY_Times_Severe_interrogation_techniques_are_1004.html

[bullimiami]

1. nothing short of impeachment will have any effect on these rabid madmen.

and it may not work either.


oh. they dont exist 'now', they shredded them.

[seemslikeadream]

2. Ask Judge Bybee he knows he wrote them

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1970683

[dkofos]

3. Jump up and down, piss and moan. You have as much chance of

seeing the documents as I do getting to the moon.