Scott Horton @ Daily Beast: Republicans in Desperation Over Obama Releasing More Bush Torture Memos

[Hissyspit]

http://www.alternet.org/rights/135582/republicans_in_desperation_over_obama_releasing_more_bush_torture_memos_/?page=entire

Republicans in Desperation Over Obama Releasing More Bush Torture Memos
By Scott Horton, The Daily Beast. Posted April 9, 2009.

If the president releases more Bush torture memos, Republicans are promising to "go nuclear" and filibuster his legal appointments.

Senate Republicans are now privately threatening to derail the confirmation of key Obama administration nominees for top legal positions by linking the votes to suppressing critical torture memos from the Bush era. A reliable Justice Department source advises me that Senate Republicans are planning to “go nuclear” over the nominations of Dawn Johnsen as chief of the Office of Legal Counsel in the Department of Justice and Yale Law School Dean Harold Koh as State Department legal counsel if the torture documents are made public. The source says these threats are the principal reason for the Obama administration’s abrupt pullback last week from a commitment to release some of the documents. A Republican Senate source confirms the strategy. It now appears that Republicans are seeking an Obama commitment to safeguard the Bush administration’s darkest secrets in exchange for letting these nominations go forward.

Barack Obama entered Washington with a promise of transparency. One of his first acts was a presidential directive requiring that the Freedom of Information Act, a near dead letter during the Bush years, was to be enforced according to its terms. He specifically criticized the Bush administration’s practice of preparing secret memos that determined legal policy and promised to review and publish them after taking office.

But in the past week, questions about Obama’s commitment to transparency have mounted. On April 2, the Justice Department was expected to make public a set of four memoranda prepared by the Office of Legal Counsel, long sought by the American Civil Liberties Union and other advocacy organizations in a pending FOIA litigation. The memos, authored by then-administration officials and now University of California law professor John Yoo, federal appellate judge Jay Bybee and former Justice Department lawyer Stephen Bradbury, apparently grant authority for the brutal treatment of prisoners, including waterboarding, isolated confinement in coffin-like containers, and “head smacking.” The stakes over release of the papers are increasingly high. Yoo and Bybee are both targets of a criminal investigation in a Spanish court probing the torture of five Spanish citizens formerly held in Guantánamo; also named in the Spanish case are former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and three other Bush lawyers. Legal observers in Spain consider the Bush administration lawyers at serious risk of indictment, and the memos, once released, could be entered as evidence in connection with their prosecution. Unlike the torture memos that are already public, these memos directly approve specific torture techniques and therefore present a far graver problem for their authors.

- snip -

The Justice Department source confirms to me that Brennan has consistently opposed making public the torture memos—and any other details about the operations of the extraordinary renditions program—but this source suggests that concern about the G.O.P.’s roadblock in the confirmation process is the principle reason that the memos were not released. Republican senators have expressed strong reservations about their promised exposure, expressing alarm that a critique of the memos by Justice’s ethics office (Office of Professional Responsibility) will also be released. “There was no ‘direct’ threat,” said the source, “but the message was communicated clearly—if the OLC and OPR memoranda are released to the public, there will be war.” This is understood as a threat to filibuster the nominations of Johnsen and Koh. Not only are they among the most prominent academic critics of the torture memoranda, but are also viewed as the strongest advocates for release of the torture memos on Obama’s legal policy team.

A Republican Senate staffer further has confirmed to me that the Johnsen nomination was discussed at the last G.O.P. caucus meeting. Not a single Republican indicated an intention to vote for Dawn Johnsen, while Senator John Cornyn of Texas was described as “gunning for her,” specifically noting publication of the torture memos.

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[aquart]

1. Do it, you guilty, treasonous bastards!

[democrank]

2. Ignore the threats and release the torture memos.

Stand up to these thugs for a change.

Americans must learn the truth about what was happening (in their names) while they were shopping and watching Paris Hilton.

[quaker bill]

3. Get confirmation first

then release the memos. Better yet, instead of allowing them to use holding nominations as a tool, threaten to release even more info if the repugs don't move quickly or threaten to filibuster anything, and I mean anything. Of course, once you get what you need, like the budget, energy, and healthcare passed, release the memos. But don't do it all at once, keep trickling them out, one really ugly bit after another right up to election day in 2010.

Republicans will be much more manageable once they only hold 30 or so senate seats. Keeping them angry, ineffective, and on constant defense is the path that will get us there.

[annabanana]

5. ker-ZACTly. . Alas... Harry Reid, (chicken) NV doesn't understand

the concept of "doubling down".

[zbdent]

4. gee ... and there's outcry about Ted Stevens being found guilty while

prosecutorial conduct was bad? (With Republiclone-appointed prosecutors ...)

[KharmaTrain]

6. How Much Shock Is Too Much?

It's a serious query...and one based on way too many years of observing our political system.

While many of us here are well aware of the draconian and criminal actions of the boooosh regime, we were on the fringes...those relying on "mainstream" corporate media heard little...and what they did learn was through a filter of "a few bad apples" or "keeping our country safe" crap. The extent of the criminality is just starting to come to light. While many of these memos have been known for years (thanks to Sy Hersh, Jane Meyer, Tom Ricks, Scott Horton and others) we're now just starting to get our worst fears corroborated...and I honestly think releasing so much too fast could be an overload to many...too much information that loses its impact, compared to a slower revelation where people are allowed to connect dots.

The rushpublicans can defy gravity as long as possible, but the truth wills out. Holder can try to shield the DOJ and other government secrets, but the dirty secrets will come forward. We're seeing with cheney shooting off his mouth that the biggest perpetrators arrogantly brag of their actions and the underlings will continue to distort and revise the longer things are dragged out. As I say...I have serious questions on how much is released and to what affect it will have. Especially right now when so many people are obsessed with the economy or health care or other issues.

Again, I look at the international community as being the best finders of truth and fact in the criminality of the booosh regime. Our government was just too politicized...too entrenched in "business as usual" to do a proper self examination. But with a steady torrent of revelations about how corrupt the booosh regime is...and the polls continue to show a majority in favor of investigations...the Obama administration will have to address this issue head on.

Cheers...

[Hissyspit]

7. .

[sattahipdeep]

8. America first?

Specter's office did not respond to a request for an interview. But a Senate aide to the Judiciary Committee told FOXNews.com that there's no way Specter will vote for Johnsen's nomination because it could damage his prospects in what is shaping up to be a tough primary next year against conservative Pat Toomey, a former congressman and current president of the Club for Growth.


Indeed, by trying to block a well-qualified candidate based on her commitment to the rule of law, Johnsen's opponents are themselves showing a lack of due regard for national security in a much more immediate sense. Obama faces difficult legal questions as he reformulates counterterrorism strategy, and he will surely consult the new head of the office before moving forward on significant policies. Delaying the filling of this position means delaying the development of counterterrorism policies that keep us safe.

Johnsen's nomination will likely come to the Senate floor after Congress returns from its Easter recess. Let's hope enough senators possess the "requisite seriousness" to recognize the stakes and support this nominee.

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/20090409_Fixing_Justice__Don_t_filibuster_the_rule_of_law.html

Call on the U.S. Senate to confirm Dawn Johnsen https://secure.prochoiceamerica.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=3639