This Tells You Basically Everything You Need to Know about legal interpretation in the Bush Admin

[kpete]

Thursday, July 17, 2008
Marty Lederman

This Tells You Basically Everything You Need to Know . . .
about legal interpretation in the Bush Administration:

Jane Mayer's new book provides further telling details:

"The footnote (8 of the Levin memo -- the one suggesting that he was approving all the CIA techniques) had a contorted, forced quality. Although few knew it, there was a reason why." Levin had already antagonized David Addington by adopting the Goldsmith view on the NSA program, and by initiating a reconsideration of whether the CIA interrogation techniques were lawful. At this point, according to Mayer, Alberto Gonzales (then awaiting confirmation as Attorney General) "made clear to Levin that unless he included language in his new legal memo declaring that nothing in the Bush Administration had done in earlier interrogations was illegal, the Justice Department would not accept his opinion." Levin "was worried that unless he gave Gonzales what he wanted, the Bush Administration would scrap his memo, abandoning the whole effort to reform interrogation practices. Under these extraordinary circumstances, Levin agreed to put in the cryptic footnote whitewashing previous practices. He reasoned that if he wrote it carefully enough, it would accurately reflect his thinking."

This is fairly amazing: The White House insisted that OLC include a footnote that would (inaccurately) suggest that the CIA techniques were legal, on the threat that the opinion would not be accepted. (Mayer also notes that the footnote referred only to written OLC advice, not oral -- because Dan Levin had heard rumors that John Yoo had orally approved the use of mind-altering drugs and mock burials, which Levin thought were plainly unlawful.)

more at:
http://balkin.blogspot.com/2008/07/this-tells-you-basically-everything-you.html

[annabanana]

1. The Justice Department is just part of the house staff of the BFEE.

I bet they make Mukasey use the servant's entrance.

[Kutjara]

2. Or, to summarize even further:

"Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law." -Aleister Crowley

[Quantess]

3. The Bush Administration emulates a satanist.

It's very fitting.

[Wilms]

4. K&R n/t

[crickets]

5. Mock burials?

That's a new one. So, is a 'mock' burial analogous to a 'simulated' drowning? x(

Good grief, what other torture horrors are they still hiding?