Judge Jay Bybee, as head of President Bush's Office of Legal Counsel, signed off on four memos that justified torturing prisoners.
What to infer from his refusal to explain that rationale is up to you.
Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., chairman of the Judiciary Committee, announced at a Senate hearing Wednesday that Bybee turned down his invitation to appear. Leahy did not provide details.
Leahy had asked Bybee to explain his views on the legality of the extreme interrogation methods and the role he played.
Bybee, a judge on the California-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, headed the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel from October 2001 through March 2003. He signed off on four memos related to the policy.
-- Stephen C. Webster
Its because he HAS no defense of what he did.
Goddamnit, Leahy, SUBPOENA HIS ASS!!! NOW!!!!!
Robert S. Finnegan
Southeast Asia News
seanews1@yahoo.com
Jakarta, Indonesia
I think he might be required to come to his impeachment if I'm not mistaken.
I think that a sitting federal judge can decline a request to appear by the Congress.
"Judge" Jay Bybee ~ Just who do yoo think yoo are . . .
~
When the democrats grow a pair of balls and bring one of these criminals before the court, the cowards will start jumping off the ship. That is what it will take.
Declined? His marketability with FOX just went up 20 points!
Move over Karl.
The blue swine dems must follow the proper "process" with Bybee, this process designed to last several years enabling complete non-action while talking up the "action" they're taking.
Robert, I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for Leahy to issue a subpoena. From everything I've seen Leahy do or say on the issue of torture I'm inclined to believe Leahy is intent on sweeping this under the rug, even if it mean the taxpayers buying Congress a bigger rug. I had a very bad feeling about checking the box next to Leahys name back in '04. And I believe now I should have trusted that feeling. He would have been re-elected anyway but at least I would have a clearer conscience.
Don,
disrespect of that 'process' is what led us to gtmo and cia secret prisons in the first place. if you dont want to have a legal system, please go live in somalia. im sure that over there, they would have had a 'fair and balanced' kangaroo court judgement for his beheading by now.
He should refuse to testify until he's subpoenaed. Then he should calmly tell the Democrat Party leaders who are trying to crucify him that he was trying to save this country and keep us safe. And he and the president he served did. After our army was gutted by the Clinton-Gore gang and no real attempts to subdue Saddam Hussein or destroy the Taliban occurred despite attack after attack against the US in the 1990s, leading to the horrific murder of 3000 Americans and others working hard in this country on September 11, 2001, our fine president and vice president worked very hard to save us. Jay Bybee pitched in to that effort, and we witnessed not a single attack on our beloved homeland after that. Judge Bybee should tell them why he wrote what he wrote and why he did it. Even the most obtuse Democrat Party members will come around. Liberals lost loved ones on September 11, 2001 too. Even they realize Osama bin Laden hates them too.
Any month now I am switching from Democratic Party to Libertarian or Green Party. I pretty much a done deal......after all my life voting for Democrats...they got no.....
John
11R. Krueger
What did Saddam Hussein do to the US???
I don't get it!
OH BUT I DO!
How's the weather in TelAviv?! :-0
Nice try though! You must take the American public for COMPLETE idiots! Shame on you!!!
Little waterboarding should soften him up a bit. Make him more cooperative.
R. Krueger ~ In case nobody told ya ... There is no such thing as tooth fairy. There is no such thing as the sand man. There is no such thing as Santa Claus . . .
~
R. Krueger. Proudly Defending Fantasy Island from the Forces of Reality.
CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN??? FUCK YOU!!!!!
can anybody here be dumb enough to vote republocrat ever again?
probably - H O P E
springs eternal
R.Krueger sure has a knack for cutting and pasting from the Limbaugh/Hannity/Beck/RightWingNutjob website. Someone's had a good ol' brainwashing. Anything left in there to do any independent work, Krueger? Because you might just find that every single one of your premises are false and you really need to start over.
Krueger;
May you be paid what you are worth.
Got to love these republicans, they think they can just refuse to testify when they know it will make them look bad. As one of the other posters said, he will be required to appear at his impeachment.
Keep pushing hard for prosecution. Bybee should be hauled into giving his testimony in shackles. A US Judge telling the Rule of Law to go to hell.
Push Obama to do the right thing. Appoint a Special Prosecutor. Now!
SIGN THE PETITION Calling for a Special Prosecutor
http://ANGRYVOTERS.ORG
cosliberal ~ Got to love these Democrats ... That let'em get away with it . . .
~
There's an old joke about a guy who snapped his fingers all the time. When his friend asked, "Why do you do that?" he would reply, "To keep the elephants away."
The friend would then say, "That's ridiculous. The elephants are 5,000 miles away, in Africa." And he'd reply, "Pretty effective, isn't it?"
R. Krueger is like the finger-snapper. We invaded a country that wasn't threatening us in response to a terrorist attack by people from a different country who happened to practice the same religion. We tortured people as part of that response. And because no terrorist attack has occurred since, the invasion of Iraq and the torture that surrounded it are now somehow legitimized.
No, no, no. Torture is illegal. It doesn't matter whether any good came from it or not. People always have an excuse for torture, but no excuse is valid under the law. Illegal means to a desired end are never valid. Bybee should be impeached, and arrested. The Democrats are making noise for political reasons, but don't count on anything more than noise.
Subpoena him. Period. If he doesn't show, impeach him.
I would love to see Bybee testify in front of Congress. But remember, Being a Bush Republican supercedes any appearance in front of Congress. I think there is a clause in the Constitution that Congress has has no oversight or investigive powers over any Bush official if they choose not to attend.
Who wants to bet that Rove won't be attending Conyer's committee in June even though he said he will. That Damn Bush Clause!
Ed Miller: For argument's sake, let's assume Bybee and Rove were to testify, and admitted to suborning torture and other illegal conduct. They'd simply be telling us what we already know. If they'd been granted immunity in exchange for their testimonies, that would close their cases from a legal standpoint.
Should history be the only judge of Bush administration lawbreakers? Or should the Obama Justice Department do the right thing and prosecute? Congressional hearings wouldn't hurt, but they wouldn't help much, either. We already know that Rove is a snake and that Bybee doesn't belong in a courtroom. Talk is cheap, and in Washington there's always a lot more talk than action.
Maybe he should have invited him for tea & crumpets instead?
Subpoena him. If he then refuses to appear or testify then that would be grounds for impeachment. He would also end up being disbarred. Then FOX SPEWS can have him all they want.
I'm sure that Bybee is going to have a memory lapse, I'm sure IF anything happens, we are going to get very familiar with the "I don't recall" thing. What with alzheimers and the aging population, I'm sure he may even garnish media sympathy.
Jay Bybee is following his lawyer's advice. And, if the truth is known - so is George Walker Bush and the others. Folks what we have here is the start of a panic. As more and more relevations surface - like the FBI agents testimony yesterday -
the heat will become more intense.
Then, the deals will be made in those back rooms and the knives will flash. The problem they all have right now is Cheney - He is running his mouth and giving the rest of the co-conspirators sleepless nights. They would like to make this all just
go away. Even Obama doesn't want some partisan witch hunt.
However, the quest for the truth will keep the pressure on and eventually we will have a "John Dean" - that talks before Congress.
As to Mister Kruger - FUX is on - go watch it and STFU.
The Master Sergeant
I, for one, am glad this piece of rat filth won't testify. I am NOT in the mood to hear "I don't recall", "I don't know", "I'll get back to you on that", and "I plead the Fifth" from another one of Chimpy McFlightsuit's criminals.
This does beg the question ... what's Bybee afraid of? If he was so confident in his 'legal' analysis at the time he wrote the memo, why, all of a sudden, has he lost his confidence?
Could it be that he knows he's so full of shit that his eyes are turning brown?
"Invite"? Al Capone was not invited to discuss his tax matters.