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ACLU Uncovers a Third Bradbury Torture Memo from 2005
Just in time for Michael Mukasey's impending Senate vote to become attorney general, the ACLU has discovered that one of his would-be underlings, Steven Bradbury of the Office of Legal Counsel, penned three memoranda in 2005 on the use of "enhanced interrogation techniques" by the CIA. The discovery raises the possibility that the Justice Department has penned other as-yet-unknown torture memos since 2005.
Two of those memoranda were first revealed by The New York Times in early October. That story struck the ACLU as outrageous -- not just on the substantive merits, but because on January 31, 2005, the ACLU filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the OLC and other federal agencies demanding documentation on the treatment of detainees. Yet even though the ACLU had received documents from the government dated after the OLC memos described in the Times, it still had to read about material clearly relevant to its FOIA request in the paper.
ACLU attorney Jameel Jaffer says Justice Department officials told him that the date the organization filed its FOIA request represented a cut-off date for material -- a bizarre argument, given that it's already received documentation dating after the January 31, 2005 filing -- and as a result, Jaffer asked Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein of the Southern District Court of New York to adjudicate late last month. And in response to the ACLU, the government revealed this piece of tantalizing information:
OLC has reviewed its opinions from that time frame and has determined that there were in fact three opinions issued to CIA relating to the interrogation of detainees in CIA custody … Two of the opinions were issued on May 10, 2005 … The third was issued on May 30, 2005 ... OLC has not located any legal opinions issued to CIA from January 31, 2005 through May 9, 2005 that relate to the interrogation of detainees in CIA custody.
"Now we have two new pieces of information," Jaffer says. "First, there are three memos, not two; and second, they were all issued in May."
If the ACLU can take any comfort in this case, they're not the only one getting stonewalled by the Bush administration. The Senate Judiciary Committee has been seeking information on the Justice Department's legal advice on interrogation for longer than we can remember. And sometimes the obstruction reaches unimagined vistas of absurdity. Just last week, the White House agreed to release four interrogation documents to the committee -- but as Paul reported, three of those documents were already public.
It's not clear what's in the newly-discovered memorandum; nor what's specifically described in any of the other two. And the government is sticking to its line about not needing to turn over documents to what the administration thinks is an unwelcome witch hunt. For his part, Jaffer says he doesn't know anything about the memos beyond what he read in the Times. But on November 13, Jaffer and the ACLU will go back before Hellerstein and plead their case for disclosure. "That's the end game," Jaffer says. "Get the Justice Department to explain what they think can and can't be released and then take our option to challenge that in court."
Of course, the sudden appearance of the 2005 Bradbury-supervised OLC memos raises the possibility that the administration is still hiding other torture memos. "We've always had that suspicion," Jaffer says, explaining that the ACLU knows of "dozens" of torture documents yet to be released to the ACLU FOIA. Those, he says, include photos of prisoners "not from Abu Ghraib" subjected to brutal interrogations, as well as documents relevant to the CIA inspector-general inquiry into prisoner abuse by the CIA at Iraq and Afghanistan. (That inquiry was one of several that led General Mike Hayden, director of the CIA, to open an inquiry on the inspector general.)
So is the government acting in good faith? "I don't know. I just don't know," Jaffer says. "I do know that the government should have ID'd and processed the documents and that's why we're asking the judge to act."
timely leakey?
November 6, 2007 5:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
Maybe the Dems can get Mukasey to promise to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate torture and war crimes? But they better act soon.
November 6, 2007 5:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
A close read of Mukasey's written answers to SJC member's questions indicates it is pretty unlikely Mukasey will be any more cooperative than his predecessor in sharing the OLC opinions with the Committee.
November 6, 2007 5:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
yeah and whatever happened to the torture videos that were going to be released?
November 6, 2007 5:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
You mean the "we don't torture" crowd got caught again covering up another "it's okay to torture memo." I'm shocked. Shocked. Blame the usual suspects.
PS The movement to impeach Cheney is not over. Just the opposite. It's growing. We've got almost half of Congress voting to bring it to the floor. Let your Rep know if they voted against it. Let your Rep know we want the law enforced against our Vice President. He and Bush are not above the law. Fearmongering does not place them above the law. They will get the accountability they deserve. They will see how long they can browbeat, scare and fool chunks of America.
November 6, 2007 5:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Why is it that all regimes such as this one, that abrogate civil rights and reserve the right to torture feel a need to preserve the documentation - "photos of prisoners...subjected to brutal interrogations"?
November 6, 2007 6:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
May I suggest all of you read Savage's new book "Takeover" to get a full context of the OLC and the manipulation and utter corruption related to this and other matters.
It is my humble and hopeful opinion (IMHHO) that the paper trail laid out by the DOJ and OLC along with the VP Counsel's office will lead to criminal and ultimate treason trials in the next decade. Many now in the Congress will not have the stomach for this so besides the Republican incumbants running for safe harbor of the private life many current Democrats will also.
Kucinich is correct to start bringing up these matters as Constitutional issues. Politically he would be smart to find a Republican co-sponsor like Feingold did with McCain. Maybe that is it, when McCain goes down in the GOP nomination where Guiliani or Romney prevail McCain goes over to the other side to start bringing down the Dark Side.
November 6, 2007 7:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
TheraP wrote on November 6 ...
"Why is it that all regimes such as this one, that abrogate civil rights and reserve the right to torture feel a need to preserve the documentation - 'photos of prisoners...subjected to brutal interrogations'? "
I've had this same question over the years. Don't have an answer. I wonder if people like Kafka, Solzhenitsyn, et al, wouldn't have a better answer than our shrinks or political scientists.
The Nazis certainly documented all of their crimes as did the Kmer Rouge. So did the Stasi in the late GDR.
I'm going to do some digging on this one.
Sisyphus
xxx
November 6, 2007 9:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
RWN ,
Its quite possible that John McCain having lost his bid for the nomination, will feel completely unfettered- and quite likely ready to mount a full frontal assault on BUSHCO - And futhermore at about the same time it is concieveable that Mukasey may actually remember to uphold the rule of law and appoint a Special Prosecutor.
There are very many moving pieces to this close quarter political combat we are now enagaged in with the NEOCONS.
I am not at all dissuaded that Senator Schumer does not have an grand strategy regarding the Mukasey nomination that would include the new Attorney General going after YOO & Addington - this being played out in the context of a Cheney Impeachment debate in Congress -all revolving around the torture related war crimes that clearly have been committed.
And I could also see that the Senate could extend the debate about Cheney's conviction on the Impeachment charges as a viable vehicle to go after key figures criminally once Dubya leaves office- thatway we do not have a repeat of the Ollie North ,Poindexter, get out of jail free card that Daddy Bush exercised re the contra crimes.
AND TO ALL THE TROLLS on this thread did you all see that Ron Paul raised a cool four million plus on line the past three days. Ron Paul& the Progressives may not agree about certain issues ie abortion,and Social Security -but we do agree fully that BUSHCO must be held accountable for its criminal activity - so this brewing contretemps is far far from over ...
HELLS BELLS its just now starting to get really interesting .
And Moondancer -sweetie if your're reading this be assured our side will win in the end -
November 6, 2007 9:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
TheraP wrote: "Why is it that all regimes such as this one, that abrogate civil rights and reserve the right to torture feel a need to preserve the documentation - 'photos of prisoners...subjected to brutal interrogations'?"
Probably the same reason that makes serial killers store their victims at home like John Wayne Gacy, or drive them around in Mazda pickup trucks like Joel Rifkin.
+ IconDaemon +
November 6, 2007 9:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
clearly feinstein is covering for schumer.
why? don't know. but she obviously is.
i dont want to believe that this has anything to do with israel, but you have to ask why they are pulling liebermans.
they are fake americans and not honest democrats. pelosi and reid, and the whole shameful lot of lying, whining, powerless, arrogant, overfed, overpaid, weak-kneed, weasly democrats should be thrown out.
and all the republicans should be thrown out with them. the american government is a shameful motley collection of loser-pigs. vote them all out. all.
unitary executive theory, torture, treason; these are not enough reasons to take a stand? they should be enough.
November 6, 2007 11:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
The head of the OLC is still in his position without confirmation.
Why was he never confirmed, never removed, never replaced ?
The OLC is essential to the administration's law-breaking program. Cheney's office cooks up the legal theories then sends them to the OLC, which douses them with holy water.
Bingo : legalized law-breaking.
Did the senators on the judiciary committee ask Mukasey any questions about the OLC ?
November 7, 2007 1:10 AM | Reply | Permalink
Why do torturers document their efforts?
Because they're careerists like everyone else in government and they want to please their bosses -- show 'em what a good job they've done.
Alas, torturing is a 9 to 5 job.
Always has been.
Horatio
November 7, 2007 10:42 AM | Reply | Permalink
I can't even begin to underscore the importance of transparency. I have no doubt that the memos number at least into the double-digits. Keep at it ACLU.
(BTW, nothing surprises me anymore about this administration. I used to be a government employee. Their kangaroo court (MSPB) ruled that the Whistleblower Protection Act does not cover torture. Really -- if you have a government whistleblower, you can apply waterboarding techniques to him and he'll have no recourse. I'll even post the ruling if you're interested.)
November 8, 2007 8:57 AM | Reply | Permalink
I can't even begin to underscore the importance of transparency. I have no doubt that the memos number at least into the double-digits. Keep at it ACLU.
BTW, nothing surprises me anymore about this administration. I used to be a government employee. Their kangaroo court (MSPB) ruled that the Whistleblower Protection Act does not cover torture.
Really -- if you have a government whistleblower, you can apply waterboarding techniques to him and he'll have no recourse. I'll even post the ruling if you're interested.
November 8, 2007 9:02 AM | Reply | Permalink