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Conyers to Yoo: Could President Order Suspect Buried Alive?
David Addington is going to say as little as possible to the House Judiciary Committee today. The Vice President's chief of staff didn't submit testimony today or make an opening statement, and he successfully stonewalled the first round of questioning from subcommittee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY). He did submit 10 exhibits to the committee as evidence, but it's not yet clear what they consist of.
But then it was Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) turn to ask questions. And he went toe to toe with Yoo, the former DOJ attorney and torture-memo author extraordinaire:
Conyers: Could the President order a suspect buried alive?Yoo: Uh, Mr. Chairman, I don't think I've ever given advice that the President could order someone buried alive. . .
Conyers: I didn't ask you if you ever gave him advice. I asked you thought the President could order a suspect buried alive.
Yoo: Well Chairman, my view right now is that I don't think a President . . . no American President would ever have to order that or feel it necessary to order that.
Conyers: I think we understand the games that are being played.
Here's the video from the hearing:
Josh
Zachary
Maybe Conyers still has one attached. (I thought maybe he'd lost them both.)
Good stuff! I don't know that it will lead anywhere, but at least these two goons will get some exposure to the bright light of day.
And, who knows, maybe there will be additional entertainment value...
-- ARG
June 26, 2008 11:35 AM | Reply | Permalink
Hey, where'd the video go? We're counting on you guys to bring us the greatest hits!
June 26, 2008 12:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Way to go Berkeley; Good hiring move with Yoo. You have sullied your reputation for the notoriety of having a criminal as part of your faculty. I hope it was worth it.
June 26, 2008 12:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
This particular mother f***ing lawyer is the lowest blood sucking scum on the planet.
June 26, 2008 12:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
That said, Yoo would be a perfect choice for K5 McCain's VP!
June 26, 2008 1:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
So what? They'll question him , he'll evade, squirm, look stupid, and, when finished, dance on back to Berkeley, free and clear. Nothing ever comes of this. It's showboating, but NO ONE is EvER HELD ACCOUNTABLE.
And I'm sick of it.
June 26, 2008 1:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Mr. Yoo refuses to answer this question due to the fact that the answer would reveal himself to be a non-human, in fact probably an anti-human of unknown origin.
Damn those Xylons and their battle against the human race!!
June 26, 2008 2:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
The Addington Video is down and there's no comment block to say so over there , so I'll say so over here .
Yoo is a sack o dung though huh? I find his cold distanced calculation entirely chilling , as though some Vulcan removed from any concept of decency or citizenry.
That is untill he's forced to answer a question like this , then the only emotion betrayed is writing discomfort at the sudden recollection of Nuremberg,October 1945...answer very carefully...or not at all...
Prick .
June 26, 2008 2:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
What is the purpose of hearings like this?
They seem to come to nothing and be a total waste of time.
I'd love to see someone like Yoo standup and give Conyers the finger and walk out, just to see what would happen.
NOTHING would happen!
Sternly worded letters.
June 26, 2008 3:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
**Nothing???? Are you completely sure? I think that a time is a coming. Ayup. There's gonna be a mass exodus to some place with vacqueros!
June 26, 2008 4:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
man, conyers sure knows how to be stern
Wag the finger! Wag it in outrage!
June 26, 2008 5:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
Of course I meant October 1946 not 45 ...doh!
June 26, 2008 5:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
Unitary executive theory is a code word for a doctrine that favors nearly unlimited executive power. Dan Milbank reported in the WAPO on October 17, 2004:
"Cheney has tried to increase executive power with a series of bold actions -- some so audacious that even sympathetic conservatives on the Supreme Court have rejected them as overreaching. His point man in this is his top lawyer, longtime aide David Addington."
Addington claimed today to not know what "unitary" means as he wriggled and squirmed and performed his semantic dance.
Previous memos almost certainly penned by him, include "In light of the president's complete authority over the conduct of war, without a clear statement otherwise, criminal statutes are not read as infringing on the president's ultimate authority in these areas... Congress may no more regulate the president's ability to detain and interrogate enemy combatants than it may regulate his ability to direct troop movements on the battlefield." The same would go for "federal officials acting pursuant to the president's constitutional authority."
Ergo, by this logic, the president does have the power and right to "order a suspect buried alive", Mr.Yoo, should he so choose to do so.
June 26, 2008 6:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
The most interesting thing about Conyer's question is how careful Yoo was in answering that he never gave that advice.
Because, according to a Vanity Fair piece,
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2007/07/torture200707
Rorschach and Awe, someone(s) did give that advice.
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As Zubaydah clammed up, Mitchell seemed to conclude that Zubaydah would talk only when he had been reduced to complete helplessness and dependence. With that goal in mind, the C.I.A. team began building a coffin in which they planned to bury the detainee alive.
A furor erupted over the legality of this move, which does not appear to have been carried out. (Every human-rights treaty and American law governing the treatment of prisoners prohibits death threats and simulated killings.) But the C.I.A. had a ready rejoinder: the methods had already been approved by White House lawyers.
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Live burial cooked up as a human experiment, WHITE HOUSE LAWYERS approve it, but the FBI guys are still around, pitch a fit and it doesn't happen.
Yoo didn't approve it, he wanted to make that clear. Did anyone else, though? That ball he doesn't swing at.
June 26, 2008 6:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yes. Is it safe?
June 26, 2008 11:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's settled. I want to make out with John Conyers.
June 26, 2008 11:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
I hate to say "I told you so" to someone of Conyers' stature but what did he expect Yoo to say? Did he expect Yoo to wrap a copy of the Constitution in his hands and sob "I'm sorry?"
June 26, 2008 11:25 PM | Reply | Permalink