Impeachment of Bybee a Problem for Obama

First off, Jay Bybee deserves to lose his judgeship. The memo's he authored in favor of torture are reprehensible. This diary discusses the rationale for impeachment. Evicting Bybee from his cushy and prestigious job as a federal circuit court judge would be a great success for those who are anti-torture and pro-morality. However the successful impeachment of Bybee would present a political problem for President Obama.

The impeachment of Bybee based on a charge that the memo's he authored were a gross distortion of the law would affirm that laws were broken when the waterboarding and room 101 tactics were employed. The non-prosecution of those who relied on those memo's is not unexpected as the law protects those who rely on authoritative statements by the government on what the law is. That is why the OLC memo's were sought as CYA.

This is where the problem arises with going after Bybee and Yoo over the memos. What contact did they have with the administration regarding the torture policies? That remains the big and potentially explosive question. Were Bybee and Yoo supporting the administrations torture policies simply because they agreed with them or were they getting additional guidance from the white house?

It is very unlikely that there is any record of the white house simply telling these lawyers to find justifications for the policies. However that possibility is still a non-zero value. If a communication directing Bybee and co to find legal protection for torture does exists somewhere then that leads an investigation into the Bush white house. This is not at all what Obama seems to want. He has never been particularly supportive of a scouring of the Bush abuses committed in the area of civil liberties or detainee rights. Obama seems to be content with the "its all in the past" approach. If an investigation leads into the Bush white house you can bet that it will become the dominant story of Obama's presidency and overshadow the reforms that Obama wants to make.

It appears that the administration views all of the Bush abuses as a can of worms. The impeachment of Bybee is the possible beginning of a serious inquiry into the origination of the torture regime.

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Cheney Calls for Release of Torture Reports

Cheney advocates transparency.

"One of the things that I find a little bit disturbing about this recent disclosure is they put out the legal memos, the memos that the CIA got from the Office of Legal Counsel, but they didn't put out the memos that showed the success of the effort. And there are reports that show specifically what we gained as a result of this activity. They have not been declassified."

"I formally asked that they be declassified now. I haven't announced this up until now, I haven't talked about it, but I know specifically of reports that I read, that I saw that lay out what we learned through the interrogation process and what the consequences were for the country."

I agree with Cheney that these reports on the results of our torture should be released. I am actually surprised by the fact that the Bush administration did not disclose the reports that show how successful the torture methods were. Much of the discussion was about how they methods were ineffective. The media would have eaten u reports that showed how effective the torture was. After all there is nothing that the village loves more than the "tough decision" to violate established law to keep us safe. That is why a debate even exists. The villagers who have backed the idea that torture keeps us safe will be ecstatic over their vindication.

It is also possible that no such reports exists. Cheney is hoping that Obama says this and Cheney then accuses Obama of a cover up. I do doubt though that any reports about the effectiveness of torture that may be released will stand up to scrutiny at any level. At any rate the American people should hear about how dick's torture regime kept us safe. So President Obama, release those reports.

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Senate Dems Still Back Bush

There are a certain set of individuals in the Senate who back the decisions made by president Bush on matters of torture and "enhanced interrogation" and those people happen to reside on the senate intelligence committee. The two highest profile members of this torture backing group are Diane Feinstein (D) California and Jay Rockefeller (D) West Virginia. As two members who have always been aware and approving of the Bush intelligence schemes they most certainly meet the level of complicity and conspiracy in the torture crimes. It is not surprising to see them coming out against the Obama pick for CIA head when that person is seen to represent a break from the type of programs and way of doing business they are familiar with.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who this week begins her tenure as the first female chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said today that she was not consulted on the choice and indicated she might oppose it.

“I was not informed about the selection of Leon Panetta to be the CIA director,” Feinstein said. “My position has consistently been that I believe the agency is best served by having an intelligence professional in charge at this time.”

The choice of Panetta was seen as a sign that Obama considered it more important to have a steady political hand and astute manager at the helm of the agency, rather than someone with deep operational experience.

In picking Panetta, Obama risks raising anew questions about the politicization of the CIA, a concern cited by leading congressional officials.

A senior aide to Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.), outgoing chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said that the senator “would have concerns” about a Panetta nomination.

Rockefeller “thinks very highly of Panetta,” the aide said. “But he’s puzzled by the selection. He has concerns because he has always believed that the director of CIA needs to be someone with significant operational intelligence experience, and someone outside the political realm.”

The problem with having people who have an extensive operations background in charge is that they are more likely than not going to have some issues with the torture regime of the last eight years. That is, hopefully, the reason that the Brennan candidacy fell through. There are probably some Clinton people available who have been out of the agency for the last eight years but they would be returning to a place much changed since they left with the reorg after 9/11.

DiFi and Rockefeller have never been too concerned about Presidential choices in the past considering the confirmation of Porter Goss, George Tenet, and Michael Hayden, as well as Mike Mukasey, Robert Mueller. They claim that only a person with field experience inside the agency can do the job? Steve Benen answers that,

Turf battles notwithstanding, the more complaints I hear about Panetta at the CIA, the more I find the concerns underwhelming. Feinstein and Rockefeller feel snubbed? Given their recent track record, I don't much care. The head of the CIA should come from within the agency? At least six recent CIA chiefs didn't. Panetta doesn't have a background in national security intelligence? Nonsense, as White House chief of staff and an ISG member, Panetta dealt with the very sensitive intelligence on a daily basis. Indeed, he learned very well precisely how to process intelligence to help the president see the big picture.

If we start with a premise that Obama wanted to find a credible, experienced manager, who's dealt with intelligence but remains untainted by the Bush-era scandals, Panetta starts to look like an ideal choice.

Far from being ineffective because he lacks field experience Panetta looks like he will bring a great deal of Washington know how to the table. He understands budget fights and the political machinations of washington and can assure the CIA gets its share of money and credit while also keeping the agency in line. If the two honorable senators who have come out against this pick want to cover their torture supporting asses this is not the way to go. They should simply stay quiet and hope everyone forgets about their maleficence.

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