Thursday, February 19, 2009

Rachel Maddow Show: Torture Report Could Be Trouble for Bush Lawyers.



I talked the other day about the new report which could spell trouble for Bush's lawyers. Especially Yoo and Bybee, who produced legal findings which were described as "deeply flawed" and "sloppily reasoned" by Jack Goldsmith.

In fact, they were so "sloppily reasoned" that many are questioning whether or not they were written simply to tell the president what he wanted to hear, rather than to attempt to explain to him what the law actually said.

Here, Rachel Maddow talks to Michael Isikoff about the article in Newsweek which I referenced. As Isokoff points out, if these memos are found to have been issued in bad faith, then the Bush/Cheney defence of "we sought legal advice so you can't prosecute us" vanishes into thin air.

2 comments:

daveawayfromhome said...

The idea that seeking legal advice immunizes one from prosecution is a ridiculous one, anyway. Lawyers can be wrong, and ignorance of the law (as we commoners are so often told) is no excuse.

Kel said...

Of course, Dave. But it's even more ridiculous if you have chosen a not particularly skilled lawyer and asked him to "push the envelope" as Bush did.