Bybee Reportedly Seeking Forum to Explain His Role in the Torture Memos

While Judge Jay Bybee has declined to speak before the Senate Judiciary Committee to explain his role in the Bush torture program, he is reportedly reaching out to Nevada delegation members to find an alternative forum “to tell his side of the story.” I discussed the story on this segment of Rachel Maddow’s show.

Reps. Dina Titus (D-NV) and Shelley Berkley (D-NV) have said that Bybee has contacted them through intermediaries. I would be interested in who are the intermediaries (described as former Bush officials). The New York Times has called for the impeachment of Bybee as have many lawyers.

Bybee’s tale is, in my view, one of the corruption of blind ambition. Like many conservative lawyers eager for positions in the Administration, he found himself being asked to endorse the very antithesis of the rule of law in order to be advanced as a lawyer. Bybee reportedly went to Washington to seek a nomination to the 9th Circuit. Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales sent him to the OLC instead where he was asked to write his infamous torture memos. He was then given the judicial post. I do not know the man. However, the appearance could not be worse. It appears as if he facilitated the torture of other human beings — part of the price for a promotion to the court. Regardless of such alleged motivations, his acts speak loudly to his involvement in a war crime — and his unsuitability for the court.

For the full story, click here.