CIA Report on Torture Program

The Obama administration is no different than other administrations in that they dump news on Friday hoping that no one is paying attention. Fortunately, I’m a dork and I love seeing what they try and sneak past us each week.

Today the Office of Professional Responsibility released their report on whether Bush administration lawyers broke the law when they decided torturing fellow human beings was cool.

According to the report the OPR found misconduct, but DoJ career attorney David Margolis didn’t have a problem with Jay Bybee and John Yoo’s legal justification for torture.

Here’s what Margolis wrote:

In keeping with usual Department practice, I invited Bybee and Yoo to submit responses to OPR’s final report. They submitted those responses on October 9, 2009, and the matter is no ripe for discussion. My task is a narrow one. The OPR report addresses a number of topics without reaching misconduct fundings against any Department attorney. I did not review OPR’s analysis of those topics. For example, during the course of its investigation, OPR reviewed prosecutive declinations regarding interrogations of certain detainees, but I have not examined its analysis of those issues. In addition, OPR reviewed and analyzed several memoranda authored by former OLC attorney Steve Bradbury. Because that review did not result in a finding of misconduct or poor judgement, I have not reviewed that analysis. Rather, my review was strictly limited to the findings of misconduct against Yoo and Bybee.

For the reasons state below, I do not adopt OPR’s finding of misconduct. This decision should not be viewed as an endorsement of the legal work that underlies those memoranda. However, OPR’s own analytical framework defines “professional misconduct” such that a finding of misconduct depends on application of a known, unambiguous obligation or standard to the attorney’s conduct. I am unpersuaded that OPR has identified such a standard. For this reason and based on the additional analysis set forth below, I cannot adopt OPR’s findings of misconduct, and I will not authorize OPR to refer its findings to the state bar disciplinary authorities in the jurisdictions where Yoo and Bybee are licensed.

Here are the newly released documents from OPR and DoJ.
Career DoJ attorney David Margolis Admonishes Torture Lawyers
John Yoo Response to DoJ Torture Investigation
Office of Professional Responsibility Second Report on Torture
Office of Professional Responsibility First Report on Torture
Bybee Response to OPR’s Draft Report
John Yoo Response to OPR Draft Report on Torture

Here’s my archive of torture memos and reports
Jay Bybee torture memo August 1, 2002
Steven Bradbury torture memo May 10, 2005
Steven Bradbury to John Rizzo about torture program May 10, 2005
Steven Bradbury to Rizzo torture memo
De-classified CIA report on Bush torture program