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Conyers Releases Report on Torture Lawyers

Congressman John Conyers

For Immediate Release
February 19, 2010
Contact: Jonathan Godfrey
Nicole Triplett

(Washington, DC) – In connection with the committee's oversight responsibilities and in anticipation of hearings on the issues raised, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) today released a report by the Department's Office of Professional Responsibility severely criticizing the judgment and legal work of the Bush administration lawyers who authorized waterboarding and other "enhanced interrogation techniques." Chairman Conyers also released a group of related materials, including drafts of the report, comments from the attorneys under investigation, and the subsequent memorandum to the attorney general.

"For years, those who approved torture and abuse of detainees have hidden behind legal memos issued by the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel," Conyers said. "The materials released today make plain that those memos were leglly flawed and fundamentally unsound, and may have been improperly influenced by a desire to tell the Bush White House and the CIA what it wanted to hear."

"The Office of Legal Counsel has a proud tradition of providing independent, high-quality legal advice to the executive branch," Conyers continued. "The materials released today make clear that the lawyers who wrote the torture memos did not live up that tradition. While the department ultimately concluded that the lawyers did not breach their minimum professional obligations, I certainly hold top lawyers at OLC to a higher standard that, as all Americans should.

"Given the serious nature of the issues raised in this report, the committee intends to hold hearings on these matters in the very near future."

All released materials can be found here.

 

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