AG Holder Says “Torture Memos” Report to be Released This Month

After thousands signed petitions from Alliance for Justice and CREDO Action, and many made personal calls to the Justice Department, Attorney General Eric Holder said today that the report on the “torture memos” will be released by the end of this month.

“I think this is a matter of great public interest, the whole question of the OPR report,” Holder said. “The report is completed. It is being reviewed now and it is in its last stages, there is a career prosecutor who has to review the report. We expect that that process should be done by the end of the month and at that point the report should be issued.”

Holder was asked about the status of the report by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) at an oversight hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee this morning. A video of his statement is available on Talking Points Memo.

More than 10,000 people have signed petitions by AFJ and Credo Action calling for release of the report on the “torture memos.” Last week’s phone calls to the Attorney General asked him to expand his investigation to all responsible for U.S. torture, including the lawyers who authored the infamous “torture memos.”

“Releasing the OPR report is the first step towards accountability for those who authorized torture. We are pleased the Attorney General is bringing these facts to light,” said Nan Aron, President, Alliance for Justice.

In Holder’s first oversight hearing in June, he was asked when the report by the Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) on the conduct of the lawyers who authorized torture would be released. He said that the five-year investigation of the "torture memos" was close to an end and that OPR's report would be ready in a "matter of weeks." When asked again on October 8, Holder said the report was still waiting for comments from some of the lawyers involved.

The legal cover for torture was contained in a series of memos drafted by lawyers in the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel, beginning in 2002. The Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) began an inquiry in 2004 into the conduct of the DOJ lawyers. In January 2009, at the end of the Bush administration, news leaked that the report on this inquiry had been drafted, but it still has not been released.

Senate Vote on David Hamilton Today

The Senate is currently debating Judge David Hamilton's nomination to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. For live updates you can follow Nan Aron on twitter.

Hamilton, President Obama’s first judicial nominee, was nominated on March 17, and voted out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on June 4, with a 12-7 vote along party lines.

Judge Hamilton has an exemplary record in the law and sterling credentials. The American Bar Association gave Judge Hamilton its highest rating of well-qualified.

Judge Hamilton has the backing of both his home state senators, Republican Richard Lugar and Democrat Evan Bayh. Senator Lugar stated he is “enthusiastically” supporting Hamilton’s elevation, while Senator Bayh praised the President for selecting nominees that “Republicans and Democrats can work together” on.
Indiana conservatives who actually know him think he's a stellar choice.

Geoffrey Slaughter, President of the Indianapolis chapter of the Federalist Society, praised Hamilton's nomination observing, "I regard Judge Hamilton as an excellent jurist with a first rate intellect . . . His judicial philosophy is well within the mainstream."

Every Senate Republican signed a letter on March 4, 2009, vowing to block President Obama’s nominees. Since then, the Republicans have carried out that threat. Only two circuit court judges have been confirmed by the Senate, and both were subjected to unnecessary, time-consuming, procedural delays – even though the nominees were approved by wide margins (Lynch 94-3, Davis 72-16).

Resorting to the same old playbook of partisan politics, Republicans are obstructing the judicial nomination process as a last-ditch effort to maintain their hold over the judiciary and halt a return to a balance of power. They are also using attacks on Judge Hamilton as an opportunity to keep their base engaged.

Senator Sessions, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, sent a letter on October 30, asking his colleagues to oppose Judge Hamilton’s nomination and signaling his intention to filibuster.

Sessions suggested that Hamilton has “drive[n] a political agenda,” while citing rulings and mischaracterizing the record on decisions Judge Hamilton issued on religious freedom, criminal law, and a woman’s right to choose.

Does Sen. Sessions Think Wishing Makes It So?

Looks like Senator Sessions (R-AL) thinks that if he keeps saying over and over that Judge Hamilton is too radical to be a circuit court judge, it will somehow come true.

At the Federalist Society Convention today Sessions said:

"... Hamilton's record, I think, is troubling, as I've just indicated. He worked for ACORN, was a litigation director for the Indiana ACLU. He has endorsed the notion that a judge's job is to, quote, 'write footnotes to the Constitution.' I'm not sure -- if they had a convention that he could participate in, maybe he could write some of the Constitution ... And why did I mention Hamilton? Because Judge Hamilton was President Obama's symbolic first pick to the federal bench. And one White House official said that that nomination would, quote, 'set the tone for the future.'"

Needless to say, Sessions doesn't think the tone set by United States District Court Judge David Hamilton's nomination to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals is good.

Sorry, Senator, but Hamilton has a record that shows him to be a highly qualified nominee who will uphold the Constitution and the law to provide equal justice for all. Judge Hamilton has the backing of both his home state senators, Republican Richard Lugar and Democrat Evan Bayh. Moreover, the American Bar Association gave him its highest rating of well-qualified. And, we would be remiss if we didn't note that local conservatives who actually know him think he's a stellar choice. Geoffrey Slaughter, President of the Indianapolis chapter of the Federalist Society, praised Hamilton's nomination observing, "I regard Judge Hamilton as an excellent jurist with a first rate intellect . . . His judicial philosophy is well within the mainstream." It doesn't get much better than that.

The obstruction of the Obama administration's judicial nominees by Senator Sessions and others on specious charges like those leveled today is why there are 96 vacant seats on the federal courts. It appears that Judge Hamilton's nomination will finally go to the Senate floor for a vote next week. It's long past time for the Senate to vote on these nominees.

Torture Accountability Day of Action

Today, people from across the country are making calls to the Department of Justice. They are asking Attorney General Holder to release the report on the “torture memos” and authorize a full investigation of torture.

We’ve already received feedback from supporters who have made calls and we will be posting updates on this blog throughout the day about that feedback.

Be sure to Call Attorney General Holder today!

Update: (10:35 am EST) We just got this feedback from a caller:

"Left a message due to high call volume" recording said they would get back to me in regard to the issue. WE WILL SEE.

It sounds like we are already flooding their lines this morning!

Update: (10:50 am EST) more feedback, from people calling in:

He said he was getting other calls about this matter and would pass my concerns along.

Update: (11:50 am EST)

On Huffington Post: Call on Attorney General Holder to Release the "Torture Memos" Report

Update: (12:20 pm EST) Volunteers handing out constitutions and spreading the message in Dupont Circle, Washington, DC.


Update: (1:15 pm EST) More feedback from callers:

The answering machine said that if I got this message during regular working hours (which it was), the office was experiencing a large volume of calls and to please leave a message. I did so, asking that The Attorney General release the memos and then investigate who was responsible and bring them to justice.

Update: (2:45 pm EST) Blog post on Firedoglake, Liberate the OPR Report

Update: (3:00 pm EST) more caller feedback:

They indicate that they were aware of the importance of the issue and would take my call under advisement

Yoo Withdrew: Amidst Growing Call for Criminal Investigation, Torture Memos Author John Yoo Withdraws from Federalist Society Panel

Amidst a growing call for a criminal investigation of the DOJ lawyers who authorized torture, John Yoo, author of the most infamous of the “torture memos” withdrew as a speaker at the conservative Federalist Society Convention where Alliance for Justice and human rights supporters are scheduled to take action.

“John Yoo’s withdrawal from the Federalist Society Convention shows that pressure is building to hold accountable those who provided legal cover for torture,” said Alliance for Justice President Nan Aron.

Yoo was scheduled to speak on the panel, “Professional Responsibility: The Role of Government Attorneys and the Global War on Terror” this Thursday, November 12. Alliance for Justice is organizing human rights supporters to rally outside the convention that day and call the Attorney General to ask for immediate release of the report by the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) on the Justice Department lawyers who wrote the “torture memos.”

Yoo’s withdrawal comes after a top Bush administration Justice Department official, Daniel Levin, publicly stated last week that he was not opposed to a criminal investigation of his and his colleagues’ conduct in preparing and reviewing the “torture memos.” Levin was the acting head of the DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel in 2004-05, during which the OLC reviewed the legalities of the CIA’s “enhanced interrogation practices.”

Speaking publicly about this controversial issue for the first time, Mr. Levin said last week at a conference featuring the Alliance for Justice film Tortured Law at American University’s Washington College of Law about professional ethics and the “torture memos:”

I personally am not opposed to criminal investigation of the conduct of myself and others during the period in question, because I think any government employee is appropriately subject to investigation of their conduct while they are serving in the government.

(view clip here)

With the escalating call for accountability, it is no surprise that John Yoo wanted to avoid a question about a criminal investigation during Thursday’s panel.

A steady drumbeat of voices has been calling for accountability for those who ordered, designed, and authorized torture. More than 10,000 people have signed petitions from Alliance for Justice and CREDO Action to Attorney General Eric Holder, urging the immediate release of the OPR report. And on the day that Yoo was scheduled to speak to the Federalist Society, thousands of activists will pick up their phones to call the Department of Justice to ask Attorney General Holder to authorize a full investigation of the authors of the torture memos.

“Justice Can’t Wait:” Report on Judicial Selection in the Obama Administration

A new report on judicial selection in the first ten months of the Obama administration was released this week by Alliance for Justice.

“While Republicans play politics to stir up their base, more than 97 federal judgeships remain open,” said Nan Aron, president, Alliance for Justice. “America needs strong voices on our federal courts, upholding the Constitution and the law to ensure equal justice for all, not partisan games that delay putting highly qualified nominees on the bench.”

The report is an assessment of progress toward equal justice for all at the start of the Obama administration. The report’s findings show that not enough progress has been made, with only five federal judges confirmed by the Senate, 22 nominees pending, and 97 vacancies on the federal bench.

According to the report:
Resorting to the same old playbook of partisan politics, Republicans are obstructing the judicial nomination process as a last-ditch effort to maintain their hold over the judiciary and halt a return to a balance of power. They are also using attacks on Obama’s nominees as an opportunity to keep their base engaged. Americans deserve better than simple party politics, and it is time for the White House and Senate leadership to move expeditiously to nominate and confirm judges.

The report points out:

President Obama has nominated highly qualified attorneys and judges to the federal bench – and yet Republicans have responded by either delaying the votes or outright attacking individual nominees. Every Republican in the Senate signed a letter on March 4, 2009 about six weeks after President Obama took office, effectively appropriating to themselves the nominating power of the executive branch by vowing to block nominees whom they did not approve. Since then, they have carried out that threat.

The full report is available on our web site.

Facts About “Torture Memos” Must Come to Light

A distinguished panel of legal scholars and practitioners held a spirited discussion today about how best to hold accountable lawyers whose legal advice provided cover for torture in the Bush administration. Watch the web cast of the discussion.

In addition to the panel, the event featured a keynote speech by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) at the event titled, “The Torture Memos: Lawyers, Ethics, and the Rule of Law” and a screening of the new film by AFJ, Tortured Law.

“We need transparency and accountability, to remember that we are not a country that acts independent of the law, even in times of fear and danger,” said Nan Aron, president, Alliance for Justice.

Daniel Levin, former Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Office of Legal Counsel from 2004-2005 when the DOJ was reviewing CIA interrogation techniques, said “I personally am not opposed to criminal investigation of the conduct of myself and others during the period in question, because I think any government employee is appropriately subject to investigation of their conduct while they are serving in the government.”

Levin and the other speakers agreed that the country would benefit from the establishment of a national commission to investigate the facts about the use of torture.

The investigation of the conduct of the lawyers by the Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility was discussed at length, and several panelists and Senator Whitehouse agreed that releasing OPR’s report on that inquiry was an important first step in determining whether laws were broken.

“We still don’t know all the facts. Information has emerged in bits and pieces over the last several years, thanks to extensive litigation by civil liberties advocates and to the selected release of certain documents by the Obama Administration,” Aron said.

“On Friday the government dumped hundreds more documents about interrogation and detainee policies pursuant to a court order, adding more insight to how detainee abuse developed and was legally justified,” Aron continued. “But so long as the record is incomplete and disjointed, the evidence that emerges raises more questions than it answers – which is all the more reason why Holder should promote full transparency and take the important first step of releasing the OPR report.”

You can join Alliance for Justice on Thursday, November 12, AFJ for National Torture Accountability Day by calling Attorney General Holder to urge him to release the OPR report.

Alliance for Justice Joins CREDO Action in Call for Accountability

We have all been outraged and saddened by the stories of how our government violated basic human rights. Waterboarding, stress positions, sleep deprivation, detainees stripped and abused - the list goes on. Yet so far there has been all too little accountability for those who laid the groundwork for torture.

Some of the most culpable are the lawyers who cravenly wrote memos that provided justifications for what we all know is wrong. That is why Alliance for Justice has joined with CREDO Action to demand that Attorney General Eric Holder release a report that would shed light on what happened and help us hold those lawyers accountable.

The Department of Justice has been investigating the infamous "torture memos" since 2004. A report on the findings was expected by June of this year. Four months later, we are still waiting to hear from the Justice Department on exactly who authorized the use of torture by American men and women.

Lack of public information about how torture was approved keeps the focus on the actions of CIA interrogators, rather than investigating those who designed, ordered, and justified torture. There is strong political pressure, including within the Obama administration, not to look back - not to investigate. But how can we hold other countries accountable for acts of torture, and not ourselves? Releasing the report is the first step in establishing accountability.

Americans have a right to know the facts about what U.S. government lawyers did to provide legal cover for torture. We must hold accountable those who led America astray to make sure this travesty of justice never happens again.

Tell Attorney General Eric Holder to act quickly and release the "torture memos" report.