'Torture memos' authors: Rebuked but won't be disbarred

Bush administration lawyers who wrote the so-called "torture memos" exercised "poor judgment" in writing legal opinions that “contained significant flaws," according to the Justice Department. But they weren't guilty of professional misconduct that might have meant disbarment.

(Page 2 of 2)

A separate criminal investigation focuses on whether CIA contractors killed or severely injured detainees during interrogations.

Enlarge

How involved was the Bush White House?

"For years, Bush administration officials 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 in a statement Friday. “Today’s report makes plain that those memos were legally flawed and fundamentally unsound. Even worse, it reveals that the memos were not the independent product of the Department of Justice, but were shaped by top officials of the Bush White House.”

Lamar Smith of Texas, the senior Republican on the committee, said that Yoo and Bybee "did their best to follow the law."

"In the wake of 9/11, attorneys at the Justice Department were faced with unprecedented challenges, not knowing whether other attacks were imminent," Smith said.

Human rights advocates are not so forgiving.

"Justice Department lawyers have an obligation to uphold the law, so when they write legal opinions that were designed to provide legal cover for torture, they need to be held accountable with more than a slap on the wrist,” said Andrea Prasow, senior counterterrorism counsel at Human Rights Watch. "Despite failing to find the former Justice Department lawyers responsible for misconduct, the Justice Department report nevertheless provides strong evidence indicating that the authors of these legal opinions should be investigated for their role in facilitating torture.”

President Obama has banned torture but resisted pressure to prosecute former Bush administration officials involved in interrogation techniques that many experts consider to be torture.

-----