Former OLC Director Not Opposed to Criminal Investigation of OLC Lawyers

[kpete]

Source: Washington Independent

Former OLC Director Not Opposed to Criminal Investigation of OLC Lawyers
Digg Tweet By Daphne Eviatar 11/3/09 1:07 PM

Former Acting Assistant Attorney General Daniel Levin, who headed the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel under President George W. Bush after the departure of Jack Goldsmith, said this morning that “I personally am not opposed to criminal investigation of my conduct and others during the period in question.” Levin was referring to the period between 2002 and 2006, when the Office of Legal Counsel was producing memos justifying the use of “extreme” interrogation tactics on detainees in U.S. custody which many legal experts now say amounted to torture.

Levin’s remarks were made this morning at a conference at the Washington College of Law at American University addressing the ethical responsibilities of OLC lawyers and how they should be held accountable for authorizing abusive conduct that now appears to have been illegal. “Any government employee is appropriately subject to investigation of their conduct while they’re serving in government,” said Levin, who is now a partner at the law firm White & Case.

Later in the discussion, Levin also said that a truth commission that would investigate and reveal how the lawyers in his office reached their conclusions “would be useful.” Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) has proposed such a commission, but so far apparently does not have majority support for the idea in Congress. Levin spoke on a panel of experts that included Georgetown Law Professor David Luban, Alliance for Justice president Nan Aron, and Newsweek columnist Stuart Taylor.

“Maybe the Office of Professional Responsibility report will give some of the factual basis that will allow people to make judgments about that,” said Levin, referring to the ethics report of the OLC lawyers’ work conducted by a division of the Justice Department which has yet to be released. The report was drafted over several years and completed by the end of the Bush administration. “But I would agree if you could have a serious look at this it would be very valuable.”

Read more: http://washingtonindependent.com/66324/former-olc-director-not-opposed-to-criminal-investigation-of-olc-lawyers

[Piewhacket]

1. seems to be saying "come and get me, fuckers.".... just a rough translation.

Daniel Levin served as Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel of the Justice Department
from July 2004 until February 2005. On August 6, 2004, he sent a letter to the Central Intelligence Agency
advising the CIA that it was lawful to use waterboarding as an interrogation technique under the federal
torture statute, 28 U.S.C. 2340-2340A.

Levin also signed an opinion on December 30, 2004, updating OLC's interpretation of the torture statute
and replacing an unclassified August 2002 opinion by Assistant Attorney General Jay Bybee that had
previously been withdrawn by OLC.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Levin


From October 2003 to July 2004,Jack Goldsmith served under Attorney General John Ashcroft and Deputy
Attorney General James Comey<4> as an United States Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal
Counsel in the Department of Justice, and wrote a book about his experiences there called "The Terror Presidency".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Goldsmith

John Yoo worked from 2001 to 2003 in the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel, producing
the torture memo and other insane legal opinions during that time. Yoo was born in South Korea, and
for some completely unfathomable reason is still reported as a member of the Pennsylvania State Bar.
see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Yoo

[No Elephants]

2. Asking to be investigated? How very brave of him.

:sarcasm: