The Bush era-related news just keeps coming today. According to a House Judiciary Committee transcript released Thursday, a former Bush Justice Department official revealed in May that he never authorized several of the interrogation tactics that were inflicted on terrorism suspects. Judge Jay Bybee said that while he did permit the CIA to use certain techniques, such as waterboarding, he never gave approval for tactics such as prolonged shackling to a ceiling or repeated beatings. He defended the use of waterboarding, water slamming and other methods, as lawful, though: “We took a muscular view of presidential authority
We were offering a bottom line to a client who wanted to know what he could do and what he couldn’t do. I wasn’t running a debating society, and I wasn’t running a law school.”
Bush Aide Calls Some C.I.A. Methods Unauthorized [NYT]
