Leahy: If Bybee Is "Decent And Honorable" He'll Resign

On Monday, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), rejected calls for the impeachment of federal judge and torture memo author Jay Bybee, saying that he was "one of the most honorable people you'll ever meet."

If that's the case, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), told reporters Tuesday, then Bybee should resign.

"The fact is, the Bush administration and Mr. Bybee did not tell the truth. If the Bush administration and Mr. Bybee had told the truth, he never would have been confirmed," said Leahy, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

"The decent and honorable thing for him to do would be to resign. And if he is a decent and honorable person, he will resign," he said deliberately.

A reporter followed up, asking what Congress should do if Bybee refused to step down. Leahy smiled and walked toward the Senate chamber, declining to comment further.

Bybee is among a team of Bush administration lawyers that drafted legal documents justifying waterboarding, stuffing detainees in small boxes with insects and other forms of torture.

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Comments

[Mike Kilpatrick]

10:47 AM on 04/22/2009

All of this was known at his confirmation. Only 19 democrats voted against him. Wonder why people don't bother to vote anymore?

[Manx]

02:31 AM on 04/22/2009

Bybee won't resign because he's neither decent or honorable.

[From the Raft]

01:33 AM on 04/22/2009

Can we hear from Judge Bybee?

Why isn't he talking?

Shouldn't he speak for himself rather than having fellow Mormon Hatch speak for him?

Can he be an effective and unbiased judge with this hanging over his head?

[madisonhack]

07:02 AM on 04/22/2009

What should be hanging is Judge Bybee.

[weatherwaxx]

12:13 AM on 04/22/2009

Let's be real: If any of the Bush appointees were decent and honorable they wouldn't have been selected by the Cheney administration.

[Mum]

01:13 AM on 04/22/2009

'Nuff said!

[Sconan]

11:11 PM on 04/21/2009

To all you wing-nuts out there that think these interrogation methods are no big deal and "Claim"
to support our troops. Explain to the troops you feign support for that they will be more likely to be tortured if captured as a result of this, I'm sure they'll understand...

[madisonhack]

07:05 AM on 04/22/2009

That obvious argument aside, tell the troops who have been getting shot at in Iraq and Afghanistan that many of those insurgents were recruited BECAUSE of the abuses at Abu Graib and Guantanomo.

[Norsky]

10:35 PM on 04/21/2009

A bush appointee. I think we already know the answer to this one.

[OtayPanky]

10:25 PM on 04/21/2009

Leahy: If Torture Memo Author Is "Decent And Honorable," He'll Resign

===

Too easy.

[DontJustFollow]

08:27 PM on 04/21/2009

LMAO !!! Leahy talking about decent and honorable - - excuse me while i go change my pants !!!!

If Leahy wants only decent and honorable people serving in Congress he should do the decent and honorable thing and be the first to fall on his sword -

[weatherwaxx]

12:09 AM on 04/22/2009

Don't bother changing your pants, the aroma of your comments never alters.

[madisonhack]

07:06 AM on 04/22/2009

Do you need an excuse to clean yourself?

[BrwnSknGurl4]

08:20 PM on 04/21/2009

Can someone please explain to me how this "minor detail" was missed in Bybee's confirmation to be a judge on the Ninth Circuit of Appeals???!!! My goodness, who was sleeping at the wheel??!! This man should NEVER have been confirmed -- ever!

[weatherwaxx]

12:04 AM on 04/22/2009

Another Bush rubberstamp appointment. There are probably hundreds of them.

[realpolitic]

07:58 PM on 04/21/2009

So true! If Bybee is the embodiment of such decency and honor, let him resign. He did not tell the truth during his confirmation process about the torture memos. Let him serve the rest of his life working to give comfort to victims of torture to show his inherent decency.

[MathIsTruth]

07:43 PM on 04/21/2009

My only quibble with Leahy on this is that no one should waste a moment worrying about whether Bybee wants to resign or not.

The impeachment process should begin immediately and should be carried out expeditiously. If sometime along the way Bybee happens to resign, fine. But everyone in Congress should presume that he won't resign and push forward with his removal.

[blues101]

11:36 PM on 04/21/2009

We should at least be allowed to stuff him into a box full of bugs, snakes and/or rats to convince him to resign.

[weatherwaxx]

12:04 AM on 04/22/2009

Waste of good snakes.

[madisonhack]

07:06 AM on 04/22/2009

We want his law license, at the very least.

[ericmiami]

07:33 PM on 04/21/2009

Orrin Hatch says he's honorable? Orrin wears magic underpants and will be a god when he dies and will have democrats and even lesser Mormons worshiping him.

[DontJustFollow]

08:22 PM on 04/21/2009

live and let live right?

[weatherwaxx]

12:05 AM on 04/22/2009

Judge not, lest ye be judged. You tightie-righties have had Bush bullying anyone who stood up against you for eight years. You can dish it out but you're just whiners when someone pushes back.

[madisonhack]

07:07 AM on 04/22/2009

Get a book on the Nuremberg trials and look at those pictures of the hanged Nazis. That is what we have in mind.

[jimrs6]

07:07 PM on 04/21/2009

That a c lown like Leahy is asking that anyone else resign is absurd. This guy has broken more laws than anyone in DC.

[weatherwaxx]

12:06 AM on 04/22/2009

Care to be specific, or are you just another dittoparrot?

[4Q-N4Q2]

06:43 PM on 04/21/2009

During 183 sessions of “advanced interrogation techniques”, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed revealed the plans and the identity of the Islamo-facist perpetrators who were planning a 9/11 style hijacked jetliner attack on the city of Los Angeles. Enhanced interrogation, including water board, saved potentially thousands of California citizens’ lives. I’m glad it worked.

[weatherwaxx]

12:06 AM on 04/22/2009

Can you verify this? Sounds like more of Faux Noise.

[dave1111]

12:56 AM on 04/22/2009

If it's legal and effective, why isn't it standard practice by the police?

[leeannethethird]

06:42 PM on 04/21/2009

Sen. Patrick Leahy can be counted on to fight for basic principles of justice.

I share his curiosity about who tried to kill him with anthrax in his office when it was sent to Democrats. What is the status of the investigation into the matter? Does anyone know?

[weatherwaxx]

12:08 AM on 04/22/2009

Toward the end of the Bush regime, they supposedly tracked it to a guy who conveniently "committed suicide." Case closed.

No, I don't buy it, either.