Howard Dean on CSpan: Says that Bush nominated the man who wrote torture

...memo to the federal bench.

Is this true - did he get confirmed?

Why aren't the Democrats or others making that into an ad and bringing it to the public's attention?

I don't think there is anything conservative or liberal about doing something like that.

He was nominated by Bush in 2002 and confirmed by the Senate.

He now sits on the Federal Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

These are the kind of judges Bush believes are qualified to uphold the rights of Americans.


http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nevada/2004/jun/10/061010210.html


June 10, 2004

Torture memo puts focus on Nevada judge

ASSOCIATED PRESS

CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) - A legal memo advising the White House that torturing al-Qaida captives "may be justified" in the war on terror has focused attention on Jay Bybee, a Nevadan who signed the document as a top Justice Department adviser in 2002.

Bybee, a former professor at the UNLV Boyd School of Law, headed a team that provided legal guidance to the Bush administration on a range of issues, including its course in pursuing terrorists and those with potential knowledge of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

An authority on constitutional and administrative law, Bybee, 50, returned to Las Vegas last year as a judge on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. He was confirmed by the Senate on a 74-19 vote in March 2003.

Bybee did not respond to a request Thursday for comment on a Las Vegas Review-Journal story about his role in producing the memo. A secretary at Bybee's Las Vegas office said the judge was unavailable and would have no comment.

-more

Is this tool in the YOO first layer of writing the original memo, or in the second layer with Alberto GONZALEZ approving and forwarding the policy? Why wouldn't REID exert senatorial privilege and cancel him out?