Author: Officials against torture memo feared wiretaps, physical danger
David Edwards and Muriel Kane
Published: Monday July 21, 2008
"As they were working on this," Mayer continued, "they became so paranoid that the vice president's office was either trying to push back in some way -- they thought they might be being wiretapped, they thought they might be in physical danger. The fights were that intense. I can't tell you how passionate and hard-fought these fights were inside this government." According to Jane Mayer, author of The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned Into a War on American Ideals,
two top lawyers in the Justice Department who attempted to push back against the authorization of torture by Vice President Cheney's staff became so paranoid that they worried they were being wiretapped and even feared they might be in physical danger.Mayer told the hosts of MSNBC's Morning Joe that Cheney's staff took advantage of 9/11 to enhance presidential power and that -- in the words of Republican lawyer and former 9/11 Commission director Philip Zelikow --
"fear and anxiety were exploited by fools and zealots." Mayer added, however, that there were also opponents of torture and other extreme powers within the administration.
"Almost from the start after 9/11," she stated, "lawyers in the administration have said, 'That's not the American way, we can't do that, it's criminal, it may be a war crime.'" more at:
http://rawstory.com//news/2008/Author_Officials_feared_wiretaps_over_opposing_0721.html
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