A BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT
by Meg White

The hearing room in the Rayburn House Office Building Thursday was intermittently filled with frustration, nervous laughter, and shouting.

Former Justice Department Counsel John Yoo and Vice President Dick Cheney's Chief of Staff David Addington testified under oath before the committee about torture and the Bush Administration's interrogation policies.

Yoo, now a University of California professor, is known for the controversial legal opinion he expressed in the so-called Bybee Memo [1], which was issued by the Justice Department in August 2002 to describe limitations to interrogation techniques.

The hearing was marked by obfuscation by the two witnesses, to the point that observers giggled anxiously in the background.

Yoo was less outwardly combative than Addington, but was still successful in avoiding divulging much information to the committee. He angered Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers [2] (D-MI) to the point where the Congressman gave up a line of questioning, saying "I think we understand the games that are being played."

Though he admitted to being known for his influence in spreading the conservative idea of a "unitary executive theory [3]," Addington argued that he didn't know the meaning of "unitary." At another point, Rep. William Delahunt (D-MA) asked him about waterboarding and Addington tried to get around talking about specifics by saying that al-Qaeda might be watching C-SPAN and that he didn't want to give anything away.

"I'm sure they are watching and I'm glad they can finally see you, Mr. Addington, given your penchant for unobtrusiveness," Delahunt replied sardonically.

Addington refused to answer many questions, but was careful not to evoke executive privilege. Questions that touch on privileged information can be later submitted in an executive session, which is tantamount to a closed hearing. Addington found other ways to stonewall lawmakers' questions. At one point, he said he wouldn't answer any legal questions, since Congress has their own lawyers of which to ask such advice.

At the close of the meeting, Subcommittee Chairman Jerrod Nadler [4] (D-NY) asked if the two witnesses would be willing to return to answer additional questions. Yoo committed to cooperate, but Addington was more difficult.

"No, Mr. Chairman, but I'll stay here as long as you want," Addington answered. He told Nadler the committee could "issue a subpoena and we'll go though this again."

After the attendees were dismissed, but before C-SPAN turned off their microphones, audience members could be heard shouting in the background:

"... lawbreakers and criminals, too! ... breaking the law..."

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT

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