The Political Chase

Mukasey Compares Torture to Holocaust

Judge Michael Mukasey repudiated the opinion (pdf), “Standards of Conduct for Interrogation,” issued in 2002 by Jay Bybee, then head of the Office of Legal Counsel, which broadly gave the Bush administration the right to use torture. The opinion, more commonly referred to as the “Bybee memo” or the “torture memo” was in theory retracted a few years later, but is still “active” for all practical purposes due to subsequent legal maneuvering by the administration.

Mukasey compared U.S. torture to the Holocaust, saying it is “worse than a sin, it’s a mistake,” and deemed it “antithetical” to what American stands for.

Furthermore, Mukasey said he did not believe the Commander in Chief had any inherent constitutional authority that would allow him to “override” any restrictions on torture. That within itself probably caused the heads of Dick Cheney and David Addington to begin spinning like Regan’s in “The Exorcist.”