'Torture Memo' Author Yoo Gets Private Lawyer for Appeal of Detainee Lawsuit



Miguel Estrada will be representing Yoo for the appeal.

Estrada is a Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher partner and former Bush nominee for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit,

The Justice Department said it will still pay for Yoo's defense, "as is normal practice when the potential exists for disagreement between the government and the defendant over complex legal questions."

Why We Endorsed Warrantless Wiretaps John Yoo

Waterboarding joke
Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), at Jan 31st’s black-tie dinner at Washington’s Alfalfa Club, said, ‘We had hoped Vice President Cheney would be here tonight. I hope it’s not his back injury that’s keeping him away. Apparently, he hurt it moving some things out of his office. Personally, I had no idea that waterboards were so heavy.'
Last year, Lieberman, who has voted against banning waterboarding, “reluctantly acknowledged” that he doesn’t believe that waterboarding is torture. “It is not like putting burning coals on people’s bodies. The person is in no real danger. The impact is psychological,” he said.

John C. Yoo Memo on Torture

A memo by John C. Yoo, then of the Justice Department, argued federal laws prohibiting assault, maiming and other crimes did not apply to military interrogators who questioned al-Qaeda captives because the president's ultimate authority as commander in chief overrode such statutes. Although the existence of the memo has long been known, its contents had not been previously disclosed. "Whether conduct is conscience-shocking turns in part on whether it is without any justification," Yoo wrote, explaining, for example, that it would have to be inspired by malice or sadism before it could be prosecuted. here