I heard this on NPR's Morning Edition while driving to work this morning, and was surprised that it hadn't been diaried today. But I thought you ought to know:
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has called upon Jay Bybee to resign his seat on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Bybee is today best known as the author of two of the infamous "torture memos" that provided legal cover to the Bush Administration to torture prisoners in US custody.
The NPR link is here.
Transcript, as reported by David Welna (emphasis added):
David Welna:
Any prosecutions that might arise from the torture memos would likely end up in the courts. But Congress does have the power to sanction Jay Bybee, who signed two of the memos. That’s because Bybee has a lifetime appointment as a judge on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. He was confirmed for that post six years ago by the US Senate, without disclosing that he’d signed those memos while heading the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel. There are growing calls by Congressional Democrats to impeach Bybee and remove him from the Federal bench. But Judiciary Committee Chairman Leahy says it would not necessarily have to come to that.
Patrick Leahy:
If the White House and Mr. Bybee had told the truth at the time of his nomination, he never would have been confirmed. So actually, the honorable and decent thing for him to do now would be to resign. If he’s an honorable and decent man, he will.
David Welna:
In Bybee’s defense, his Republican allies point out that because the torture memos were classified, he could hardly have disclosed them to Congress.
Leahy seems to be offering Bybee an easy way out to avoid the embarrassing (and career ending) possibility of impeachment. If Bybee doesn't take the hint (and, remember, he's a Bush appointee) -- any bets on when the impeachment hearings will begin?