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House committee votes to compel Cheney's chief of staff to testify about torture John Byrne / Raw Story | May 6, 2008 By a voice vote, the House Judiciary Committee voted Tuesday morning to compel Vice President Cheney's chief of staff David Addington to testify about his role in approving harsh interrogation tactics at the US Guantanamo Bay prison. The vote empowers House Judiciary Committee chairman John Conyers (D-MI) to subpoena Addington at his discretion. "This subpoena should not be controversial – as an institutional matter, all members should support our effort to learn the facts and to exercise responsible oversight in this area," Conyers said in a written statement Tuesday. (Article continues below)
"Furthermore, the proposed subpoena to Vice President Cheney’s aide David Addington is being considered at the express request of the Counsel to the Vice President," he continued. "In view of the many reports that Mr. Addington played a key role in shaping interrogation policy, and in drafting legal memos on this subject, it is very important that we hear from him. I urge all members to support this authorization, which again the Counsel to the Vice President has stated would be accepted 'as a matter of comity.'" It is the next step in a longstanding feud between Conyers and the Vice President's office over whether Cheney or his aides fall within the purview of Congress' ability to conduct oversight over Administration affairs. RAW STORY printed a letter from Cheney's personal lawyer Apr. 29, in which she alleged that Congress "lacks the constitutional power" to directly review Cheney's job. John Yoo, a former Justice Department lawyer who wrote a now-repudiated memo allowing harsh interrogations of military prisoners, has agreed to testify to the Committee after facing a vote today expected to compel his testimony, according to Committee officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because the panel has not yet made the announcement. Yoo is now a law professor at University of California-Berkeley. He has agreed to testify voluntarily about the Bush administration's interrogation practices after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Former Attorney General John Ashcroft, former Under Secretary of Defense Douglas Feith, and former Assistant Attorney General Dan Levin have also agreed to give testimony at a future hearing. Former CIA Director George Tenet is still in negotiations with the committee. CLICK ON THE BANNER TO BUY TERRORSTORM IN |
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