Political Quotes

“I rise today to speak regarding the nomination of James B. Comey, Jr., to serve as Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Mr. Comey has a long record of service to the Department of Justice. Colleagues doubtless are familiar with Mr. Comey's role in the infamous scene at the side of Attorney General Ashcroft's hospital bed over the reauthorization of part of President Bush's warrantless wiretapping program. Mr. Comey, to his great credit, stood firm for the rule of law and for the Department he served. Nonetheless, I believe Mr. Comey's role in the issuance of Justice Department legal opinions on torture deserves close examination by this body. In August 2002, Assistant Attorney General Jay Bybee and John Yoo of the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel used what are now acknowledged to be radical--some would say outlandish--legal arguments to authorize the use of torture. Jack Goldsmith, the subsequent head of the office, withdrew those opinions. His successor, Daniel Levin, issued a new opinion, dated December 30, 2004, that provided a new analysis of the Federal statute outlawing torture. The Office of Legal Counsel, under the leadership of Steven Bradbury, applied that analysis to a series of abusive interrogation techniques, as used individually and in combination. The resulting two opinions--the Individual Techniques Opinion and the Combined Techniques Opinion--were issued on May 10, 2005.…”