Disbarring Bush's lawyers

May 18, 2009
Disbarring Bush's lawyers
by Michael Doyle, a reporter for McClatchy's Washington Bureau

A hard-left leaning coalition of organizations on Monday sought to complicate life for the attorneys who facilitated the Bush administration's War on Terror.

In detailed complaints filed with the bar associations of the District of Columbia and the states of California, Texas, New York and Pennsylvania, the anti-Bush coalition seeks disciplinary action and disbarment of 12 attorneys. The targets include the familiar names -- John Yoo, Jay Bybee, David Addington et. al. -- whose written opinions and administrative decisions provided the legal underpinning for the Bush administration's actions.

The individual organizations that make up the coalition include the likes of Progressive Democrats of America, Consumers for Peace, the Boston Anti-War League and the Campaign for Fresh Air and Clean Politics. The overall tenor of the campaign is captured in the complaint filed against Bybee, now a judge on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, in which the aggrieved parties aver:

"Jay Bybee breached his legal duty and violated the D.C. Rules of Professional Conduct by advocating for immoral and unethical 'extended' or 'enhanced' interrogation techniques (amounting to torture) and other policies that resulted in clear violations of United States and international law."