Richard Ben-Veniste Calls out Obama for Spiking the Privacy Board

"The panel itself was notable for the staging of it. The panelists were seated right next to each other, with no table in front. Gonzales sat right next to Romero; Yoo sat right next to Cole. So when Romero corrected Lithwick's assertion that the Bush Administration had showed respect for using civilian trials with terrorists by recalling that Gonzales had argued for holding American citizen Jose Padilla without trial, Gonzales shifted notably, uncomfortably, by my read."

"And when Cole rehearsed the language people like Michael Mukasey and Jack Goldsmith used to describe Yoo's memo all the while pointing with his thumb at Yoo sitting next to him-"solvenly," he emphasized-Yoo also shifted, though aggressively towards Cole. Before it all ended, Romero started reading from Yoo's torture memo; Yoo accused him of using Dickensian dramatic delivery. The physical tension of these men, attempting to contain the contempt they had for each other while sitting in such close proximity, was remarkable."

"There were a number of other highlights: John Yoo made the ridiculous claim that no one in the human rights community had come out against drone strikes (Romero came back later and reminded him the ACLU had sued on precisely that issue, representing Anwar al-Awlaki's family). Gonzales insisted there should be accountability (no matter that he escaped it, both when he politicized DOJ and when he took TS/SCI documents home in his briefcase)."

Bill Bratton, Alberto Gonzales, Anthony Romero, John Yoo, and David Cole sat in very close proximity, producing visible physical tension as disputes unfolded. Romero countered claims about civilian trials by citing Gonzales's support for detaining Jose Padilla without trial. Cole summarized critiques from figures like Michael Mukasey and Jack Goldsmith while pointing at Yoo. Yoo defended his positions, asserted that human-rights groups had not opposed drone strikes, and repeated claims that torture aided intelligence. Romero noted ACLU litigation representing Anwar al-Awlaki's family. Gonzales called for accountability despite controversies over politicizing DOJ and removing sensitive documents.

Read at Emptywheel