Via Think Progress:
Jay Bybee may not be responding to Pat Leahy’s invitation that he testify before the Senate Judiciary committee. But that doesn’t mean he isn’t trying to get out his side of the story behind the scenes.
The federal appeals court judge — who’s now facing widespread calls for his impeachment, thanks to his authorship, as a DOJ lawyer in 2002, of one of the torture memos released last month — has been quietly reaching out to members of the Nevada congressional delegation.
Reports the Las Vegas Sun:
The judge, who lives in Southern Nevada and has his office in Las Vegas, reached out to Democratic Rep. Dina Titus, who represents Bybee in Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District.
And:
Democratic Rep. Shelley Berkley’s office was also contacted by Bybee’s representative in April. Berkley’s spokesman said the two have not met, and he was unsure whether they would.
Both Titus and a spokesman for Berkley told the paper that the lawmakers believe the memos approved torture. It’s unclear whether Bybee has been in touch with other members of the delegation.
There have been conflicting accounts of Bybee’s current attitude toward his work at OLC. Bybee associates told the Washington Post last month that the judge “was not pleased” with his opinion in the memo he wrote, but Bybee later told the New York Times that he “believed at the time, and continues to believe today, that the conclusions were legally correct.”
