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The Rove-Cheney machine is making another run with Haynes, hoping that the white noise of election-year security messaging will help the nomination sail through. They, of course, are also hoping that the audacity of the Haynes nomination impresses their right-wing base. Dutifully, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) is pushing Haynes’ nomination in the Senate again, with the Senate Judiciary Committee holding hearings.
In fact, Haynes appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee for a second time on Wednesday, trying to dance around senators' questions and dealing in blatant obfuscation. Most reports agree that he failed, but not for lack of trying.
This is an insult to the nation—especially after the Supreme Court’s recent ruling against Bush’s excessive power grab on Guantanamo. We have to stop this nomination once again, and those who are pushing it need to feel public rebuke.
If you are familiar with William Haynes, you know he’s the poster boy for the administration’s torture policies. But did you also know that he is a Dick Cheney crony? A recent report in The New Yorker exposes Haynes as central cog in an agenda-driven machine, not only investigating his disturbing view of the law but also raising serious questions about his character.
According to the article, Haynes colluded with his mentor, David Addington, who’s replaced the indicted Scooter Libby as Cheney’s chief of staff, to develop the policies that have since disgraced our country. Haynes relied on a close friend and Justice Department official, John Yoo, of Torture Memo infamy, to defend and justify the policies. Perhaps the most disturbing allegation described in the report is Haynes’ deception of the Navy’s general counsel, who demanded greater oversight of what he thought were illegal operations at Guantanamo, in order to silence his protests.
William Haynes has already done great damage to our country; while he might belong in a courtroom, it shouldn’t be as a judge.
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