CONGRESSMAN

JERROLD NADLER

8th Congressional District of New York

Rep. Nadler to Examine Legal “Basis” for Bush Interrogation Techniques

Lawmakers to Also Consider Subpoenas to Compel Testimony from Key Witnesses

FOR PLANNING PURPOSES: Monday, May 5, 2008
CONTACT:  Shin Inouye, 202-225-5635 (Nadler)
Melanie Roussell, 202-226-5543 (Conyers)
Jonathan Godfrey, 202-226-6888 (Conyers)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Jerrold Nadler (NY-08), chair of the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties of the House Judiciary Committee will hold an oversight hearing on the role that Bush Administration lawyers played in creating abusive interrogation policies that have resulted in the widespread abuse of detainees in U.S. custody and control, on Tuesday, May 6, at 10:00 A.M.   Prior to the hearing, at 9:30 AM, the Subcommittee will consider a resolution to authorize the Committee Chairman to issue subpoenas to compel the testimony of certain witnesses.

Rep. Nadler and Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. had previously invited a number of the alleged key architects of the Administration’s legal and policy framework for interrogations:  John Yoo, former Deputy Assistant Attorney General, David Addington, Chief of Staff to Vice President Richard Cheney, John Ashcroft, former Attorney General, Douglas Feith, former Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, George Tenet, former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, and Daniel Levin, former Assistant Attorney General. 

Prior to the hearing, the subcommittee will consider a resolution to authorize the Committee Chairman to issue subpoenas to Yoo and Addington, both of whom have declined to appear voluntarily.  Ashcroft has agreed to appear at a later date, and Feith and Tenet remain in dialogue with the Committee about their availability.  Tuesday’s hearing will lay the groundwork for subsequent proceedings and investigations, which will include Yoo, Addington, Ashcroft, Feith, Tenet and Levin.

What:   House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties Oversight Hearing, “From the Department of Justice to Guantanamo Bay: Administration Lawyers and Administration Interrogation Rules, Part I”; and Consideration of Resolution to Authorize the Committee Chairman to Issue Subpoenas to David Addington and John C. Yoo

Who:    Philippe Sands, University College London;
Marjorie Cohn, Thomas Jefferson School of Law;
David J. Luban, Georgetown University Law Center;

David B. Rivkin, Partner, Baker Hostetler

When:   Tuesday, May 6, 2008– 10:00 A.M.
(NOTE: The consideration of resolution will occur at 9:30 A.M.)

Where:  Room 2141, Rayburn House Office Building

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Jerrold Nadler has served in Congress since 1992.  He represents New York’s 8th Congressional District, which includes parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn.