OPR Report “Clears” Yoo and Bybee

Newsweek ’s Michael Isikoff and Daniel Klaidman are reporting that the soon-to-be-released report from the Department of Justice’s Office of Professional Responsibility will “clear” former OLC attorneys John Yoo and Jay Bybee of professional misconduct. They report: While the probe is sharply critical of the legal reasoning used to justify waterboarding and other “enhanced” interrogation techniques, NEWSWEEK has learned that a senior Justice official who did the final review of the report softened an earlier OPR finding. Previously, the report concluded that two key authors—Jay Bybee, now a federal appellate court judge, and John Yoo, now a law professor—violated their professional obligations as lawyers when they crafted a crucial 2002 memo approving the use of harsh tactics, say two Justice sources who asked for anonymity discussing an internal matter.

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OPR Report “Clears” Yoo and Bybee