Connect with us

GO BACK TO LAW SCHOOL

Lawyer Who Wrote Grotesque Pro-Torture Memos Mocked for Claim Framers Wouldn’t Want Trump Impeached Before Election

Published

on

“The founders thought bribery was a-ok so long as a president does it in their first term” one person tweeted.

John Yoo, a former Dept.of Justice lawyer who wrote the now-infamous flawed memos President George W. Bush used to support the use of torture, including waterboarding – which is a war crime – is out with another flawed “legal” theory. Yoo says President Donald Trump should not be impeached before an election, claiming the founding fathers would have opposed such action.

“I’m glad they’re reading the Constitution and citing the Framers for once but they’ve got it exactly backwards,” Yoo, getting it exactly backwards, told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham Wednesday night.

“What the Framers thought was the American people would judge a president at the time of an election, they would have never wanted an impeachment within a year of an election, it’s up to the American people.”

Yoo offered nothing to support his claim, and in fact, as some on Twitter suggested, tell that to Andrew Johnson, the 17th president of the United States.

On February 24, 1868, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly impeached President Johnson, by a vote of 128 – 47. He was not removed by the Senate, and served until the end of his term in 1869, less than a year after the end of his three month Senate trial.

This Princeton scientist sums up the facts perfectly:

Sadly, Yoo is currently a Professor of Law at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law.

Others respond:

Related Topics:
Continue Reading
Click to comment
 
 

Enjoy this piece?

… then let us make a small request. The New Civil Rights Movement depends on readers like you to meet our ongoing expenses and continue producing quality progressive journalism. Three Silicon Valley giants consume 70 percent of all online advertising dollars, so we need your help to continue doing what we do.

NCRM is independent. You won’t find mainstream media bias here. From unflinching coverage of religious extremism, to spotlighting efforts to roll back our rights, NCRM continues to speak truth to power. America needs independent voices like NCRM to be sure no one is forgotten.

Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Help ensure NCRM remains independent long into the future. Support progressive journalism with a one-time contribution to NCRM, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you. Click here to donate by check.

Trending

Copyright © 2020 AlterNet Media.