The Bush Administration’s Anti-Torture Team and Their Anti-Torture Memos

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Last week, Mother Jones reported that Philip Zelikow, the Counselor to the State Department in the Bush administration, suspects that Dick Cheney was behind an order to “collect and destroy” all copies of an anti-torture memo he wrote. Zelikow also told Mother Jones about the existence of other memos arguing against torture. Two of those memos were released at a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing this morning, where Zelikow testified about the existence of a small group of dissidents—himself, state department legal adviser John Bellinger, and Gordon England, the deputy secretary of defense, among others—who tried to get the administration to change its detainee treatment policies in 2005 and 2006. You can read about the memos and Zelikow’s testimony here.

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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