President Barack Obama authorizes the Department of Justice to release four previously classified memos from the Office of Legal Counsel written between 2002 and 2005 that authorized CIA torture techniques including waterboarding, stress positions, sleep deprivation, and confinement in coffin-sized …
Barack ObamaEric HolderCIAJohn YooJay Bybee+2 moretortureciaobamaimpunitywar-crimes+2 more
The American Bar Association Task Force condemned President Bush’s unprecedented use of signing statements to nullify congressional oversight, issuing more than 800 constitutional challenges by 2006 versus fewer than 600 by all previous presidents combined. Bush produced 150 signing statements …
George W. BushAmerican Bar AssociationDick CheneyDavid AddingtonJohn Yoosigning-statementsexecutive-powerconstitutional-crisisunitary-executiveaba
The Justice Department’s torture authorization memo represents the institutional culmination of WHIG’s constitutional crisis precedent establishment, demonstrating how systematic executive deception creates legal frameworks enabling executive immunity from constitutional constraints and …
John YooJay BybeeAlberto GonzalesWhite House Iraq GroupDepartment of Justice+5 morewhigconstitutional-crisis-precedentsexecutive-immunity-precedenttorture-authorizationrule-of-law-suspension+4 more
The Federalist Society, flagship legal institution of Powell Memorandum judicial capture strategy, establishes systematic coordination with WHIG operations to provide legal justification infrastructure for crisis-accelerated implementation of executive power expansion objectives. This coordination …
Federalist SocietyJohn YooJay BybeeSteven CalabresiWhite House Iraq Group+5 morepowell-memorandum-accelerationfederalist-society-coordinationwhig-legal-justificationcrisis-judicial-captureconstitutional-reinterpretation-acceleration+4 more
Vice President Dick Cheney systematically orchestrated the creation and authorization of the CIA’s ’enhanced interrogation’ torture program through National Security Council Principals Committee meetings and legal manipulation. Working closely with legal counsel David Addington and …
Dick CheneyGeorge W. BushDavid AddingtonJohn YooCIA+3 moretorturewar-crimesciaenhanced-interrogationblack-sites+5 more
President George W. Bush authorized the NSA’s Stellar Wind warrantless domestic surveillance program, completely bypassing FISA court oversight in a fundamental alteration of constitutional checks and balances. The program allowed the NSA to collect phone metadata and internet communications …
George W. BushMichael HaydenNSADick CheneyDavid Addington+3 moresurveillancensastellar-windfisa-bypassconstitutional-crisis+3 more