From TPM = Mukasey Refuses to Say Yoo Fouth Amendment Memo Withdrawn

[OregonBlue]

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/04/mukasey_the_4th_amendment_appl.php

Mukasey Refuses to Say Yoo Fourth Amendment Memo Withdrawn
By Paul Kiel - April 10, 2008, 11:24AM

During a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing this morning, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) questioned Attorney General Michael Mukasey about that October, 2001 Justice Department memo in which John Yoo found that the Fourth Amendment, which protects citizens against "unreasonable searches and seizures," had "no application to domestic military operations."

Has that memo been withdrawn? If not, was it still in force? Feinstein wanted to know.She found it difficult to pry an answer loose. "I can't speak to the October, 2001 memo," Mukasey said when she asked whether it had been withdrawn. He said that Yoo's later March, 2003 memo -- which broadly authorized the use of torture by military interrogators on unlawful combatants -- had been withdrawn, but refused to discuss that October, 2001 memo.

Here's video of the exchange:That memo remains classified, and Mukasey said that working to declassify portions of or entire secret Justice Department legal memos by Yoo and others was a "priority" of his, but he refused to supply a timeline for when he might make those determinations. He was very mindful of Congress' "legitimate oversight role," he said.

"But Mr. Yoo's contention was that the Fourth Amendment did not apply and that the President was free to order domestic military operations," Feinstein replied.
"Without regard to the Fourth Amendment?"
"Yes."
"My understanding is that is not operative."


Note in this article that Mukasey states that there are no ongoing military operations, he was not asked if any domestic military operations were planned. He only stated that the fourth amendment does apply to domestic military operations.

[NightWatcher]

1. Hide your shit the government's coming for it

[bobthedrummer]

2. Posse Comitatus forbids the use of US military in The United States of America-not HOMELAND (tm)

"Yoo's on First?" by Ray McGovern (4-10-2008 Consortium News)
http://www.consortiumnews.com/2008/041008a.html

[OregonBlue]

3. But hasn't Bush issued a signing statement giving himself the right?

[OregonBlue]

4. Bush issued a signing statement that gives him the right.

In 2006, the Cheney/Bush administration used the executive power of the signing statement to suspend the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which paves the way to declare Martial Law. Federal Troops can now be used within the borders of the U. S. The John Warner National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007 contains the signing statement that suspends the Posse Comitatus Act. The signing statement is a little known Presidential power that allows the Chief Executive to alter the content of a bill based on their own interpretation of that law. Past administrations have used this sparingly, the Cheney/Bush Administration has abused the privilege, virtually altering or adding to, nearly every piece of Legislation that they have not vetoed.