No discipline for the authors of the waterboarding memos, John Yoo and Jay Bybee, though officially they “exercised poor judgement”. That sucks….they should have full vindication, but at least their current ordeal is over and they can continue to make their case to the public.
Here’s the interesting part (in bold):
But Margolis [Attorney General David Margolis, a senior career attorney] concluded that despite significant flaws in the documents, the memo authors did not intentionally violate ethics rules. Instead, he said, they were struggling to prevent another terrorist strike on U.S. soil. Margolis also pointed out that the legal issues were far from a close call: OPR investigators repeatedly shifted their own views and analysis in the course of multiple drafts.
Shifting views eh? hmmmmmm Further down in the story you get this.
Maureen E. Mahoney, an attorney for Bybee, called the Justice Department action a “vindication.”
“No public servant should have to endure the type of relentless, misinformed attacks that have been directed at Judge Bybee,” Mahoney said. “We can only hope that the department’s decision will establish once and for all that dedicated public officials may have honest disagreements on difficult matters of legal judgment without violating ethical standards.”
Miguel Estrada, an attorney for Yoo, said shifting versions of the ethics report by OPR investigators “reflected shockingly substandard legal work and a deep partisan bias.”
Shifting ethics? Almost makes this case sound fuzzy vs black and white.
