‘Torture memos’ professor joins DOJ probe into alleged conspiracy against Trump
A conservative law professor known for his expansive views of presidential power and for decades-old memos that justified harsh interrogation techniques after the September 11 terror attacks says he will be advising a team of prosecutors investigating whether former police and intelligence officials conspired against US President Donald Trump.
John Yoo confirmed in an email to Associated Press on Monday that he would be helping Joe diGenova, the former Justice Department prosecutor who was assigned in April to investigate whether officials, who over the last decade scrutinised Trump, took part in a criminal conspiracy against the Republican president.
“He’s a lawyer. He’s going to be helping us,” diGenova said in a brief telephone interview about Yoo. He did not elaborate.
A law professor at the University of California, Berkeley, Yoo was a senior Justice Department official in the George W Bush administration who served as a lead author of the so-called torture memos that government officials used to justify using “enhanced interrogation” techniques on potential terror suspects. The Justice Department later rescinded the memos.
In the years since, he has remained a prominent proponent of broad executive authority, telling Associated Press in a 2020 interview that he had told Trump administration officials multiple times that a Supreme Court ruling which rejected Trump’s effort to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals programme, or DACA, opened the door to enormous new presidential power.
The conspiracy investigation is being conducted in Florida but the scope is unclear, as is whether any criminal charges will be brought.