The Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday heard testimony from
Steven Bradbury, head of the Justice Department's office of
legal counsel. When questioned by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) on
whether the President's interpretation of the Hamdan case was
right or wrong, Bradbury replied, "The President is always
right."
LEAHY: The president has said very specifically, and
he's said it to our European allies, he's waiting for
the Supreme Court decision to tell him whether or not he was
supposed to close Guantanamo or not. After, he said it upheld his
position on Guantanamo, and in fact it said neither. Where did he
get that impression? The President's not a lawyer, you are,
the Justice Department advised him. Did you give him such a
cockamamie idea or what?
BRADBURY: Well, I try not to give anybody cockamamie
ideas.
LEAHY: Well, where'd he get the idea?
BRADBURY: The Hamdan decision, senator, does implicitly
recognize we're in a war, that the President's war powers
were triggered by the attacks on the country, and that law of war
paradigm applies. That's what the whole case —
LEAHY: I don't think the President was talking about the
nuances of the law of war paradigm, he was saying this was going
to tell him that he could keep Guantanamo open or not, after it
said he could.
BRADBURY: Well, it's not —
LEAHY: Was the President right or was he wrong?
BRABURY: It's under the law of war –
LEAHY: Was the President right or was he wrong?
BRADBURY: The President is always right.