John Yoo Wrote the Torture Memos and Never Paid for It. At All.

VR45 - Today on Vapid Response: 25 years after the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, we look back on the Forrest Gump of monstrously bad legal takes: former DOJ lawyer and current UC Berkeley law professor (!) John Yoo. We go back to the primary sources to show how the Office of Legal Counsel explicitly authorized torture, indefinite detention in Guantanamo Bay, and warrantless surveillance of U.S. citizens before giving Secretary of State Marco Rubio a chance to explain why the world should never hold the United States accountable for any of it.

Cases and sources discussed:

• “Time to Think About Torture,” Jonathan Alter, Newsweek (11/4/2001)
• “Is There a Tortuous Road to Justice?” Alan M. Dershowitz, LA Times (11/8/2001)
• Memorandum for John Rizzo, Acting Counsel for the CIA, DOJ Office of Legal Counsel (August 1, 2002)
• Possible Habeas Jurisdiction Over Aliens Held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Patrick Philbin & John Yoo (December 28 2001)
• Constitutionality of Amending Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to Change the "Purpose " Standard for Searches, John Yoo (9/25/2001)
• “Why We’re Dismantling the ICC,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio (July 14, 2026)

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