Edwards Statement on Justice Department Torture Memos

Chapel Hill, North Carolina – Today, Senator John Edwards made the following statement regarding President Bush's claim that his administration has not tortured terrorism suspects, despite the revelation of secret Justice Department memos authorizing the CIA's harshest interrogation techniques including waterboarding and the use of frigid temperatures:

"George Bush has a long record of trampling on the Constitution and failing to be straight with the American people. Yesterday we learned that -- even after the Justice Department abandoned its defense of torture -- it continued to write memos endorsing the harshest interrogation techniques ever used by the CIA. Today, the president asserted that 'we don't torture.' Pardon me, but I have my doubts that George Bush is finally being straight with us.

"As president, I will work to restore America's moral authority in the world by upholding the rule of law and safeguarding our civil liberties. I reject the Bush Administration's twisted logic justifying torture. I will release the legal opinions justifying it, and end the abuse of classification and legal privilege to hide un-American legal judgments. Saying no to torture will protect our troops and our values by upholding the Geneva Conventions anywhere American security forces, military or civilian, are engaged."