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You attempted to get president bush the flexibility not to be bound by senator mccain's legislation. >> senator, my recollection is that mr. bibey was long gone from the department before i ever showed up. and that by the time i got th e there, the department and the president were willing to work with congress to try and establish a regime that would govern operations at guantanamo. that's my recollection. and my role was a lawyer. and predominantly overseeing litigation filed by others against the government. i had a role as a lawyer, a significant one, but i was not a policymaker, senator. ...

You attempted to give president bush the flexibility -- go >> my was that he was long gone from the department long before i ever showed up. by the time i got there, the department and the president were willing to work with congress to try to establish a regime that would govern operations equine terminal. that's my recollection. my role was a lawyer and predominately overseeing litigation filed by others against the government. i had a role as a lawyer, a significant one, but i was not a policymaker, senator. >> you are involved in a hansen versus rumsfeld?

>> senator, that was a question that the court struggled with in the handy case, as you know. >> and we had a lot of conversations about how to proceed forward when you were in the bush administration, is that correct? >> we did. >> and you were in the camp of the youngstown still camp that if congress is involved, the president is stronger, not weaker, is that right? >> that's right, senator. >> but there are some authorities that the commander in chief has that cannot be taken away by the congress. they're inherent with the job. is that true also? >> there is certainly people who believe tha...

Waterboarding. is that a fair summary of the conflict? >> yes, senator, i believe it is. >> there are people in the bush administration who did not want to go down the road that waterboarding was torture. that was not the deal of senator mccain or myself. at the end of the day, the detainee treatment act codified how we treat enemy combatants with practices we can employ with interrogation standards. it also tried to come up with a system of review. i was in the camp that with past wars, i don't remember any german or japanese fighter who didn't have a captain. traditionally, as of the command...

Do you agree there would be hard to determine when the war is over? >> senator, there was a question of the court struggled with. >> we had a lot of conversation about how to proceed forward when you're in the bush administration, is that correct? >> we did. >> when you are in the camp of the youngstown camp that of congress was involved, the president is a stronger, not weaker. >> that's right. >> there are some authorities at the president's commander-in-chief has that cannot be taken away by the congress. there are inherent to the job. is that you also? >> there are certainly people who bel...