Federal Judge Jay S. Bybee is facing pressure from members of Congress to resign or face possible impeachment for his role in the preparation of one of the interrogation memos released last week.

Bybee, who has been on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit since 2003, signed one of the four memos released last week in his previous capacity of head of the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel.

He also signed another controversial August 2002 memo setting a high bar for what constitutes torture.

"If the White House and Mr. Bybee told the truth at the time of his nomination, he never would have been confirmed," Patrick J. Leahy, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Tuesday, according to CNN . "So actually, the honorable and decent thing for him to do now would be to resign. If he's an honorable and decent man, he will."