I've been searching for verification of this since 2004 or so

This is not quite it, but what I remember is the writer's disgust at the sadistic delight of the Bush cabinet obscenely exposed while talking about exactly what kind of torture they'd like to do on the Iraqis. Glad to see others picked up on it too.

Via Digby of Hullabaloo:

Update: Reader David F. reminds me of this anecdote from The Nelson Report, back in May 2004, via Josh Marshall:

We can contribute a second hand anecdote to newspaper stories on rising concern, last year, from Secretary of State Powell and Deputy Secretary Armitage about Administration attitudes and the risks they might entail: according to eye witnesses to debate at the highest levels of the Administration...the highest levels...whenever Powell or Armitage sought to question prisoner treatment issues, they were forced to endure what our source characterizes as "around the table, coarse, vulgar, frat-boy bully remarks about what these tough guys would do if THEY ever got their hands on prisoners...."

-- let's be clear: our source is not alleging "orders" from the White House. Our source is pointing out that, as we said in the Summary, a fish rots from its head. The atmosphere created by Rumsfeld's controversial decisions was apparently aided and abetted by his colleagues in their callous disregard for the implications of the then-developing situation, and by their ridicule of the only combat veterans at the top of this Administration.

I'll keep on looking for the writer (Richard Clarke? Ron Suskind?). He described a scene very much the same as above, where they indulged in a drooling discussion over which torture techniques they'd like to employ.

I still say these people have watched the torture tapes for fun.