rssSurprise, DoJ Torture Report Says Don’t Prosecute the Lawyers
Wednesday, May 06, 2009 at 10:21 am
- 7 Comments
The latest word on the Justice Department’s Office Of Professional Responsibility review of the Office of Legal Counsel lawyers who drafted the so-called “torture memos” is that the report concludes that the the lawyers committed “serious lapses in judgment,” as The New York Times puts it in a front page story today, but they should not be prosecuted. How exactly the authors reached that conclusion remains unclear, given that the 220-page investigation is still in draft form and hasn’t been made public.
On the other hand, it’s not exactly a surprise that the forthcoming report won’t recommend prosecution. As I wrote yesterday, a draft was given to its subjects — the OLC lawyers who wrote the torture memos — for their review and comment. Revisions were then made based on their responses. A copy was also given to the CIA for its review and response, though the report wasn’t about the CIA, but rather the legal justification provided for their tactics. All this extraordinary outside input on an internal ethics investigation has sparked serious concern among some senators, particularly Durbin and Whitehouse, who’ve been pushing for full, open and objective investigations of what happened and why.
Meanwhile, the The Washington Post has reported that since the draft was made available to the OLC lawyers, their lawyers have been lobbying the Justice Department to water down the report’s conclusions and recommendations.
So are we really surprised that the ethics report — when and if it’s ever finally released — will not recommend prosecution of the architects and apologists of the Bush torture and abuse policies?
Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) yesterday put it well when he reminded bloggers in his home state that it wasn’t popular to prosecute the architects and legal justifiers of Nazi policy, either. But his father, a Nuremberg prosecutor, and others insisted that “we’re different. There is a thing called the rule of law.”
So why release all the documents revealing illegal conduct if you’re not going to do anything about it, asks Dodd. “If people in fact did something illegal they ought to be pursued for it.”
Here’s the video:
7 Comments
Pingback posted May 6, 2009 @ 1:23 pm
[...] in Bush Administration, Congress, Government, Law, Obama administration at 10:20 am by LeisureGuy Daphne Eviatar of the Washington Independent: The latest word on the Justice Department’s Office Of Professional Responsibility review of the [...]
Pingback posted May 7, 2009 @ 11:09 am
[...] Also: Cheney On Why He Speaks Out: I’m Doing It For ‘The Little Guys’, Surprise, DoJ Torture Report Says Don’t Prosecute the Lawyers, Interrogating Torture, Crimes That Go Unpunished, The Torture Lobbyists, You have to admit, it’s [...]
Comment posted May 31, 2009 @ 9:33 am
SCARY that Bush, Cheney & Appointee Lawyers
ARE PROTECTED BY Obama & His Appointee Lawyers.
Do our Federal Laws and our Constitution have any meaning
if they can be violated at will by one Administration
and automatically protected from prosecution by the next ( Obama ) ?
Should the individual voters who use medical marijuana stop using it and obey Federal Laws
IF OBAMA Refuses To Enforce the Obvious Violations of Bush and Cheney?
IF Obama, the Constitutional Lawyer advocates a double standard of Justice
Why Should Any Of US VOTE Let Alone OBEY FEDERAL LAWS?
Whats the point of Laws if they aren't enforced
or are enforced only against we little people,
You know, we of the chattering class?
The nattering nabobs of negativity. You and Me!
All we want is for our Democratic Congress,
our Democratic Attorney General
and President Obama
To Do Their Duty
To Enforce Our Laws and
Protect Our Constitution.
The next two elections are fast approaching. The Democratic Politicians are already asking for Money.
After the Democratic House Ignored Impeachment after the 2006 election and
IS Now now Ignoring Prosecution after the 2008 election,
Do the Democratic Politicians really think we are dumb enough to
Pay for their reluctance to enforce Federal Laws
AGAIN?
WHY IS OBAMA PROTECTING BUSH AND CHENEY?
They obviously violated Federal Law.
If you do nothing else for your Country today,
SIGN THE PETITION To Prosecute Them For Torture
AT ANGRYVOTERS dot ORG
.
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