Sunday, May 27th, 2012

Holder Inching Closer to Torture Probe

By
Sunday, August 09, 2009 at 5:14 pm

Attorney General Eric Holder is reportedly getting closer to appointing an independent prosecutor to investigate torture under the Bush administration. That’s making some CIA employees nervous.

Greg Miller and Josh Meyer of The Los Angeles Times on Sunday confirmed earlier reports that Holder has reluctantly come around to thinking that he can’t avoid the fact that torture occurred at the hands of U.S. officials, and that U.S. and international law requires an investigation. Holder is reportedly only considering cases where CIA interrogators went beyond the rules established by the Bush administration’s lawyers, rather than investigating the legality of those rules themselves. But as I’ve written before, it’s not clear where such an inquiry would logically end. Investigating CIA functionaries low on the totem pole — which would involve re-opening cases previously dismissed by the Bush administration — would ultimately require looking into the orders they received from their superiors.

Previous proposals to create commissions to undertake broader inquiries — from Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) — have so far failed to win majority support in Congress.

According to The LA Times, CIA officials are already nervous about Holder’s impending probe, with some even putting off their retirement or plans to leave the agency so they can maintain access to classified information they might need for their defense, or argue that as government officials they’re immune from suit.

“Once you’re out, it gets a lot harder,” a retired CIA official told The Times.

–

You can follow TWI on Twitter and Facebook.

Categories & Tags: Congress| National Security| Obama| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

Comments

17 Comments

News Central » “Holder investigating CIA interrogations” and related posts
Pingback posted August 9, 2009 @ 6:15 pm

[...] Holder Inching Closer to Torture Probe - The Washington Independent [...]

The Show Trials Begin: Holder’s Justice Dept. Go after the C.I.A. | Political Byline
Pingback posted August 9, 2009 @ 6:26 pm

[...] ATTACKERMAN, Pam’s House Blend, The Washington Independent, Matthew Yglesias, Zandar Versus The Stupid, JustOneMinute, The Volokh Conspiracy, The Political [...]

The Washington Independent » Holder Inching Closer to Torture Probe | kozmom news
Pingback posted August 9, 2009 @ 6:44 pm

[...] Read more: The Washington Independent » Holder Inching Closer to Torture Probe [...]

StealthCereal | “LA Times: DOJ Will Investigate CIA Abuses” and related posts
Pingback posted August 9, 2009 @ 6:53 pm

[...] Holder Inching Closer to Torture Probe - The Washington Independent [...]

“Holder Inching Closer to Torture Probe” and related posts - BeWell Buddy
Pingback posted August 9, 2009 @ 10:05 pm

[...] "Holder Inching Closer to Torture Probe" and related posts Read The Full Article…"Holder Inching Closer to Torture Probe" and related posts [...]

iviewit
Comment posted August 10, 2009 @ 11:03 am

Eric Holder's Conflict of Interest
by Dana Jill Simpson Page 1 of 1 page(s)
http://www.opednews.com
For months, we have been trying to get to the bottom of why Eric Holder would not really investigate the cases of Mr. Siegelman and Mr. Scrushy, Mr. Minor, the two other judges in Mississippi and Charles Walker. Well, I finally have the answer . I got it from writing my Greg Craig article that was located on the Jason Leopold website Public record.

I got a tip and I researched it. And boy, was I shocked at what I learned. Seems Mr. Holder, before being selected Attorney General of the United States of America, worked for a firm called Covington and Burling. The tip I got was that the firm had a very important client whose name was George W. Bush and they represented a very important organization I am sure ya'll all have heard of – the Republican National Committee. I was in shock when I checked it and it was true. My favorite research item I ran across is when they were protecting the RNC from having to turn over Karl Rove's emails that were run on the RNC Servers. It shocked me. Plus I found it mighty interesting that AG Eric Holder never enlightened anyone about his conflict of coming from a big Washington DC law firm that represented the Republican National Committee and George W. Bush in the 2000 election contest.

But then, it all made sense to me. He would have had to appoint a special A.G. to be over the Stevens case, over the Tobin case, and over the Kott case, and over the Abramoff/Feeney case. But if he just kept his mouth shut maybe just maybe no one would catch him dismissing all those cases. Which no one did until the tip came in. It has long been reported that the expenses in those cases were picked up by the RNC. That same RNC that paid A.G. Holder's law firm, that same law firm then paid A.G. Holder over two million dollars last year. Shame on A.G. Holder! He had an ethical duty to tell the citizens of America he had a conflict in investigating all these cases and all the torture cases. Instead, he tried to ignore it or hide it instead of doing the right thing and getting out of the cases.

Additionally, he has ignored to date all the Democrats in this country who are complaining and have proof that they were politically targeted by the RNC and Karl Rove. He has not done the right thing – ask President Obama to appoint a special counsel, all along knowing he has a conflict because of his firm's representation of the RNC. Since Holder has done all this, he should be immediately removed from this position of power. Innocent men are in jail and he has played games.

The United States citizens should have the right to know when their A.G. has a conflict of interest; the A.G. has a professional duty to tell them and take appropriate action. Mr Holder failed to do the right thing as A.G. He should be removed. If you doubt me, google Eric Holder and Covington and Burling. Then google Covington and Burling and George W. Bush, and also google them and Karl Rove and RNC emails. Shame on you, Holder! You are caught!

Simpson is a country lawyer who resides in Rainsville, Alabama. She has appeared on 60 Minutes and Dan Abrams MSNBC. Stories were written in Time Magazine, Harpers Magazine, and the New York Times about her being a witness in the Don Siegelman case (more…)

ACLU Launches Campaign to Push Holder to Investigate Bush Torture Regime | Bloggers For Change
Pingback posted August 10, 2009 @ 4:33 pm

[...] latest news is that Holder is getting closer to a torture probe, [...]

ACLU Launches Campaign to Push Holder to Investigate Bush Torture Regime | Design Website
Pingback posted August 10, 2009 @ 4:45 pm

[...] latest news is that Holder is getting closer to a torture probe, but reportedly only considering cases where CIA interrogators went beyond the rules established by [...]

strangely_enough
Comment posted August 10, 2009 @ 3:52 pm

“No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture.”

That, by way of treaty, is the law. You'd think someone who could get to the position Holder's in would know that. But, apparently he aspires to the level of the two previous AG's.

ACLU Launches Campaign to Push Holder to Investigate Bush Torture Regime | Design Website Blog
Pingback posted August 10, 2009 @ 6:06 pm

[...] Torture Regime Aug.10, 2009 in FeedNews The latest news is that Holder is getting closer to a torture probe, but reportedly only considering cases where CIA interrogators went beyond the rules established by [...]

johnhkennedy
Comment posted August 11, 2009 @ 8:20 pm

“Holder has reluctantly come around to thinking that he can’t avoid the fact that torture occurred at the hands of U.S. officials, and that U.S. and international law requires an investigation.”

Let the cries grow for investigations and prosecution.
Don't let up.

SIGN THE PETITIONS
Demanding
both a Commission of Inquiry
and a Special Prosecutor
For All Their Crimes
at ANGRYVOTERS.ORG

http://ANGRYVOTERS.ORG

Daphne Eviatar « Antiwar Radio with Scott Horton and Charles Goyette
Pingback posted August 12, 2009 @ 12:08 pm

[...] and freelance journalist Daphne Eviatar discusses Guantanamo detainee Mohamed Jawad’s legal limbo, the DOJ/U.S. military payment to [...]

Scott Horton Interviews Daphne Eviatar | MediaAlternatives
Pingback posted August 15, 2009 @ 5:55 pm

[...] and freelance journalist Daphne Eviatar discusses Guantanamo detainee Mohamed Jawad’s legal limbo, the DOJ/U.S. military payment to [...]

chenlifeng0810
Comment posted August 19, 2009 @ 1:47 pm

Only One word to characterize such a great post “WOW” that was a very interesting read
a href=”http://www.victoriaclassic.com”>Links of London Jewellery

Everything dynamic and very positively!
a href=”http://www.victoriaclassic.com”>Links of London Jewellery

I think I will try to recommend this post to my friends and family, cuz it’s really helpful.
a href=”http://www.victoriaclassic.com”>Links of London Jewellery

Just wanted to say great job with the blog, today is my first visit here and I’ve enjoyed reading your posts so far
a href=”http://www.victoriaclassic.com”>Links of London Jewellery

Thanks for article. Everytime like to read you.
a href=”http://www.victoriaclassic.com”>Links of London Jewellery

We Are Change Colorado Springs » Blog Archive » Anti-torture advocates worry Holder won’t go high enough up the chain
Pingback posted August 23, 2009 @ 10:54 am

[...] early as Monday, Attorney General Eric Holder is expected to announce theappointment of a special prosecutor to investigate acts of torture performed by the CIA as part of the Bush administration’s so-called “enhanced interrogation” [...]

Progressive Nation » Blog Archive » Holder Inching Closer to Torture Probe
Pingback posted October 5, 2009 @ 7:55 am

[...] Arti­cle: Holder Inch­ing Closer to Tor­ture Probe — Wash­ing­ton Independent Related Posts:CIA Dia­per­ing, as Observed by the Red CrossGOP Memo on Tor­ture: It’s [...]

RSS feed for comments on this post.

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.