attorney general

Although the Obama administration’s much-anticipated new policy on the use of the so-called “state secrets” privilege, announced this morning, has drawn some praise, civil liberties lawyers and other critics of the use of the privilege don’t think it solves the problem.

The PBS star attracted crowds to what appeared on the surface as a way to help black borrowers build wealth, but a lawsuit alleges it was actually just the opposite.

In the ongoing debate over who ought (or ought not) be prosecuted for the abuse and torture of detainees in U.S. custody, American Civil Liberties Union national security lawyer Alex Abdo, made an important point yesterday that’s been largely overlooked.
“At the end of investigating is the time when you decide who to prosecute. You don’t [...]

Nothing surprising here. Here’s the statement in full:
The President has said repeatedly that he wants to look forward, not back, and the President agrees with the Attorney General that those who acted in good faith and within the scope of legal guidance should not be prosecuted. Ultimately, determinations about whether someone broke the law [...]

Pressed by Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) on his view of whether the Bush administration’s warrantless wiretapping program was illegal, Attorney General Eric Holder said the program was “inconsistent” with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, but repeatedly refused to say it was “illegal,” or that President Bush broke the law — despite previous statements [...]

Attorney General Eric Holder won lots of praise today for asking a court to dismiss the indictment against convicted former Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) based on allegations of prosecutorial misconduct, including from Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), who said the decision shows that Holder is “committed to the rule of law, regardless of politics.”
But [...]

It’s interesting to note the contrast when someone charges government complicity with torture in the United Kingdom, versus here in the United States.
Ever since Binyam Mohamed — the Ethiopian-born Guantanamo detainee who claims he was tortured as part of the CIA’s “extraordinary rendition” program (and whom I’ve written about previously here) — was returned [...]

The new administration has assumed the awkward position of arguing that the case against John Yoo — whose opinions Obama administration officials have harshly criticized — should be dismissed.

It been nearly sixty days since he was first nominated, but the Senate Judiciary Committee has finally voted 17-2 today to send Eric Holder’s nomination for attorney general to the full Senate for confirmation. A Senate vote is expected this week.
The positive outcome of the vote was expected after the committee’s ranking Republican, Pennsylvania Sen. [...]

Attorney General-nominee Eric Holder’s hard line on interrogation (”waterboarding is torture“) rattled Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and a few minority Senators enough to delay the vote to send Holder’s nomination to the Senate floor.  After all, if waterboarding is torture, and torture is a crime, who’s to say that the Justice Department won’t start prosecuting [...]