The Washington Independent

Posts Tagged holder

Michele Bachmann

Bachmann calls for Eric Holder’s resignation over Wikileaks

“The time has come for Eric Holder to step down as Attorney General of the United States,” Rep. Michele Bachmann wrote Thursday, expressing concern over the release of thousands of American diplomatic cables by Wikileaks earlier this week. “As a member of Congress and a mother of five More…

Obama Administration Says It Doesn’t Need a New Law to Keep Holding Prisoners Indefinitely

By | 09.25.09 | 8:55 am

It’s hard to know whether this is good news or bad, but theoretically, at least, it could have been worse.

The Obama administration said on Wednesday that it will not seek new legislation from Congress authorizing the indefinite detention of about 50 terrorism suspects being held without charges More…

Will Leahy Introduce Legislation for a Truth Commission?

By | 08.24.09 | 5:41 pm

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) issued a strong statement today in response to the release of the CIA inspector general report revealing yet more details of abuses committed by CIA interrogators. Here it is, in part:

The claims of former Vice President Cheney and other Bush administration officials

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CIA Inspector General Report Implicates Justice Department Officials

By | 08.24.09 | 4:20 pm

I know Attorney General Eric Holder just announced that he plans to investigate only the CIA interrogators that went beyond what the law allowed, as it was interpreted by the Justice Department’s torture memos, but what will he do about the fact that the Justice Department itself authorized exceeding those More…

Former FBI and DOD Interrogators Support Holder’s CIA Probe, and Want More

By | 08.24.09 | 3:57 pm

Although there is already criticism of Attorney General Erc Holder’s planned investigation of CIA interrogators, it’s worth noting that former senior FBI and Defense Department interrogators support the criminal probe — and also want a more thorough investigation.

As I noted earlier, the Center for Constitutional Rights and More…

From Gitmo to Bermuda

By | 06.11.09 | 12:34 pm

So I guess the island of Palau isn’t taking all 17 Uighurs after all.  The Justice Department today announced that four of them were actually sent to Bermuda instead.

Less than a month ago these Chinese Muslim prisoners were the subject of intense debate in Congress and More…

Failed Terrorism Charges Reheard in Immigration Court

By | 06.04.09 | 11:11 am

In August 2007, Youssef Megahed, an Egyptian-born 23-year-old engineering student from Tampa, Florida was pulled over by a police officer while driving through South Carolina with a friend to a North Carolina beach for vacation, they said. But the police found low-level explosives in the trunk and arrested the two More…

Eric Holder Vows End to ‘Inappropriate’ Secrecy

By | 02.03.09 | 2:53 pm

The Secrecy News Blog, published by the Federation of American Scientists, notes that Attorney General Eric Holder has made some promising statements on the issue of government secrecy.

In response to questions from Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.), Holder wrote:

I will review significant pending cases in which DOJ

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HOLDER HEARING: Holder Would Have Viewed FALN Pardons Differently in a ‘Post-9/11 World’

By | 01.15.09 | 3:29 pm

Although Eric Holder has been careful not to say he made a mistake in recommending a pardon for the members of FALN, a Puerto Rican paramilitary group regarded by many as a terrorist organization, he’s used some pretty interesting terminology to walk around it.

The Right Divided on Holder

By | 01.15.09 | 6:00 am

The nomination of former Deputy US Attorney General Eric Holder for the top job at the Department of Justice has given some conservative activists, attorneys, reporters and bloggers hope in an otherwise gloomy round of cabinet-level confirmations. Conservatives have seen Holder, now an attorney at More…