Conyers, Nadler Formally Request DOJ Appoint Torture Special Prosecutor

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By Jason Leopold (about the author) Page 2 of 3 page(s)

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Last Thursday, civil liberties groups presented Holder with a petition signed by 250,000 people demanding he appoint a special prosecutor to further probe the policy of torture enacted by the Bush administration.

At a congressional last week, Holder told lawmakers that he would not "permit the criminalization of policy differences. However, it is my responsibility as the attorney general to enforce the law.

"If I see wrongdoing, I will pursue it to the full extent of the law," Holder said.

But Conyers and Nadler said it would be a conflict-of-interest for the Department of Justice investigate former attorneys who created the legal framework for torture.

"For example, the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel and former Attorney General and White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales advised the [Bush] Administration and President to deny detainees the legal protection of the Geneva Conventions, and OLC lawyers wrote extensive legal memos that authorized specific interrogation techniques that likely amounted to torture.

Although "some key individuals are no longer with the Department or Executive Branch, it is impossible to determine at this stage and before conclusion of the necessary investigation whether additional conflicts of interest might exist or arise. When Department lawyers are alleged to have been involved, we believe the Attorney General should turn to a special counsel,"- Nadler and Conyers wrote.

While Conyers, Nadler and other Democrats who support a special counsel will no doubt face resistance from their Republican colleagues there are also many lawmakers in their own party who don't support a wide-ranging investigation of any kind into the Bush administration's use of torture against detainees.

Last week, President Barack Obama backtracked on statements he made earlier this week in which he indicated he was open to a 9/11-type commission to investigate the Bush administration's use of torture, telling lawmakers at a meeting at the White House last Thursday he now doesn't support the idea.

Underscoring Obama's new stance on the issue, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters: "the president determined the concept didn't seem altogether workable in this case."

"The last few days might be evidence of why something like this might just become a political back and forth,"- Gibbs said.

But Conyers and Nadler said the appointment of a special prosecutor would ensure the torture issue is not "mired in politics."-

"Appointment of a special counsel insulates you and the Department from such claims, and instills confidence that the outcome of the investigation could not possibly have been predetermined or otherwise improperly influenced,"- Conyers and Nadler wrote.

Following his meeting with Obama last, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he too no longer supported the idea of an independent panel to investigate torture.

Reid said the Senate Intelligence Committee, which has been "reviewing"- the CIA's "enhanced interrogation"- program to determine whether the techniques were effective in thwarting terrorist plots against the U.S., should continue its work. The intelligence committee's chairman, Dianne Feinstein, said her committee expects to complete its review in six to eight months.'

"I think it would be very unwise, from my perspective, to start having commissions, boards, tribunals, until we find out what the facts are," Reid said. "And I don't know a better way of getting the facts than through the Intelligence Committee."

Over the weekend, Feinstein published an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal and urged lawmakers to "step back, and take a breath"- and allow her committee to continue "reviewing" the effectiveness of the Bush administration's "enhanced interrogation" program.

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Jason Leopold is editor of the online investigative news magazine The Public Record, http://www.pubrecord.org, and the author of the National Bestseller, "News Junkie," a memoir. Visit www.newsjunkiebook.com for a preview. He is also a two-time (more...)

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