Attorney General Eric Holder stands at a unique moment in American History...

[Blackhatjack]

Prosecutors often have more than enough evidence to indicate the guilt of a target before they seek an indictment. They are cognizant that 'knowing' and 'proving' are two different things in a court of law, and when you aim at a high profile figure you cannot afford to miss. So the prosecutor gathers all the available evidence, interviews all the witnesses, and essentially plans the entire trial and outlines possible plea offers BEFORE the indictment is ever sought.

I believe that is where Holder stands today.

This is a train cresting the top of the hill as far as the Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld/Torture Memo Writers are concerned, and soon it will be gaining speed as it heads downhill for them.

Once incriminating information hits the public domain, no matter how it happens, there is no putting that Genie back in the bottle.

We are seeing that happen here now that the torture memos have been released, and the Armed Services Committee report has been released.

Holder knows public opinion is rising in favor of holding the Bush Administration Officials criminally liable for conceiving and directing torture from the confines of Washington, D.C. He also knows that this will rival Watergate as a watershed event in our young nation's history if we actually hold a former president and his Administration's officials responsible for what are clearly 'war crimes.' He will ultimately be linked to his decisions in this regard for generations to come.

I recall that the 'Saturday Night Massacre' occurred while I was visiting Washington D.C. as a teenager, and at that young age it was clear that public opinion shifted against Nixon for good. When Butterfield revealed the White House taping system, there was no doubt that the evidence existed to impeach and remove a President.

I don't believe we have arrived at the 'Saturday Night Massacre' moment for Bush and his cohorts yet, but we are close. There is undoubtedly more than enough evidence to proceed upon. Republicans knew that release of the torture memos and the ensuring prosecution of Bush Officials would be another Watergate redux for them as a Party, and that is why they held up Holder's confirmation as Attorney General in hopes of gaining a promise from him that he would not release the memos and not prosecute Bush Officials in exchange for allowing his nomination to proceed.

When Holder's confirmation moved forward without the promise secured, Repubs knew the game had changed.

It is now a matter of time before individual Repubs on Capitol Hill will play the 'self-preservation card' and begin to go silent, and finally grudgingly assist in efforts to hold lower level officials responsible to minimize damage.

Since Bush and his Administration's Officials are not now holding office, they are much more vulnerable with Obama in the Oval Office. In this case, Holder's trump card will likely be played when he reveals that he has cut a plea arrangement with a high level Bush Official in exchange for their cooperation and testimony against other Bush Officials. For all we know such a deal may have already happened, but is not yet public.

One thing is for sure, the consequences of being prosecuted for 'war crimes' can be severe, so there is some pressure on target defendants to be 'first in to get the best deal' if the whole house is going to eventually come crashing down around them.

I have hopes that Holder will make the right decisions, and the guilty will be punished. But for now we must wait.... and watch as the evidence of wrongdoing continues to leak into the public domain in drips and drabs with each passing day.

However, when the dam finally breaks, there won't be a trip to the White House by Republican members of Congress to tell President Bush that he must resign(as occurred with Nixon). It likely will occur when charges are issued and another 'Butterfield' appears on the scene.

Things surely look to be moving in that direction....

[LakeSamish706]

1. I always love reading your posts Blackhat, always well thought out and...

with serious reasoning. Also like the fact that you have a law background to give us all a reasonable accounting of what to expect.

My hope is to see what you describe in due course and then I hope they turn the guilty over to the World courts to deliver the big blow.
These criminals really thought that they were going to get away with these horrific crimes, and I will be happy when they are brought to justice.

[Blackhatjack]

3. Thanks for the kind words...

One thing I do not believe we will see is the Bush Officials turned over to the World Court for prosecution.

I believe when we get to that point the Obama Administration will act on behalf of our country to hold them responsible. To do otherwise would be the equivalent of refusing to act against those who committed torture, and as Jonathan Turley has stated so often to do otherwise would mean "The Obama Administration would own the torture."

We can't lead the world in opposing torture if we leave it to the World Court to do what we should be doing.

I do believe the public is paying attention, and the Bush Officials now have something serious to worry about.

[Blackhatjack]

2. Keep in mind that Holder will now have access to Abu Ghraib classified information...

.... which a number of Senators viewed and were absolutely stunned by the depravity contained therein. I seem to recall allegations that it included rape and murder.

It now appears that the torture techniques there were not disconnected from that implemented at Gitmo, Bagram Air Force Base, and other black site prisons.

Having hung responsibility on the lower level 'scapegoats' for Abu Ghraib torture, there likely are many willing to talk and much evidence to be reviewed which has not yet hit the public domain.

[Stephanie]

5. I'd like to know about the contractors who were apparently the middlemen in implementing the policy

The General on KO mentioned this tonight. If the admin hired contractors to direct the soldiers in their sordid "techniques", what are the implications of that? Can we prosecute Kellog Brown & Root?

[Blackhatjack]

6. You certainly don't have to be a government official to engage in 'war crimes'....

... and there are criminal statutes that apply to civilians acting as contractors with the the United States Military.

This was a new revelation to me as well. These people certainly have some potential liability, and they probably are on Eric Holder's list to be interviewed.

[Blackhatjack]

7. Here's a link to an AP story including discussion of their role ... LINK

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/22/condoleezza-rice-cheney-a_n_190340.html

[Blackhatjack]

4. Another important event was Maddow's interview of Colin Powell last week...

Colin Powell was evasive on ultimate issues regarding what was decided at meeting with top Bush Officials where torture policies and procedures were discussed. He said there was 'discussion' but while he was present there were no 'decisions.'

However, .... he mentioned THERE WERE WRITTEN RECORDS of these meetings and what was discussed.

This is quite possibly a 'smoking gun' that Powell might be hoping would protect him from complicity in any decisions made regarding implementation of 'enhanced interrogation techniques' which equated to torture.

[Stephanie]

8. PDF of the Opinions Timeline up at TPM>

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/04/senate_releases_declassified_narrative_of_olc_tort.php

Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) of the Senate Intelligence committee has just released a declassified narrative (pdf) of the OLC's development of its opinions on torture.

Last year, I sought declassification of the August 1, 2002 OLC opinion, along with a short contextual narrative to accompany it. While declassification of that opinion was resisted, we engaged instead in a joint effort with Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey to declassify a broader narrative surrounding all of the OLC's opinions on these matters.

The objective was to produce a text that describes the key elements of the opinions and sets forth facts that provide a context for those opinions, within the boundaries of what the DOJ and the Intelligence Community would recommend in 2008 for declassification.

By late 2008, the DOJ, the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) all had approved the public release of this narrative, but the Bush Administration National Security Council (NSC) held it and would not agree to its declassification.

I renewed the declassification effort as soon as Attorney General Eric Holder took office in early February 2009, and I am pleased to have received the support again of the DOJ, DNI and CIA, and now also of the NSC, for its release as a contextual description of the OLC memos.

[kentuck]

9. Good post!

Holder is in a position to be judged by history.

[Blackhatjack]

10. And now it appears Condi Rice was not completely truthful in her testimony before Congress... LINK

... which could put her in the crosshairs for more intense examination.

She provided testimony in writing that she was present when enhanced interrogation techniques were discussed but does not recall being present where any decisions were made.

Now it comes out that SHE SIGNED OFF on the enhanced interrogation techniques, and communicated that decision to those who would implement it.

AG Holder might want to arrange a meeting with her ASAP.
**************************

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/22/condoleezza-rice-cheney-a_n_190340.html

The Associated Press reports that the highest Bush administration officials signed off on waterboarding:

WASHINGTON (AP) - Then-national security adviser Condoleezza Rice verbally OK'd the CIA's request to subject alleged al-Qaida terrorist Abu Zubaydah to waterboarding in July 2002, a decision memorialized a few days later in a secret memo that the Obama administration declassified last week.

Rice's role was detailed in a narrative released Wednesday by the Senate Intelligence Committee. It provides the most detailed timeline yet for how the CIA's harsh interrogation program was conceived and approved at the highest levels in the Bush White House.

The new timeline shows that Rice played a greater role than she admitted last fall in written testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee.