Jerrold Nadler: We Must Investigate Torture … and Fix State Secrets

[flyarm]

Jerrold Nadler: We Must Investigate Torture … and Fix State Secrets
By: emptywheel Thursday April 23, 2009 11:38 am

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/

Jane and I had a chat yesterday with Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), the Chair of the House Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties, to talk about his call for a special prosecutor to investigate the torture program. Chairman Nadler was clear: "You don't have much choice under the law--you have to investigate." The law requires, he explained, that such allegations be investigated. And if warranted, suspected crimes associated with torture must be prosecuted.

Nadler repeated, though, an important point. That the Justice Department, not the White House, must make these decisions. But, since the Department is implicated because of Bybee's and Yoo's role in the memos, we should have a Special Prosecutor to conduct the investigation.

As important as are Congressman Nadler's calls for a special prosecutor, I was just as interested in his discusison about his efforts to introduce some checks on the use of state secrets to avoid prosecution. Nadler has introduced a bill that would introduce a process akin to the CIPA process (used during the Scooter Libby trial), where a judge would review evidence both to determine standing in a case, as well as determine whether substitutions for sensitive national security information could be used to litigate the case.

The bill, Nadler explained, is awaiting a committee hearing. But he is trying to get some support from DOJ for the bill before entering into hearings. Nadler recently met with Attorney General Eric Holder on this and a host of other issues (enemy combatant doctrine, the al-Marri case, warrantless wiretapping, the OPR investigation, as well as the torture memos). And, Nadler says, Holder seemed to agree to the principle, at least, of having some kind of CIPA-like process to state secrets.

Ultimately, Nadler contends (absolutely correctly, IMO), that the government should not be able to dismiss a suit by withholding evidence under state secrets.

[genna]

1. What is the current state secret process?

[flyarm]

2. TAKE A LOOK AT THIS FOR A OVERVIEW..

Sibel Edmonds is the most gagged person in US history. The government has repeatedly invoked the State Secrets Privilege in her case - not for reasons of 'national security' but to hide ongoing criminal activity. Please call Waxman and Conyers' offices and demand public open hearings into Edmonds' case and the State Secrets Privilege. Links to their contact pages on the right of the blog.

http://letsibeledmondsspeak.blogspot.com

[ben_jenne]

3. Nadler is correct, there should be no "state secrets"

put it all out on the table. If members of congress were briefed on torture then we need to see the briefing papers and subpoena them and their staff members to get to the bottom of all this. If I was defense counsel for any of Bushcos' cronies I would be wallpapering the government for every piece of paper and meeting minutes that I could dream of. The DOJ should be doing the same to the previous administration.

In a democracy there should be no state secrets!