Attorney General Holder must decide whether or not to appoint a special prosecutor to charge the CIA

[bobthedrummer]

torture policy makers by Monday.

ABSOLUTELY! IT'S ONLY A BEGINNING-BUT WHAT ELSE IS THERE TO DECIDE? NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW.

WHO ELSE FEELS THE FIRE ABOUT THIS TODAY?

[arthritisR_US]

1. me! n/t

[theoldman]

2. Has Holder done anything since he was appointed AG?

Who has he prosecuted?

[bobthedrummer]

3. Get real...

[arthritisR_US]

4. well then, it's high time he started! n/t

[deaniac21]

5. Special prosecutors have really worked out well in the past.

[bobthedrummer]

6. I've learned from them-we all have--and this is about torture...

[bobthedrummer]

7. Oh, I must have offended the first shift "bosses" here or something-kick

[bobthedrummer]

8. So let's kick this and try again-who else is on fire about this???

[slipslidingaway]

9. knr - sadly I have not been following this as closely as in the past...

would you post a brief update or link.

[bobthedrummer]

10. There are many-here's just one

Holder "leaning toward appointing a prosecutor to investigate" Bush admin's torture policies
by Matt Corley (7-12-09 Think Progress)
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/07/12/holder-torture-prosecutor/

[slipslidingaway]

13. Thanks, this is from the linked story...

and I do not understand why the Monday deadline???

http://www.wtop.com/?nid=116&sid=1715890

"...Justice Department spokesman Matt Miller said Holder planned to "follow the facts and the law."

"We have made no decisions on investigations or prosecutions, including whether to appoint a prosecutor to conduct further inquiry," he told the AP on Saturday. "As the attorney general has made clear, it would be unfair to prosecute any official who acted in good faith based on legal guidance from the Justice Department."


...The probe would focus in part on whether CIA personnel tortured terrorism suspects after Sept. 11, 2001. Holder has said those who acted within the government's legal guidance will not be prosecuted, but has left open the possibility of pursuing those who went beyond the guidance and broke the law.

Holder has discussed with his staff the possibility of a prosecutor, saying he needed someone with "gravitas and grit," the magazine reported. In the end, the attorney general asked for a list of 10 candidates, five from within the Justice Department and five from outside.

"I hope that whatever decision I make would not have a negative impact on the president's agenda," Holder told Newsweek. "But that can't be a part of my decision."

[EFerrari]

11. He has a conflict of interest because he used to work for the firm

that rep'ed Bush. He needs to appoint someone who doesn't have that problem.

[bobthedrummer]

14. True-but this is a different DoJ, still politicized but there has to be accountability

and, sure enough, the investigation will lead to many other crimes.

Possibly some "civil unrest" too.

I know you know this probably better than I do-still there has to be the application of the rule of law and accountability of these criminals.

[EFerrari]

17. I'm hoping his connections will make it easier to appoint someone

else to deal with this.

[bobthedrummer]

18. Nadler has been very active about expanding it-and there are many good connections out there.

[eomer]

12. By Monday? Where does the deadline come from?

Isn't this within his authority to do (or not) whenever he wants?

[bobthedrummer]

16. It was set by the terms of reconsideration of what the Bush DoJ declined.

[eomer]

22. Not sure what that means.

Can you be more specific, provide a link? I don't believe you are correct.

I googled a bit and can't find any Monday deadline for appointing a prosecutor. I also don't understand how there could be a deadline for Holder since this is an authority he has and can decide to use (or not use) any day of any week.

I think it has gotten confused with the Monday deadline for the CIA to release the report by its IG on the destruction of tapes:
http://politics.theatlantic.com/2009/07/cia_report_on_interrogations_will_be_released_in_august.php

Some people have speculated that Holder will want to appoint a prosecutor no later than the time that this report comes out, with a deadline currently ordered by the judge of Monday.

[babylonsister]

15. I think he's already decided. The timing might be critical. Tomorrow

would work for me.

[bobthedrummer]

19. So do I, the fact that he asked for 10 possible candidates 5 from DoJ and 5 outside is a pretty

clear indication of a decision to proceed ethically.

[babylonsister]

20. This is the Obama admin. I expect nothing less than ethical, really.

I have to. So does he, I think. And Holder.

Quite a sharp change.

[bobthedrummer]

21. Yep.

[Echo In Light]

23. Rec 11

[Vidar]

24. K&R

[bobthedrummer]

25. Saturday afternoon kick....

[bobthedrummer]

26. "Politicizing the Justice Department, Bush takes a page from his father" by Lucy Komisar

(5-27-07 The Komisar Scoop)

"President Bush's attorney general, Alberto Gonzales, has come under fire for politicizing the U.S. Justice Department for his dismissals of eight U.S. attorneys, apparently because they didn't target Democrats. But using the Justice Department for political ends isn't simply an invention of Gonzales or of the President; it's an old Bush family tradition."

http://thekomisarscoop.com/2007/05/politicizing-the-justice-department-bush-takes-a-page-from-his-father/

A Special Prosecutor must be assigned, and let the findings expand to whatever other crimes and individuals involved regardless of political affiliations.

[spanone]

27. prosecute the lying cheatin' stealing mo fo's

r

[seafan]

28. Now that we've learned that Cheney asked the CIA *not* to disclose to Congress...

..that it had hired Blackwater to run prisoner renditions and targeted assassinations, and that Buzzy Krongard, formerly number three at CIA as the ex-executive director, has been implicated as one of five participants to help Blackwater plan assassination squads... we ought to be seeing some action very soon.

More details here


The nub of all of this, as I see it, is that with Cheney demanding that the CIA keep Blackwater's involvement in rendition and assassination a secret from Congress, and most likely the DOJ as well, the crimes go beyond *legal cover* from Yoo, etc.


Eric Holder would now have a compelling reason to start a special prosecutorial investigation, since it appears that the CIA/Blackwater's contractual involvement in rendition and assassination was being run *off the books.*

Just like Bush ran the entire Iraq invasion budget.


...So no one would know the catastrophic price we would be paying for their horrific deeds until after these criminals waltzed out of office.



If all of this is true, Holder is mandated to flush out these criminals.

[bobthedrummer]

29. Richard Bruce Cheney clearly knew he was committing crimes

Prisoner Abuse: Patterns From The Past (The National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book 122)
"Cold War U.S Interrogation Manuals Counseled 'Coercive Techniques'
Cheney Informed of 'Objectionable' Interrogation Guides in 1992"...
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB122/index.htm

[nc4bo]

30. K&R nt