October 04, 2007
Torture & The Next Attorney General
UPDATED.
The New York Times came out with a blockbuster story this morning on the secret Justice Department approval of severe interrogation tactics -- "an expansive endorsement of the harshest interrogation techniques ever used by the Central Intelligence Agency."
In the beginning of former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' tenure in 2005, the DOJ issued a secret opinion that authorized the use of techniques like subjecting suspects to freezing conditions and simulating drowning. Gonzales approved new tactics over the objections of outgoing Deputy AG James Comey, who, the Times reports, told colleagues they would be "ashamed" when the world learned about the memo.
A second secret DOJ memo later in 2005 declared that none of the interrogation techniques being used by the CIA went against Congress' decree that "cruel, inhuman and degrading" techniques could not be used on detainees.
The opinions, the Times suggests, make up "a hidden legacy of President Bush's second term and Mr. Gonzales's tenure at the Justice Department."
That legacy will likely mean trouble for Michael Mukasey, Bush's pick for Gonzales' successor. Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy announced yesterday that Mukasey's confirmation hearings will soon be set, and he's already sounding impatient.
"I had hoped that the White House would... work with us to fulfill longstanding requests for information so that we could all agree about what went so wrong at the Department of Justice and work together to restore it," Leahy wrote in a letter to Mukasey yesterday. "Instead, they have left you to answer the unanswered questions and left longstanding disputes unresolved."
This morning's Times report could stick a wrench in the proceedings. The House Judiciary Committee fired off a letter to acting AG Peter Keisler requesting the secret opinions be handed over "immediately." Yesterday, it seemed Leahy had changed his mind about using Mukasey's confirmation to pressure the administration, but that may have been before he got word about the interrogation memos.
The White House will probably stick to similar tactics with the new revelations about the DOJ memos, refusing to comment on the matter. White House spokesman Tony Fratto said yesterday that the administration has "gone to great lengths, including statutory efforts and the recent executive order, to make it clear that the intelligence community and our practices fall within U.S. law" and international agreements.
Could the memos themselves become a campaign issue? Maybe so: Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama was quick to point out that, if elected, his administration would be different. In a press release e-mailed before 10 this morning, he called the secret DOJ authorizations "an outrageous betrayal of our core values, and a grave danger to our security.... When I am president America will once again be the country that stands up to these deplorable tactics."
The Times story has more details on the memos and their implications.
Photo of Mukasey courtesy of Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP.
Posted at 11:36 AM
Posted to:
Alberto Gonzales, CIA, Congress, Michael Mukasey, Patrick Leahy, President Bush, Senate
