Senate grows a male gonad cell
Mo
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Subject: [SpinLyme] Senate grows a male gonad cell
Date: Feb 13, 2008 3:16 PM
http://durbin.senate.gov/showRelease.cfm?releaseId=292726
HURRAY!!!! Find out who advised Bushie he could torture.
Besides Alberto Gonzales.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
[Washington, D.C.] -- Today Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Sheldon
Whitehouse (D-RI)
called for the Justice Department's Inspector General and Office of
Professional
Responsibility to investigate the role of Justice Department officials
in authorizing
and overseeing the use of waterboarding by the CIA.
Text of letter appears below:
February 12, 2008
The Honorable Glenn A. Fine
Inspector General
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20530
The Honorable H. Marshall Jarrett
Counsel for Professional Responsibility
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Room 3266
Washington, D.C. 20530
Dear Inspector General Fine and Counsel Jarrett:
We request that you investigate the role of Justice Department
officials in authorizing
and/or overseeing the use of waterboarding by the Central Intelligence
Agency.
Attorney General Michael Mukasey refuses to investigate the
Administration's authorization
and use of waterboarding. CIA Director Michael Hayden has testified
that the CIA
waterboarded three detainees, and Attorney General Mukasey has
testified that, "There
are circumstances where waterboarding is clearly unlawful."
Nonetheless, the Attorney
General refused Senator Durbin's request to investigate because he
does "not believe
such an investigation is necessary, appropriate, or legally
sustainable."
Attorney General Mukasey admitted that, "the CIA sought advice from
the Department
of Justice, and the Department informed the CIA that [waterboarding's]
use would
be lawful under the circumstances and within the limits and the
safeguards of the
program." The Attorney General's justification for refusing to open an
investigation
is that, "no one who relied in good faith on the Department's past
advice should
be subject to criminal investigation for actions taken in reliance on
that advice."
However, this does not address Senator Durbin's request that "a
Justice Department
investigation should explore whether waterboarding was authorized and
whether those
who authorized it violated the law" (our emphasis).
Waterboarding has a sordid history in the annals of torture by
repressive regimes,
from the Spanish Inquisition to the Khmer Rouge. The United States has
always repudiated
waterboarding as a form of torture and prosecuted it as a war crime.
The Judge Advocates
General, the highest-ranking attorneys in each of the four military
services, have
stated unequivocally that waterboarding is illegal and violates Common
Article 3
of the Geneva Conventions.
Yet, despite the virtually unanimous consensus of legal scholars and
the overwhelming
weight of legal precedent that waterboarding is illegal, certain
Justice Department
officials, operating behind a veil of secrecy, concluded that the use
of waterboarding
is lawful. We believe it is appropriate for you to investigate the
conduct of these
Justice Department officials. As you know, a similar investigation is
underway regarding
Justice Department officials who advised the National Security Agency
that its warrantless
surveillance program is lawful.
To restore the faith of our intelligence professionals and the
American people in
the Justice Department's ability to provide accurate and honest legal
advice, we
request that you make your findings public.
We ask that you explore, among other things:
* Did Justice Department officials who advised the CIA that
waterboarding is
lawful perform legal work that meets applicable standards of
professional responsibility
and internal Justice Department policies and standards? For example,
did these officials
consider all relevant legal precedents, including those that appear to
contradict
directly their conclusion that waterboarding is lawful? Did these
officials consult
with government attorneys who are experts in the relevant legal
standards, e.g.
Judge Advocates General who are experts in the Geneva Conventions? Was
it reasonable
to rely on standards found in areas such as health care reimbursement
law in evaluating
interrogation techniques?
* Were Justice Department officials who advised the CIA that
waterboarding is
lawful insulated from outside pressure to reach a particular
conclusion? What role
did White House and/or CIA officials play in deliberations about the
lawfulness
of waterboarding?
We agree with Attorney General Mukasey that our intelligence
professionals should
be able to rely in good faith on the Justice Department's legal
advice. However,
if CIA agents or contractors have been put in jeopardy by misguided
counsel from
the Justice Department, including legal opinions that the
Administration has been
forced to repudiate, and as a result they risk war crimes prosecution
overseas,
this is a serious matter. It also places CIA agents at risk of
receiving similarly
flawed advice in the future. Moreover, the Justice Department's
continued refusal
to repudiate waterboarding does tremendous damage to America's values
and image
in the world and places Americans at risk of being subjected to
waterboarding by
enemy forces. We believe it merits investigation to determine if these
grievous
results were the product of legal theories violating the Department's
professional
standards, or improper influence violating the Department's standards
for independent
legal advice.
We respectfully request that you inform us whether you plan to
initiate a review
as soon as possible, and no later than February 19, 2008. We also
request that you
inform us whether the results of your review will be provided to
Congress and made
public. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Richard J. Durbin
U.S. Senator
Sheldon Whitehouse
U.S. Senator
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