Good news out of the Justice Department.
In a just released Newsweek article by Daniel Klaidman, four knowledgeable sources presumably close to the Attorney General have confirmed that prosecutor could be appointed within a matter of weeks to investigate brutal CIA interrogation techniques undertaken under the previous administration.
From the article:
Four knowledgeable sources tell NEWSWEEK that he is now leaning toward appointing a prosecutor to investigate the Bush administration’s brutal interrogation practices, something the president has been reluctant to do. While no final decision has been made, an announcement could come in a matter of weeks, say these sources, who decline to be identified discussing a sensitive law-enforcement matter. Such a decision would roil the country, would likely plunge Washington into a new round of partisan warfare, and could even imperil Obama’s domestic priorities, including health care and energy reform. Holder knows all this, and he has been wrestling with the question for months. “I hope that whatever decision I make would not have a negative impact on the president’s agenda,” he says. “But that can’t be a part of my decision.”
While we’ve certainly had some major issues with Holder over the fumbled release of the DOMA legal brief last month, I’m glad that he seems to be bucking the White House and acting independently on this one. The Bush interrogation techniques were perhaps the most controversial elements of perhaps the most non-independent DoJ in US history. To not investigate these techniques while the evidence is still raw would be a travesty to history.
My hunch (and hope) here is that this move could open the floodgates for more independent prosecutor appointments to investigate the multitude other questionable techniques of the Bush, et al. Klainan definitely seems to focus heavily on Holder’s seemingly wrenching process of deciding to go against the White House’s agenda of “moving forward”.
We’ll just have to wait and see.
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