Justice Department decides not to bring charges in CIA interrogations of terrorist suspects
Source: Washington Post
WASHINGTON The Justice Department has closed an inquiry into CIA interrogations of terrorist detainees without bringing criminal charges.
Thursdays decision, in the probes of the deaths of two terrorist suspects, marks the end a wide-ranging criminal investigation by federal prosecutor John Durham into interrogation practices during the presidency of George W. Bush.
In the past three years, Durham has looked into the treatment of 101 detainees in U.S. custody since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/federal_government/justice-department-decides-not-to-bring-charges-in-cia-interrogations-of-terrorist-suspects/2012/08/30/0dd02c68-f2da-11e1-b74c-84ed55e0300b_story.html
Attorney General Holder issued a statement:
AUSA John Durham has now completed his investigations, and the Department has decided not to initiate criminal charges in these matters. In reaching this determination, Mr. Durham considered all potentially applicable substantive criminal statutes as well as the statutes of limitations and jurisdictional provisions that govern prosecutions under those statutes. Mr. Durham and his team reviewed a tremendous volume of information pertaining to the detainees. That review included both information and matters that were not examined during the Departments prior reviews. Based on the fully developed factual record concerning the two deaths, the Department has declined prosecution because the admissible evidence would not be sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction beyond a reasonable doubt.
During the course of his preliminary review and subsequent investigations, Mr. Durham examined any possible CIA involvement with the interrogation and detention of 101 detainees who were alleged to have been in United States custody subsequent to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. He determined that a number of the detainees were never in CIA custody. Mr. Durham identified the matters to include within his review by examining various sources including the Office of Professional Responsibilitys report regarding the Office of Legal Counsel memoranda related to enhanced interrogation techniques, the 2004 CIA Inspector Generals report on enhanced interrogations, additional matters investigated by the CIA Office of Inspector General, the February 2007 International Committee of the Red Cross Report on the Treatment of Fourteen High Value Detainees in CIA Custody, and public source information.
Mr. Durham and his team of agents and prosecutors have worked tirelessly to conduct extraordinarily thorough and complete preliminary reviews and investigations. I am grateful to his team and to him for their commitment to ensuring that the preliminary review and the subsequent investigations fully examined a broad universe of allegations from multiple sources. I continue to believe that our Nation will be better for it.
I also appreciate and respect the work of and sacrifices made by the men and women in our intelligence community on behalf of this country. They perform an incredibly important service to our nation, and they often do so under difficult and dangerous circumstances. They deserve our respect and gratitude for the work they do. I asked Mr. Durham to conduct this review based on existing information as well as new information and matters presented to me that I believed warranted a thorough examination of the detainee treatment issue.
I am confident that Mr. Durhams thorough reviews and determination that the filing of criminal charges would not be appropriate have satisfied that need. Our inquiry was limited to a determination of whether prosecutable offenses were committed and was not intended to, and does not resolve, broader questions regarding the propriety of the examined conduct.
http://news.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/08/eric-holders-full-statement-on-closing-investigation-of-cia-detainee-deaths.php
Webster Green
(13,905 posts)tularetom
(23,664 posts)They have decided not to charge somebody with something.
Usually bush-era war criminals, republican voter suppression perps, or Wall Street thieves.
I never read that they're going to charge anybody with anything.
They always seem to find a reason not to do their fucking jobs.
It's actually possible that Obama could lose the election because his worthless justice department wouldn't get off their dead asses and go after the republican governors and others who are responsible for the targeted elimination of potential Democratic voters.
I used to think Rahm Emanuel was the biggest mistake Obama made. I was wrong, it wasn't even close. Eric Holder by a mile.
Ezlivin
(8,153 posts)Oh, yeah. They're able to strike down with great vengeance and furious anger those clinics serving the sick.
tularetom
(23,664 posts)Very disappointing this justice(?) department.
AnotherMcIntosh
(11,064 posts)wordpix
(18,652 posts)(paraphrased). Maybe that's why
alp227
(32,060 posts)US Does Nothing For Justice.
Freddie Stubbs
(29,853 posts)It's actually possible that Obama could lose the election because his worthless justice department wouldn't get off their dead asses and go after the republican governors and others who are responsible for the targeted elimination of potential Democratic voters.
Texas voter-ID law is blocked
A federal court on Thursday blocked a Texas law that would have required voters to show photo identification, ruling that the legislation would impose strict, unforgiving burdens on poor minority voters.
Describing the law as the most stringent in the country, the unanimous decision by a three-judge panel marks the first time that a federal court has blocked a voter-ID law. It will reverberate politically through the November elections. Republicans and Democrats have been arguing over whether tough voter-ID laws in a number of states discriminate against African Americans and Hispanics.
The panel at the U.S. District Court in Washington ruled that Texas had failed to show that the statute would not harm the voting rights of minorities in the state. In addition, the judges found that evidence indicated that the cost of obtaining a photo ID to vote would fall most heavily on African American and Hispanic voters.
Evidence submitted by Texas to prove that its law did not discriminate was unpersuasive, invalid, or both, David S. Tatel, a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, wrote in the panels 56-page opinion. Voting Rights Act cases must be decided by a special panel of three federal judges.
more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/texas-voter-id-law-struck-down/2012/08/30/4a07e270-f2ad-11e1-adc6-87dfa8eff430_story.html
Canuckistanian
(42,290 posts)Friend of the powerful, protector of the criminals.
Vidar
(18,335 posts)rachel1
(538 posts)Just "interrogate" suspects as you please!
FiveGoodMen
(20,018 posts)zipplewrath
(16,646 posts)It isn't even clear what they are talking about here. 101 detainees. CIA. 2 deaths. There were more than 101 detainees. There were more than two deaths. Not only the CIA committed acts of torture. This seems so narrowly focused as to assure they missed anything that might have needed prosecution. And I'd bet ya a few nickles that they NEVER considered conspiracy to commit torture charges on the people that requested permission from the White House in the first place.
stupidicus
(2,570 posts)did he do it personally or something?
The simple fact of the matter appears to be, they won't go after the mob members because they lead to the godfather of it all.
This and the lack of prosecution over the war crime the Iraq War was, has forever darkened our beacon of liberty and justice in the eyes of the world. Just wait until someone gets on their soapbox about human rights in some muslim country again as justification for military action.
And of course, it's also the best evidence for a two-tier criminal justice system to be found in this country as well.
AtomicKitten
(46,585 posts)he bragged about it
coalition_unwilling
(14,180 posts)a crime against humanity.
The hypocrisy and amorality of this country fucking makes me sick sometimes.
It's not torture when "WE" do it???? WTF?????
N.B. One U.S. serviceperson remains a captive of the Afghan resistance. We can't say a fucking thing if the resistance starts torturing him now. NOT ONE FUCKING THING. WE HAVE NO STANDING LEFT.
bemildred
(90,061 posts)Weakest AG I can remember, and I remember Meese.
Solly Mack
(90,787 posts)"The approach taken in the probe was not to prosecute anyone who acted in good faith and within the scope of the legal guidance given by the Justice Departments Office of Legal Counsel regarding the interrogation of detainees." (that so-called "legal guidance" known as the Torture Memos)
Manadel al-Jamadi (aka "the ice man"
http://www.salon.com/2006/03/14/chapter_5/
I'd scream but it wouldn't change anything.
byeya
(2,842 posts)in a little kid way, I remember back to Herbert Brownell(I think).
Anyway, Holder is no Bobby kennedy; he doesn't even match up to Eliot Richardson.
It's sad and disgusting.
bvar22
(39,909 posts)None under this desk,
none behind this chair.
Hahahahahahaha.
All the tortures and murders just happened all by themselves.
No wrong doings on Wall Street either,
and not a single War Criminal or War Profiteer in the Bush White House either!
Where is my Rubber Stamp?
Case Closed!
Time to go keep America safe from the pot smokers.
I have come to despise Eric Holder.
Go Along with the Rich & Powerful
to Get Along with the Rich and Powerful.
History won't be kind to him.
Smilo
(1,944 posts)....... we tell other countries that they should do this and that regarding democracy and then we do whatever the hell we want. Sadly this will just stir up a hornets' nest among those who hate America.
P.S. Where the hell is the justice for Bradley Manning....... oh yeah that's different / snark!
AnotherMcIntosh
(11,064 posts)If the war criminals were any smarter, they would have been governmental-funded banksters.
Response to Freddie Stubbs (Original post)
guyton This message was self-deleted by its author.
Freddie Stubbs
(29,853 posts)cstanleytech
(26,320 posts)our country does have a history of cover ups just like the other nations we pretend to be better than.
blkmusclmachine
(16,149 posts)Keep lookin' forward, you ingrates !!
panzerfaust
(2,818 posts)Headline from the Guardian, Brits have a much better way with words than we do.