Holder Names Prosecutor to Examine Abuse Cases (John Durham)

[Uzybone]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/25/us/politics/25detain.html?_r=1&hp


WASHINGTON — Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. has named a veteran federal prosecutor to examine nearly a dozen prisoner abuse cases in which detainees were held by the Central Intelligence Agency, government officials said on Monday.

Mr. Holder has selected John Durham, a longtime federal prosecutor from Connecticut, to carry out what could lead to prosecutions of the C.I.A. employees in the most politically explosive inquiry since Mr. Holder took over the Justice Department.

The Justice Department’s ethics office recently recommended that prosecutors investigate the prisoner abuse cases, reversing the Bush administration and potentially exposing C.I.A. workers and contractors to prosecution for their brutal treatment of detainees, according to a person officially briefed on the matter.

Mr. Durham is already steeped in legal issues related to the intelligence agency. He is currently investigating whether anyone broke the law when C.I.A. officials in 2005 destroyed videotapes of interrogation of top terror suspects.

ETA: does anyone know anything about Mr Durham?

[opihimoimoi]

1. Holy Moley Bat Shit...could this be the incipient start??? Les Hope so...looks Promising

[Uzybone]

2. John Durhams wiki

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Durham


In December 2000, Durham revealed secret FBI documents that convinced a judge to vacate the 1968 murder convictions of Enrico Tameleo, Joseph Salvati, Peter J. Limone and Louis Greco because they had been framed by the agency. In 2007, the documents helped Salvati, Limone, and the families of the two other men - who died in prison - win a US$101.7 million civil judgment against the government.<4>

Durham's task force also gathered evidence against retired FBI agent H. Paul Rico who was indicted in Oklahoma on state charges that he helped Bulger and Flemmi kill a Tulsa businessman in 1981. Rico died in 2004 before the case went to trial.<4>
Durham also led a series of high-profile prosecutions in Connecticut against the New England Mafia and corrupt politicians, including former governor John G. Rowland.<4>
In 2008, John Durham was appointed by then-Attorney General Michael Mukasey to investigate the destruction of CIA videotapes of detainee interrogations.<5>
In 2009, Attorney General Eric Holder appointed Durham to lead the Justice Department's investigation of the legality of CIA interrogation techniques.<6>