Constitutional Law

Mukasey: DOJ Won't Investigate Itself On Waterboarding

In testimony before Congress, Attorney General Michael Mukasey said that the Justice Department cannot investigate whether a crime occurred with the CIA's use of waterboarding in 2002 and 2003 because "the same department that authorized the program would not consider prosecuting somebody who followed that advice," the Washington Post reported. Law Professor Marty Lederman called on the Attorney General to release the Office of Legal Counsel opinion(s) that concluded waterboarding is lawful.

The Washington Post article notes that the "Bush administration's sudden willingness to discuss waterboarding – after five years of official silence about it – follows the launch of a special U.S. attorney's investigation into the CIA's destruction in 2005 of interrogation videotapes that included footage of waterboarding and other harsh techniques." ACS recently hosted a panel discussion on the destruction of the CIA interrogation videotapes.

Some organizations, including Amnesty International USA, are calling for a "full, independent and prompt criminal investigation."

Here is more information on the role of the Department of Justice.

Full post as published by ACS Blog on February 08, 2008 (boomark / email).