An aide to Eric Holder rejected a report Wednesday suggesting that the Attorney General nominee had pledged not to prosecute members of the Bush administration officials who were complicit in illegal harsh interrogations or torture.
"Eric Holder has not made any commitments about who would or would not be prosecuted," said the aide. "He explained his position to Senator Bond as he did in the public hearing and in responses to written questions."The statement came hours after the Washington Times quoted Senate Judiciary Committee member Kit Bond saying Holder had privately insisted that he would not conduct such prosecutions. That report caused a stir on the Hill, where Democrats were left wondering whether Holder had privately placated Republican concerns that he would investigate Bush administration officials involved in interrogations.
Publicly, Holder has tried his best to be non-committal on what he would do in regard to torture investigations saying "nobody is above the law," but that he didn't "want to criminalize policy differences that may exist" between administrations. Because he defined waterboarding as torture during his confirmation hearings, it was assumed that he would have a responsibility to investigate the Bush administration admission that they have used waterboarding on a select few detainees. But in a question form offered to Republican Senators on Judiciary he was much more vague (indeed, cold to the idea) when asked if he would prosecute the matter.
more:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/28/aide-holder-has-made-no-d_n_161971.html
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
