ACLU: Sen. Feinstein Accuses CIA of Attempting to Undermine Torture Investigation

[ProSense]

Sen. Feinstein Accuses CIA of Attempting to Undermine Torture Investigation

WASHINGTON – Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today accused the Central Intelligence Agency of attempting to undermine the committee’s investigation of the CIA’s torture program. According to Feinstein, the CIA not only tortured and abused persons in its custody, but then destroyed and hid documents, spied on Congress by monitoring computers used by Senate investigators, and then falsely accused Senate staff of wrongdoing. Senator Feinstein argued that the CIA may have violated the Fourth Amendment, a criminal statute, and an executive order that prohibits the CIA from domestic spying.

"Senator Feinstein gave a forceful, necessary, and historic defense of the constitutional principle of separation of powers," said Christopher Anders, senior legislative counsel with the American Civil Liberties Union. "After so many years of Congress being unable or unwilling to assert its authority over the CIA, Senator Feinstein today began to reclaim the authority of Congress as a check on the Executive Branch. Public release of the Senate torture report will be the next step to reining in a CIA that has tortured, destroyed evidence, spied on Congress, and lied to the American people."

In December 2012, the committee adopted a 6,000-page report on the CIA’s Bush-era rendition, secret detention, and torture program. The report concluded that abusive methods were ineffective, and the CIA wrote an extensive response, countering many of the Senate report’s conclusions. There is also a secret CIA report commissioned by former CIA Director Leon Panetta, which is reportedly consistent with the Senate report findings and contradicts the CIA’s response to the Senate report. All three reports are classified.

https://www.aclu.org/national-security/sen-feinstein-accuses-cia-attempting-block-torture-investigation

[OnyxCollie]

1. The Obama administration spies on the Senate and undermines torture investigations.

You approve of this, right ProSense?

Or are you going to claim that DiFi and the ACLU are liars?

[Kolesar]

2. You obsessive, right, Onyxcollie? eom

[ProSense]

3. I know

"The Obama administration spies on the Senate and undermines torture investigations. You approve of this, right ProSense? Or are you going to claim that DiFi and the ACLU are liars?"

...you don't care what I think, but someone already beat you to it: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024647295

LOL!

[OnyxCollie]

4. The Obama administration had set a precedent when it came to blocking torture investigations.

Obama called on the former general chairman of the RNC to stop Spain's investigation of US torture crimes.

WikiLeaks: How U.S. tried to stop Spain's torture probe
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/12/25/105786/wikileaks-how-us-tried-to-stop.html

MIAMI — It was three months into Barack Obama's presidency, and the administration -- under pressure to do something about alleged abuses in Bush-era interrogation policies -- turned to a Florida senator to deliver a sensitive message to Spain:

Don't indict former President George W. Bush's legal brain trust for alleged torture in the treatment of war on terror detainees, warned Mel Martinez on one of his frequent trips to Madrid. Doing so would chill U.S.-Spanish relations.

US embassy cables: Don't pursue Guantánamo criminal case, says Spanish attorney general
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/202776?INTCMP=SRCH

6. (C) As reported in SEPTEL, Senator Mel Martinez, accompanied by the Charge d'Affaires, met Acting FM Angel Lossada during a visit to the Spanish MFA on April 15. Martinez and the Charge underscored that the prosecutions would not be understood or accepted in the U.S. and would have an enormous impact on the bilateral relationship. The Senator also asked if the GOS had thoroughly considered the source of the material on which the allegations were based to ensure the charges were not based on misinformation or factually wrong statements. Lossada responded that the GOS recognized all of the complications presented by universal jurisdiction, but that the independence of the judiciary and the process must be respected. The GOS would use all appropriate legal tools in the matter. While it did not have much margin to operate, the GOS would advise Conde Pumpido that the official administration position was that the GOS was "not in accord with the National Court." Lossada reiterated to Martinez that the executive branch of government could not close any judicial investigation and urged that this case not affect the overall relationship, adding that our interests were much broader, and that the universal jurisdiction case should not be viewed as a reflection of the GOS position.

Judd Gregg, Obama's Republican nominee for Commerce secretary, didn't like the investigations either.

US embassy cables: Don't pursue Guantánamo criminal case, says Spanish attorney general
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/202776?INTCMP=SRCH

4. (C) As reported in REF A, Senator Judd Gregg, accompanied by the Charge d'Affaires, raised the issue with Luis Felipe Fernandez de la Pena, Director General Policy Director for North America and Europe during a visit to the Spanish MFA on April 13. Senator Gregg expressed his concern about the case. Fernandez de la Pena lamented this development, adding that judicial independence notwithstanding, the MFA disagreed with efforts to apply universal jurisdiction in such cases.

Why the aversion? To protect Bushco, of course!

US embassy cables: Spanish prosecutor weighs Guantánamo criminal case against US officials
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/200177

The fact that this complaint targets former Administration legal officials may reflect a "stepping-stone" strategy designed to pave the way for complaints against even more senior officials.

Eric Holder got the message.

Holder Says He Will Not Permit the Criminalization of Policy Differences
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=7410267&page=1

As lawmakers call for hearings and debate brews over forming commissions to examine the Bush administration's policies on harsh interrogation techniques, Attorney General Eric Holder confirmed to a House panel that intelligence officials who relied on legal advice from the Bush-era Justice Department would not be prosecuted.

"Those intelligence community officials who acted reasonably and in good faith and in reliance on Department of Justice opinions are not going to be prosecuted," he told members of a House Appropriations Subcommittee, reaffirming the White House sentiment. "It would not be fair, in my view, to bring such prosecutions."

CIA Exhales: 99 Out of 101 Torture Cases Dropped
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/06/cia-exhales-99-out-of-101-torture-cases-dropped/

This is how one of the darkest chapters in U.S. counterterrorism ends: with practically every instance of suspected CIA torture dodging criminal scrutiny. It’s one of the greatest gifts the Justice Department could have given the CIA as David Petraeus takes over the agency.

Over two years after Attorney General Eric Holder instructed a special prosecutor, John Durham, to “preliminar(ily) review” whether CIA interrogators unlawfully tortured detainees in their custody, Holder announced on Thursday afternoon that he’ll pursue criminal investigations in precisely two out of 101 cases of suspected detainee abuse. Some of them turned out not to have involved CIA officials after all. Both of the cases that move on to a criminal phase involved the “death in custody” of detainees, Holder said.

But just because there’s a further criminal inquiry doesn’t necessarily mean there will be any charges brought against CIA officials involved in those deaths. If Holder’s decision on Thursday doesn’t actually end the Justice Department’s review of torture in CIA facilities, it brings it awfully close, as outgoing CIA Director Leon Panetta noted.

“On this, my last day as Director, I welcome the news that the broader inquiries are behind us,” Panetta wrote to the CIA staff on Thursday. “We are now finally about to close this chapter of our Agency’s history.”

LOL!

[ProSense]

5. Send that to Ted Cruz. n/t

[OnyxCollie]

7. See ProSense run.

LOL!

[ProSense]

8. LOL!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=433&topic_id=539377&mesg_id=539423

Seriously, send it to Ted Cruz. Maybe they'll undo the 2012 election. Send it to Issa, he'll work on that impeachment investigation.

[OnyxCollie]

11. Obama lets torturers slide.

Thanks for the link.

[ProSense]

12. You're welcome. n/t

[Fumesucker]

6. You have to wonder what the hell else is going on for them to throw out this particular distraction

Not your everyday Congressional razzle dazzle at all.

[Kolesar]

9. You are obsessive, too. eom

[Fumesucker]

10. Well I love you too

But that's neither here nor there in the grand scheme of things.