Report: White House shielding CIA from Senate torture investigation

[MannyGoldstein]

Report: White House shielding CIA from Senate torture investigation

President Barack Obama’s administration has refused to release about 9,400 documents connected to the Senate Intelligence Committee investigation at the heart of an ongoing dispute with the Central Intelligence Agency, (CIA) McClatchy Newspapers reported on Wednesday.

The White House has allegedly rejected or ignored written and verbal requests for committee members to review the materials, which relate to the agency’s “enhanced interrogation” program shut down near the beginning of Obama’s presidency. Committee staff members allegedly first learned about the documents in 2009, but it is not clear whether the CIA granted them access to them before the White House made them unavailable.

However, McClatchy reported that Obama has not made a formal statement indicating the documents were protected by executive privilege.

The report comes a day after Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) publicly accused the agency of illegally searching Senate staff members’ computers. Feinstein has allegedly written several letters to Kathryn Ruemmler, the president’s chief legal advisor, asking her to mediate the dispute between the CIA and the committee, but has never gotten a response.

The committee and the CIA have sparred for months over the 6,300-page report, which cost $40 million to put together, and was reportedly heavily critical of the agency’s interrogation methods at several secret facilities around the world, saying they did not produce valuable intelligence despite relying on “enhanced” tactics like waterboarding.

Yay! The Transparency President™ strikes again!

[woo me with science]

1. Worse and worse. K&R

[WillyT]

2. HUGE K & R !!! - Thank You !!!

[cthulu2016]

3. It's best we not know exactly what it was that wasn't prosecuted

[riderinthestorm]

4. Ugh. This is really bad. nt

[1000words]

5. Nothing surprises me anymore

Gave up on this administration a while ago.

[840high]

50. Many of us have.

[Cofitachequi]

142. Ufortunately I am being steeered in that same direction.

[OnyxCollie]

6. It's not torture.

It's POLICY DIFFERENCES, damn it! POLICY DIFFERENCES!

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

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."

But Holder left open the door to some legal action, saying that though he "will not permit the criminalization of policy differences," he is responsible as attorney general to enforce the law.

"If I see evidence of wrongdoing, I will pursue it to the full extent of the law, and I will do that in an appropriate way," he added.

[ProSense]

7. Completely bogus

Here is what Feinstein said:

I also want to reiterate to my colleagues my desire to have all updates to the committee report completed this month and approved for declassification. We’re not going to stop. I intend to move to have the findings, conclusions and the executive summary of the report sent to the president for declassification and release to the American people. The White House has indicated publicly and to me personally that it supports declassification and release.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/11/dianne-feinstein-cia-senate-statement-full-text

In fact, the update to the OP piece shows the reporting was horrible.

Update, 7:57 p.m EST: Agence France-Presse reported that Obama has promised to declassify the Intelligence Committee’s report at the center of the dispute upon its completion.

“I would urge them to go ahead and complete the report, send it to us,” Obama was quoted as saying. “We will declassify those findings so that the American people can understand what happened in the past, and that can help guide us as we move forward.”

[MannyGoldstein]

14. Perhaps *you* should read the article.

Prosense's rebuttal does not pertain to the main issue.

[2banon]

46. completely typical and predictable.. n/t

I mean the poster you referenced is typical and predictable.

[OnyxCollie]

11. "...that can help guide us as we move forward.”

Read: no prosecutions.

[zeemike]

49. Does anyone remember when the phrase "moving forward" began?

It was noticeable to me, right after the 08 election it started, and virtually every politician started using it in every speach...that tells you how public perception is manipulated by media.

[OnyxCollie]

52. Prior to that,

the Bush administration had put forth the awkwardly-phrased Operation Together Forward.

http://www.understandingwar.org/operation/operation-together-forward-i

[zeemike]

54. Did not know about that...thanks.

But it never surprises me to learn that the root of things can be traced back to Neo Cons.

[Enthusiast]

118. We must "look forward" before we can "move forward".

Cahoots is an interesting word.

[MannyGoldstein]

12. That's not what this article is about

The article is about the White House withholding documents from the committee, that are wanted so the committee can complete its report.

9,400 documents.

[ProSense]

13. It's nonsense. n/t

[MannyGoldstein]

16. Has the White House released the 9,400 documents the committee wants? nt

[OnyxCollie]

17. *hack* *hack*

Damn cough.

[ProSense]

24. You really get a thrill from using that word, huh?

You have no point and make no sense so you yell "hack."

[wildbilln864]

41. actually I did get their point and ...

it made sense.

[Ed Suspicious]

42. ...

[ProSense]

45. LOL!

You like that?

[Ed Suspicious]

47. It's my favorite ProSense-ism.

[bobduca]

55. Oh you got the point

but your prime directive compels you to pretend otherwise.

[OnyxCollie]

73. It's much more civil than

when you have no point and make no sense (which is damn near all the time now), so you yell "liars" and "nonsense" and "Fuck Snowden."

That displays a lack of effort. You're just phoning it in.

I remember the old days, the Bush days, when you could put together some fantastic posts. You had a fire in your eyes that could set a page ablaze in partisan prose. There was one post where you (Well, maybe not you. Whomever was working that night.) took a Bush speech and broke it down by word count:

Out of 850 words, "Al Qaeda" came up 200 times, "bin Laden" 150 times, "terrorism" 100 times, and "terror" 75 times. "Plan" came up 0 times.

Now THAT was a post. A cool display of skill and style. I thought it a valuable piece of research and saved it to my files.

But today, crude vulgarities and an over-reliance on the ROFL smilie take precedence. It's like your account is being used as a training tool in a high school vocational class.

The font of knowledge is now a stagnant, stinking sewer.

It's apparent to all on this board that you're unhappy, and that's understandable; Bush had Katrina, Obama has Snowden. It's a rough road that's taking it's toll on you, that's for sure.

Maybe I've been wrong to ride your ass with this "tough love" approach, when all you need to get back on top again... is inspiration.

Let me be your inspiration.

I BELIEVE IN YOU, PROSENSE.

Now get out there and make it happen, tiger!

Sincerely,
OnyxCollie

[rhett o rick]

18. What?

"It's nonsense." That's all you got?

[ProSense]

21. Nonsense.

Last edited Wed Mar 12, 2014, 10:18 PM - Edit history (1)

The report is hyping a few documents under review and attempting to conflate it with the Senate's inablity to complete its report, which is being hampered by the CIA.

<...>

Speaking to reporters earlier during a White House event, Obama said that the administration has worked with the committee to ensure that its study is “well informed” and that he was committed to seeing the report declassified once a final version is completed. He said it wouldn’t be proper for him to comment directly on the battle between the CIA and the committee, except to say that CIA Director John Brennan had referred the issues to the “appropriate authorities and they are looking into it.”

The Democrat-controlled committee has largely kept silent about the tussle with the White House, even as some members have decried what they contend has been the CIA’s refusal to surrender key materials on the agency’s use under the Bush administration of interrogation methods denounced by the panel chairwoman as “un-American” and “brutal.”

The chairwoman, Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, made no mention of the White House documents during a blistering floor speech Tuesday in which she charged that the CIA may have undermined the Constitution and violated the law by searching computers used by her staff to compile the study. Brennan has denied her allegations

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2014/03/12/221033/despite-vows-of-help-white-house.html

[OnyxCollie]

23. The cache is empty and needs to reload.

[ProSense]

25. Are you? Welcome to DU.

LOL!

[Wilms]

29. Hey, wait a sec.

I want a link.

Or the documents handed over.

[functioning_cog]

62. Thank you. The lies this president is subjected to

From his own is truly astonishing.

[cali]

128. zoom. 0 to the latest lamest defense. It's a bird, it's a plane....

[blkmusclmachine]

8. 11-Dimensional hocus pocus.

[1000words]

15. WTF?

huh?

[rhett o rick]

19. Wow, they got two posts hidden in one thread. They must have lives to burn. nm

[neverforget]

22. I wonder why that poster is so riled up?

[1000words]

27. Random

[WorseBeforeBetter]

33. Not really. His or her account is flagged for review.

Which may not really matter if there are socks.

[Autumn]

26. A real profile in courage there.

At what point should an elected President of these United States of America, who took an oath to "preserve, maintain, and defend the

Constitution" speak out against the CIA on potentially unconstitutional and illegal searches of computers of congressional staff

conducting an investigation of the agency’s interrogation and detention program?

[Catherina]

40. "He still has plenty of time to go down in history as the President who looked into the abyss

Remember this? Both excerpts from "Edward Snowden ONLINE NOW" Transcript/Raw data of what he really said & how he said it"

Gabrielaweb
17 June 2013 2:17pm

Why did you wait to release the documents if you said you wanted to tell the world about the NSA programs since before Obama became president?

Answer:

Obama's campaign promises and election gave me faith that he would lead us toward fixing the problems he outlined in his quest for votes. Many Americans felt similarly. Unfortunately, shortly after assuming power, he closed the door on investigating systemic violations of law, deepened and expanded several abusive programs, and refused to spend the political capital to end the kind of human rights violations like we see in Guantanamo, where men still sit without charge.

Question:

Jacob Appelbaum @ioerror

Do you believe that the treatment of Binney, Drake and others influenced your path? Do you feel the "system works" so to speak? #AskSnowden
10:00 AM - 17 Jun 2013

Answer:

Binney, Drake, Kiriakou, and Manning are all examples of how overly-harsh responses to public-interest whistle-blowing only escalate the scale, scope, and skill involved in future disclosures. Citizens with a conscience are not going to ignore wrong-doing simply because they'll be destroyed for it: the conscience forbids it. Instead, these draconian responses simply build better whistleblowers. If the Obama administration responds with an even harsher hand against me, they can be assured that they'll soon find themselves facing an equally harsh public response.

This disclosure provides Obama an opportunity to appeal for a return to sanity, constitutional policy, and the rule of law rather than men. He still has plenty of time to go down in history as the President who looked into the abyss and stepped back, rather than leaping forward into it. I would advise he personally call for a special committee to review these interception programs, repudiate the dangerous "State Secrets" privilege, and, upon preparing to leave office, begin a tradition for all Presidents forthwith to demonstrate their respect for the law by appointing a special investigator to review the policies of their years in office for any wrongdoing. There can be no faith in government if our highest offices are excused from scrutiny - they should be setting the example of transparency.

[wildbilln864]

43. thank you. n/t

[zeemike]

51. Thank you Catherina

But more importantly, thank you Edward Snowden.

[Rex]

84. It is surreal the language used to cover up gross misconduct.

I guess nobody is supposed to notice and if they do...they are a Putin lover and Obama hater. Thankfully DU3 is pretty transparent.

[phleshdef]

28. "Obama has promised to declassify the Intelligence Committee’s report at the center of the dispute"

...upon its completion.

“I would urge them to go ahead and complete the report, send it to us,” Obama was quoted as saying. “We will declassify those findings so that the American people can understand what happened in the past, and that can help guide us as we move forward.”


Looks like your own article just imploded on itself.

[MannyGoldstein]

30. The article's about the 9,400 documents being withheld by the White House

That are being requested by the committee.

The committee's *result* is what you're referring to. That's not the main point of the article.

[ProSense]

31. Work on that narrative.

Then you can take credit for forcing the President to act.

[MannyGoldstein]

32. At this point, I'm starting to worry about you.

One of us is on a different astral plane.

[ProSense]

35. Don't. Like I said,

Feinstein's statement is bad, but too bad for you it has nothing to do with Obama and "transparency."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024653914#post7

[Rex]

86. Don't you know Manny, DU is the most important place

when they need it to be and of course nothing at all when they need an easy dismissal.

[DRoseDARs]

34. Jesus tap-dancing Christ, this isn't hard...

The committee wants the documents the White House is so far refusing to hand over. The committee wants those documents so it can review them and complete its report. The White House is promising to declassify the report after it is complete... and it isn't complete because the White House refuses to hand over the documents the committee wants to review in order to complete the report.



Thank gawd I'm not a robot. This is one ugly recursive error....

[pscot]

68. Catch 22

[lonestarnot]

78. Woohoo. Cats chasing tails.

[zeemike]

53. Complete the report without the 9,400 documents requested?

How is that a complete report?...but it would end the investigation.

[PhilSays]

36. Will releasing it increase minimum wage or lower unemployment to below 5%?

How many meals will it put on tables?

How many kids will it help get a quality education?

[DRoseDARs]

37. Welcome to DU. Why would any of that interfere with any of this? WH can't do multiple things?

[MannyGoldstein]

38. East Germany had unemployment of well under 5%.

What's your point?

[DRoseDARs]

39. Imma just leave this here, seems relevant:

Last edited Thu Mar 13, 2014, 03:16 AM - Edit history (1)

Edit: Huh, I thought it had its own credit on it. Guess not: Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal aka S.M.B.C.

[DeSwiss]

112. Stupid cartoon. n/t

[DRoseDARs]

117. Went right over your head, I gather. nt

[Iggo]

138. Excellent cartoon. (n/t)

[blackspade]

134. Awesome.

[Capt. Obvious]

136. LOL

[steve2470]

99. what's your point ? nt

[Hissyspit]

122. Bullshit.

[sibelian]

124. That's called "whataboutery", Phil.

It's the lowest possible form of spin, in that it doesn't even constitute an argument. I see that you are not very familiar with this message board.

Should you have any real concern about unemployment, meals or education, you are aware that posting a seperate thread on these subjects will receive attention on DU, but by in placing it in this thread you dilute both your own subject and that of the OP.

If you have no case to bring to a subject it is usually better to avoid posting in a thread. It's an extremely bad idea to try to misdirect people on DU via whataboutery. It pretty much always fails.

Many thanks,

s

[2banon]

44. We must be in the year 2004, right?

I was going to say, even the public demand of a ranking Democratic Senator does not move Obama to do the right thing.

Oh wait. we must be talking about Bush/Cheney, right?

[winter is coming]

48. Bad move. n/t

[bobduca]

56. K&R

[global1]

57. Really!!!!! It Cost $40 Million To Put A 6,300 Page Report Together......

That's $6.349.21 per page. That's taxpayers money going to good use. (sarcasm)

I surely would like to have the contract to assemble such a report at that rate!!!!!

[OnyxCollie]

74. Sure, they could've saved some bucks

and used 3-ring binders instead of 5-ring binders, but if you want to look professional...

[dotymed]

126. I wonder

how much $$ was spent to shred the important parts? A whole lot IMO.

[L0oniX]

130. ...and now you know why they cut back on food stamps.

[Aerows]

58. You didn't get a pony

and you have boxes in your garage, Manny.

[QC]

60. Manny never really loved him!!!

[MannyGoldstein]

72. And my girlfriend's a pole dancer

Don't tell my wife, OK?

[L0oniX]

131. You can borrow my pony ...just go easy with it mmmkay?

[Eko]

59. Math?

6.2 million documents released by the White House, 9,200 kept for review for possible executive privilege equals .0014516129032258% of documents withheld. Now, this could indeed be the .0014516129032258% smoking gun, but I personally don't think .0014516129032258% of documents held for review for POSSIBLE executive privilege sounds unreasonable. I'll get upset when there is a reason to get upset.

[bobduca]

61. Thanks for sharing, two-digit-post-count pro-spying DU'er!

[Eko]

64. Say what?

What is that supposed to mean? So I like to read and think about what is said here more than comment, is that a problem? By the way nice ad hominem attack buddy, cant do better?

[bobduca]

92. "can't do better?" No, not better than you in post 76

your non-sequitor ad-hominem makes it clear that it was just a

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

a defense mechanism in which a person unconsciously rejects his or her own unacceptable attributes by ascribing them to objects or persons in the outside world.

[Eko]

116. How was that

non-sequitor?

[msanthrope]

65. Look...bringing math and facts into this will only get you called names. Welcome to DU! nt

[Eko]

67. Seems to be that way more and more.

Its quite disappointing to argue with libertarians and tea baggers and get that kind of result, way worse to have the same result from a progressive.

[msanthrope]

71. Well, first of all, just because someone says they are progressive, it doesn't mean they are. You

know the term "ratfucking?" You'll notice we have lots of concern here.

[Eko]

76. can we just alert a post

for using logical fallacies?, It should be a rule and a required lesson here. I see you have had the ol' get go with bobduca before. Yup, probably a ratfuck.

[Marr]

102. You'd better hope not.

[Eko]

106. Did I use a logical fallacy?

I would be happy to know of such and give my apologies.

[Marr]

110. Not really-- more like sophistry.

They aren't just reviewing these documents now to see if they represent a security risk. They've been an issue since 2009, and the President hasn't invoked executive privilege. They know what's in these documents-- they just don't want to give them up for some reason they won't explain.

[Eko]

114. thats a pretty good point,

could it be they don't want to exert executive privilege until they have to for some other reason?, you know, like the conservative emperor O'bama theme getting more traction? Could it be the documents have info on our agents in the field and that team O'bama doesn't want to give the righties more ammo for emperor obama by exerting executive privilege for them?

[Eko]

115. can we just alert a post for using logical fallacies?

Marr: You'd better hope not.
Me: Did I use a logical fallacy? I would be happy to know of such and give my apologies.
Marr: Not really-- more like sophistry.

Since I didn't use a logical fallacy, why should I "better hope not"?

[msanthrope]

123. If logical fallacy were an offense against the TOS, a quarter of the board would be blacked-out. nt

[Luminous Animal]

66. I'm curious about how much the government pays for toilet paper. Torture? Meh... not

so much.

[Eko]

69. So once again,

ad hominem attack. Is there anything I said that would imply that I don't care immensely about the government torturing anyone? Anywhere? So why would you say that?. If you want to ask me a question do so, dont act like a kid saying nenny nenny!

[Luminous Animal]

81. Boo fucking hoo.

[Eko]

85. Boo hoo what?

What exactly are you saying? are you crying? No need for that. C'mon now, it seemed like you attacked me personally and did not contribute anything substantial to the conversation, I had no other conclusion to to come to other than you only had juvenile insults to respond with so I may have been a little harsh. Hush now, lets actually try to have a meaningful dialogue. You can quit your crying. It will be alright.

[MannyGoldstein]

79. Theoretically...

Can you think of a better strategy for obscuring smoking-gun documents than the one being executed?

[Eko]

82. No,

and you are right. But does that mean this has happened? What proof do you have they are smoking gun documents? It seems some are accusing with no evidence, does that mean the accused is innocent? no, but it equally means the accused is not guilty. By the way thanks Manny for at least discussing this with me, seriously.

[Luminous Animal]

83. Nope. We are supposed to celibate 60 bazillion documents on staples and toilet paper purchases.

See! Most transparent administration evan!

What? Torture report? The buck stops over there.

[Eko]

87. Should the president

ever be able to use executive privilege?

[Luminous Animal]

89. To shield us peons from knowing that we torture?

[Eko]

90. Well now,

The question was pretty simple, should the President be able to use executive privilege? We can go one question for one, you answer mine then I will answer yours, take turns even.

[Luminous Animal]

93. Never when it is used to cover up CIA crimes.

[Eko]

96. And you know

this is a coverup of CIA crimes? It couldn't be locations on current undercover agents or their assets in a region? So, share that info with us please.

[Luminous Animal]

97. My cat said meow.

[Eko]

98. yeah,

you have no proof just your ideological bent towards how things must happen, might as well be your cat telling you what is wrong in the world. Proof? Evidence? Reasoning? These things are either beyond you or rejected by you. You like your little snarks more than having an actual discussion based on the things that most of the western world would use in a discussion. Meow indeed.

[Luminous Animal]

100. You are right. I should have put 'meow' in quotes.

[Eko]

91. 60 bazillion documents on staples and toilet paper purchases

Wow, I am totally very upset on hearing we have 60 bazillion documents on staples and toilet paper purchases. What a waste of govt resources, how many trees would it take to make 60 bazillion documents on staples and toilet paper purchases?, can you show me any kind of link to that?, cause it seems somehow wrong.

[Luminous Animal]

94. Wow. I am totally upset that you are totally upset.

[Eko]

95. Some people

like to claim things with no possible proof, they engage in middle school arguments, cant answer simple questions and contribute nothing whatsoever to a meaningful conversation.

[joshcryer]

101. Hey, I agree. Release the Snowden files.

Oh right, we know where you stand on that one, it has to be done carefully...

[Luminous Animal]

103. Yes. Release it all so that the story gets buried. Release it all so the government gets ahead of

the narrative.

[joshcryer]

108. Would the government get ahead here?

If they dumped?

[joshcryer]

107. Where did I refer to you?

Luminous knows that I am 100% for releasing all these classified files even un-radicated. In this instance it appears that a full release is necessary for the White House but in a previous instance it was in fact unwise to release the files.

[Eko]

109. yup, my fault,

you did not refer to me, deleted the post and I am sorry.
Thanks,
Eko.

[tomp]

125. all documents are not of equal value....

....and redacted documents don't count. your math is facile.

[Iggo]

139. Math.

9400 = 9400

[brett_jv]

140. Your maffs are wrong

9200/6200000 = .0014838 ...

Which, converted to a % = .144838%

Put another way, it's roughly 1 out of every 674 pages (pretty sure these are pages, not 'documents').

[treestar]

63. Executive privilege exists

There is a body of law on that to apply. Whatever legal question is going on here is well, the question.

Plus the Senate should have no secrets at all. What is there to spy on?

Just sounds like a lot of lawyers fighting over documents, happens every day.

[Marr]

105. I'm sure your position would be the same, were Bush in office.

I typed that sarcastically, by the way.

[treestar]

127. Yes, it would

And on this issue Bush is nothing - he did much worse and you never will give Obama credit for putting things back to normal, at least

If you don't like normal, blaming Obama rather than Bush is illogical. Then you should just be talking about the Executive Branch. And there is executive privilege and a body of law on that on which you display total ignorance (you generally).

[MsPithy]

70. Here are the best ways to decrease democratic turnout in 2014. Woo Hoo!

Cover up CIA torture. Ignore NSA spying on fucking everyone. Ignore republican war crimes. Fuck the Constitution!

That'll make progressives flock to the polls!

[WillyT]

75. Word !!!

[L0oniX]

132. ^^^this^^^

[lonestarnot]

77. And Mr. President is stepping on his dick by not releasing those damn documents.

Mr. President will. He will.

[struggle4progress]

121. Your crudity isn't illuminating anything

[lonestarnot]

129. Stars illuminate without much effort.

[sabrina 1]

80. Chelsea Manning told the truth about Torture.

Too bad Feinstein among others, did NOT insist on an investigation in what he exposed. She helped let the Perpetrators off the hook, and now she is seeing the results of ignoring massive crimes, like torture and other war crimes.

War Criminals were emboldened when it was the Whistle Blower who ended up in prison while they were protected.

[Catherina]

88. "War Criminals were emboldened when it was the Whistle Blower who ended up in prison"

"War Criminals were emboldened when it was the Whistle Blower who ended up in prison while they were protected."

[struggle4progress]

119. This doesn't have anything to do with Manning, and adding Manning to the mix

merely confuses things: it just doesn't matter for this issue whether one regards Manning as a great hero, as a naive idiot, or whatever

Even before Abu Ghraib hit the news, anyone who paid attention became aware -- from tidbits like the Maher Ara incident -- that "something wicked this way comes." And the aftermath of Abu Ghraib was a quite obvious and concerted coverup involving not only the Executive branch but also Congress, which conspicuously voted not to release much of the story to the public

This is an opportunity IMO for Congress to win an important fight with the Executive, to inform the public about what happened in those dark days, and to consider statutory institutional reforms governing the intelligence community and its contractors

[sabrina 1]

141. It has to do torture, laws being broken with no consequences. Just reforming things, which never

goes far enough due to input from the very people who need to be prosecuted, will not and has not solved the problem.

It's way past time to start investigating what Whistle Blowers, like Chelsea Manning, revealed, rather than punishing those who expose the crimes.

The UK has completed a thorough investigation into war crimes committed by their government and have passed the report along to the ICC, who they accuse of never prosecuting western war criminals, only African criminals. We'll see what comes of that, hopefully the beginning of dealing with all these horrific crimes and bring some sense of justice to the victims.

[Maedhros]

111. Well, this pretty much puts to rest the idea that the President cares about the Constitution [n/t]

[struggle4progress]

120. Or mebbe that comment puts to rest any reason to hope you might actually understand real politics

in Washington, such as the complex internal politics of large federal agencies, the power federal employees sometimes obtain from their necessary civil service protections, the structural nature of unavoidable conflicts between the Executive and Legislative branches, or the ways outsourcing Federal work to contractors can be used to hide a multitude of sins

[Maedhros]

137. Yes, the poor President is being forced by circumstance to defend the CIA

Last edited Thu Mar 13, 2014, 06:38 PM - Edit history (1)

against torture allegations.

I understand politics well enough. Playing the game is more important than prosecuting torturers.

[DeSwiss]

113. Of course.

They would end up being prosecuted themselves.

- So far they've gotten away scot-free.

K&R

[G_j]

133. Agence France-Presse reported Obama has promised to declassify the Intelligence Committee’s report

from the link: Update, 7:57 p.m EST: Agence France-Presse reported that Obama has promised to declassify the Intelligence Committee’s report at the center of the dispute upon its completion.

“I would urge them to go ahead and complete the report, send it to us,” Obama was quoted as saying. “We will declassify those findings so that the American people can understand what happened in the past, and that can help guide us as we move forward.”

I certainly would like to see that!

[ProSense]

135. Senate-CIA controversy widens over enhanced interrogation probe

Senate-CIA controversy widens over enhanced interrogation probe
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024656361

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[cantbeserious]

151. Hope And Change And Transparency Wins Again

eom

[underthematrix]

152. Geez! The WHITE HOUSE is NOT trying to

protect the CIA. They are trying to protect the Office of the President of the United States. And I think this is the right decision because it will affect the world standing of every US president to follow.

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153. Defending Torture Is Indefensible

eom

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154. Indefensible.

FIRST LOOK: The White House Has Been Covering Up the Presidency’s Role in Torture for Years
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024661845

The White House Has Been Covering Up the Presidency’s Role in Torture for Years.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=4662102

Obama knew CIA secretly monitored intelligence committee, Sen. Udall claims
http://election.democraticunderground.com/10024620624

Obama, the CIA, and the Limits of Conciliation
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024662844

Have *you* actually read Sen. Feinstein's complaint?
http://election.democraticunderground.com/10024653914

Despite Vows Of Help, White House Withholds Thousands Of Documents From Senate CIA Probe - McClatchy
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024653857

Torture Whistleblower: I got 30 months in prison. Why does Leon Panetta get a pass?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024629995

Chris Hayes: Why Has Obama Done Nothing About CIA’s Bush-Era Crimes?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=4653081

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[woo me with science]

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