http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A624-2004Jun23.htmlRepublicans moved to derail a demand by Senate Democrats yesterday for the release of more documents dealing with abuse of foreign prisoners as sharp debate erupted on Capitol Hill over the Bush administration's policies and practices on the use of torture.
A day after President Bush's aides repudiated a Justice Department memo suggesting that torture might be justified in interrogating terrorism suspects, many Republicans rose to the administration's defense, although one senior House Republican called for an investigation of how the policy emerged. Democrats said documents released so far -- including hundreds of pages disclosed Tuesday -- raised more questions than they answered.
Debate was especially sharp in the Senate, where Democrats sought a vote on ordering Attorney General John D. Ashcroft to release all documents produced by the Bush administration dealing with the interrogation of prisoners at military facilities.
Republicans were mobilizing to scuttle the proposal, and party strategists prepared "talking points" to help GOP senators argue against Democratic attempts to force the release of more interrogation-policy documents.
<snipping lots of nasty puke spin>
Airing of the documents also reverberated in the House, where a key Republican called on the Justice Department to investigate "circumstances surrounding" an Aug. 1, 2002, memo that appeared to provide legal grounds for torture. Writing to the department's inspector general, Rep. Frank R. Wolf (R-Va.), who chairs the appropriations subcommittee that drafts the Justice Department budget, said the memo "provided legal justifications for the U.S. government to commit cruel, inhumane and degrading acts -- including torture -- on prisoners in U.S. custody."
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