Carl Levin Honing In On Torture Memo In "Secret Inquiry"

[kpete]

“We Don’t Have Time to Respond to Congressional Requests…”
By: emptywheel Tuesday April 8, 2008 6:31 am

"...because we're too busy stonewalling."

..................

Aside from all of Peter Carr's whining about five questions a day, this article does include one more wrinkle in the back-story to the release of the Torture Memo.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/07/AR2008040702363.html?sid=ST2008040702926

Justice Department officials have said that they deserve credit, however, for releasing -- last Tuesday -- a 2003 opinion approving harsh military interrogation tactics. "Following a request of Senator Levin, DOD (the Defense Department) conducted a declassification review and determined that it would be appropriate to declassify the memorandum at this time," Justice spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said.

"The public disclosure . . . represents an accommodation of Congress's oversight," he added. But the American Civil Liberties Union, which had sued to obtain the document under the Freedom of Information Act, maintains that it was released "as the result" of that lawsuit, and that otherwise its existence would not be public.

It appears that, before the ACLU got the Torture Memo from DOJ via DOD, Carl Levin had forced DOJ to do a classification review of the document. This is classic Levin MO, using bureaucratic means to force something like the Torture Memo out into the open. I find it more interesting, though, because of the inquiry into detainee abuse we've recently learned about. I presume Levin got a copy of the then still-classified memo as part of that inquiry and determined, as Marty Lederman did, that there was not one single legitimate reason to keep the memo classified. So--at least according to Brian Roehrkasse--Levin requested a classification review and, voila! The DOJ was then forced to turn the memo over to ACLU.

Which tells you two things. One, Carl Levin may be honing in on that memo in his secret inquiry (which itself should be public). And two, Brian Roehrkasse and Peter Carr count the time spent reviewing the classification of opinions that should never have been classified in the first place among the ways in which they heroically try to meet the onerous demands of Congress.

more at:
http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/04/08/we-dont-have-time-to-respond-to-congressional-requests/

[L. Coyote]

1. K & R

[wildbilln864]

2. k&r! nt

:hi:

[tomp]

3. i think you mean homing in... nt