Guest blogged by Jon Ponder, Pensito Review.
Michael Mukasey, George Bush’s new attorney general — same as the old attorney general — has yet to order federal employees to preserve evidence related to the CIA’s destruction of tapes of its torture sessions with terror suspects.
Even without Mukasey’s order, however, the CIA appears to have violated a court order in response to a lawsuit filed by the ACLU in 2004 to enforce a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request demanding information on the treatment and interrogation of prisoners:
In response to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests filed by the ACLU and other organizations in October 2003 and May 2004, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York ordered the CIA to produce or identify all records pertaining to the treatment of detainees in its custody.
Despite the court’s ruling, the CIA never produced the tapes or even acknowledged their existence. Last week, in anticipation of media reports concerning the tapes, CIA Director Michael Hayden publicly acknowledged that the CIA had made the tapes in 2002 but destroyed them in 2005.
The ACLU brief and related legal documents are available online at: www.aclu.org/torturefoia.
I’m tired of criminials saying how far it goes, as opposed to real people having a say.
Hey Brad, keep the GOOD WORK UP, seems to be our last chance!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And yes I’ve just watched the ACLU FREEDOM FILES!
But if only the masses were properly informed, I have no doubt even the elderly population would be incensed at the loss of true American spirit of these CRIMINALS.
From MrJJ @TPM Muckraker:
The new and improved DOJ ??? Dont’t think so….
MuKasey..”I think the Justice Department is capable of doing whatever it appears needs to be done,” Mukasey said. “The question of a special prosecutor is the most hypothetical of hypotheticals, and that isn’t going to be faced until it happens. And if it has to be, it will be.”
Mukasey may have a conflict of interest problem already, and may have to call upon a Special Prosecutor.
Jose Padilla’s lawyers argued before the Florida Federal Court that Abu Zubaydah was tortured into saying Padilla was an al Qaeda associate. The DOJ dismissed Padilla’s allegations as “meritless,” asserting Padilla’s legal team could not prove that Abu Zubaydah had been tortured. Well, it’s clear now that they certainly COULD have, if the tapes of the interrogations of Abu Zubaydah had been made available!
Now here is where Mukasey’s role comes into question. U.S. District Judge Mukasey, now attorney general, was the one who signed the warrant used by the FBI to arrest Padilla in May 2002. Court records show the warrant relied in part on information obtained from Abu Zubaydah’s interrogation. So we have a problem Houston.
The Attorney General can only issue a warrant based upon legally obtained evidence, and confessions under torture are certainly not “legally obtained”. So either Mukasey was misrepresented the evidence, and would be liable to be potentially a party in those who were presented with “perjured evidence”; or he knew that torture was used in obtaining the confession and ignored it.
In either case he is unsuitable to run an investigation, as it will, inevitably, involved himself. Thus a Special Prosecutor is necessary.
Why did Mukasey refuse to say waterboarding was torture when being confirmed? Because he had signed the arrest warrant for Jose Padilla back in ’02 based information waterboarded out of Zubaydah. He had to know how that information was obtained, or should have, and therfore has already made his views of torture known.
Don’t expect this guy to jump at any investigation.
Go ACLU!
Great news, thanks EMPY! I’m fresh from a funeral of a REAL MORAL PILLAR from my old hood.
I meant great reportin not news.
Sorry for your loss Ancient.
Ancient #4
“the loss of true American spirit”
Exactly. Preznit blush and the bushie criminal gang have been trying to force a phony sentiment on the people.
The American Spirit has been replaced with “amurkan” sewer water in the corrupt minds of the bushie gang, and they want to force us to drink that shit.
Ain’t gonna happen …
Haliburton has moved to Dubai, UAE; and rumor has it that the Pentagon is building its new (camoflaged) headquarters at the north pole of Saturn. 😉
Seriously, this “object” was observed on Saturn in 1980 when another spacecraft went by it. They did not know what it was and suspected equipment failure. But the Cassini misson with perfectly working equipment found it still there 20 years later.
Since hexagons don’t form in high speed circular winds (super-hurricane) nor do they last two decades, this is a great mystery.
So is the CIA behavior … stupid mystery happens.
Psssssst… the tapes are hidden in the library of congress disguised as 4 very small books.
Thanks Empy, Dredd too, and JOJ for always making me smile!
Ancient: I hope ya still smiling after this . . .
Book #1 The Fine Art of Irish Table Manners
Book #2 Jewish Business Ethics
Book #3 Italian War Heroes Unabridged, Part 1
Book #4 Great Polish Intellectuals of the 20th Century
Yup JOJ, smiles on, an I’m Irish too!