Durbin calls on Mukasey to investigate CIA.
By on Dec 7th, 2007 at 12:49 pm
Durbin calls on Mukasey to investigate CIA.
Speaking on the Senate floor this morning, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) called for Attorney General Michael Mukasey to investigate the CIA officials who destroyed at least two videotapes documenting the interrogation of detainees. Durbin said he’s calling on Mukasey “to investigate whether CIA officials who covered up the existence of these videotapes violated the law.” Watch it:
Marcy Wheeler notes that the CIA tape destruction case presents Mukasey with “a mighty big headache,” as it appears to be “a clear case of obstruction of justice.” She writes, “I guess we won’t have long to wait to see whether he’s willing to spike investigations for the Unitary Executive.”
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And as Mukasey ignores Durbin’s demand, he says to himself, “this job is really pretty easy after all!”
December 7th, 2007 at 12:52 pmAnother letter?
December 7th, 2007 at 12:53 pmI wish Dick Durbin was our Majority Leader. He’s so much more charismatic than Harry Reid and could probably appeal to the general public more. He’s also a skilled negotiator on the floor and would probably be more effective at pursuing the Democratic agenda.
December 7th, 2007 at 12:54 pmThis is a test for the new AG for sure on how really loyal he is to the President. If Mukasey goes in the favor of the President and avoid a CIA tape destruction investigation and not allow Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald to turn over documents in the CIA Leak case to Waxman, then Mukasey failed the test.
December 7th, 2007 at 12:54 pmATTENTION: Will all the Democrates please drop your pants and show your b****…not the ladys. Thank You,that is all.
December 7th, 2007 at 12:55 pmso it’s better to have someone expendable to take the fall for obstruction of justice than give away the methods and assets.
Comment by Frank M — December 7, 2007 @ 12:53 pm
Scooter, is that you blogging?
December 7th, 2007 at 12:55 pmIt IS “a clear case of obstruction of justice.†And they destroyed evidence that clearly shows that Bush & Cheney are WAR CRIMINALS.
Hey Frank M I see you are still an idiot today, nice to see what loathsome reichwingers think, makes me all warm inside to know just how wrong you scumbags are.
Bush/Cheney
Hague Trials ‘09
Buck Fush
December 7th, 2007 at 12:57 pmso it’s better to have someone expendable to take the fall for obstruction of justice than give away the methods and assets.
Comment by Frank M — December 7, 2007 @ 12:53 pm
“methods and assets”? lol, like it’s a secret… the rw nutosphere, it’s a funny place!
December 7th, 2007 at 12:58 pmMucous man will stick his cartoonishly goofy head in the sand and play ostrich.
He’s in the bag.
-GSD
December 7th, 2007 at 1:00 pmNow Frank M and the Bush Amen Chorus are concerned about CIA operatives.
Funny stuff.
-GSD
December 7th, 2007 at 1:02 pmFrank,
You seem to be saying that torture is acceptable for the US to do? Is that correct? If so, you are wrong. It is not only unacceptable, it is unAmerican. It is against the foundation and principles that I am willing to put my life on the line for. It is against the principles many of my friends and brothers GAVE their lives for.
December 7th, 2007 at 1:02 pmWrong? It’s funny how the dems haven’t managed to accomplish anything after they gained majorities in both chambers. I’d rather be wrong than ineffectual.
Comment by Frank M — December 7, 2007 @ 12:58 pm
Amazing. That’s the sort of confession we need to make a record of.
December 7th, 2007 at 1:04 pmI’d rather be wrong than ineffectual.
Comment by Frank M — December 7, 2007 @ 12:58 pm
Thats the moronic thinking that led to the Iraq War and subsequent incompetence in its execution. Any honorable person would rather be right and fail than be wrong and stubborn
December 7th, 2007 at 1:04 pmWrong? It’s funny how the dems haven’t managed to accomplish anything after they gained majorities in both chambers. I’d rather be wrong than ineffectual.
Comment by Frank M — December 7, 2007 @ 12:58 pm
but frank, you’re both wrong and ineffectual.
eh?
December 7th, 2007 at 1:05 pmMukasey probably WILL go after the CIA.
December 7th, 2007 at 1:05 pmPayback for their (probably) role in getting the Iraq NIE released and embarrassing the Regime.
There’s no love lost between the fascists in the CIA and the Bush Crime Cabal…
This troll “Frank M” actually thinks that there is any relevance to what he says. This idiotic troll loves the phrase “witch hunt” which would imply that there is no evidence of wrong doing. He is so blinded by his support of party over country at all costs that he simply doesn’t care about right and wrong. Whatever his party does is a-ok with good old Frankie, laws and country be damned. Destroying evidence is also ok with this fascist prick as long as he can feel a little safer cowering under his bed in his piss-soaked diaper. This is a nation built on LAWS not political affiliations and the whims of a dictator. He’ll drag out the lamest of excuses, “these are different times…blah, blah blah…” but the LAWS are still here dispite what this weasle wishes. NO ONE in this nation is above the law, much less the people who have been put into positions to uphold them. THESE traitors to our people deserve a light to be shown on them and suffer the harshest of consequences for their criminal, self serving activities. Troll Fran M likes to tout the lie that torturing detainess has gleened great results. NAME ONE YOU LYING PRICK!
December 7th, 2007 at 1:06 pmI’d rather be wrong than ineffectual.
Comment by Frank M — December 7, 2007 @ 12:58 pm
Luckily, you appear always already to be both, frank. Keep up the good work…
December 7th, 2007 at 1:07 pm…who are willing (and soon able) to wipe out our cities with nukes.
Whatever it takes.
Comment by Frank M — December 7, 2007 @ 1:06 pm
and that’s just the Busheviks, right Frank?
December 7th, 2007 at 1:08 pmConstitution is not a suicide pact. We are engaged in an existential struggle against fanatics who cannot be reasoned or negotiated with and who are willing (and soon able) to wipe out our cities with nukes.
Whatever it takes.
Comment by Frank M — December 7, 2007 @ 1:06 pm
Are the christian, anti-abortionist, anti-homosexuality fundamentalists trying to get a nuke now?
December 7th, 2007 at 1:10 pmSadly, you don’t get it. That makes us THE SAME AS THOSE WE KILL. In addition to turning into the demon that these people say we are, these tactics DO NOT WORK.
Torture is WRONG, but it also creates more enemies. It alienates our allies and only makes things more difficult for our troops in the field. If you spent any time in Iraq or even logically looking at the facts and evidence presented by our intelligence agencies, the majority of our military officers, as well as the consensus from our European allies, you would know this.
December 7th, 2007 at 1:11 pm“I’d rather be wrong than ineffectual.”
Comment by Frank M
Seems like both labels fit your obstructionist crime enabling party. They’ve pretty much blocked any oversight (which by the way is what the Congress and the Senate are supposed to be doing) and put a stop to practically any legislation that could benefit the average American citizen. “Wrong AND Ineffectual” would also be a great new log-in name for this sorry excuse for a troll.
December 7th, 2007 at 1:11 pmBut Marwan Bishara, Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst, said the methods were actually torture and the fact that the CIA had the tapes but did not surrender them when a US commission to look into the 9/11 attacks and congress asked for such information, raised questions about whether the CIA obstructed justice.
READ THE ALJAZEERA TAKE ON IT
The rights group said in a press release that “the destruction of the tapes falls into a pattern of measures taken by the government that block accountability for human rights violations”.
http://english.aljazeera.net/English
December 7th, 2007 at 1:11 pmThe United States used to be a nation of people willing to die for principles and ideals, now we lash out in fear. I am doing my best to restore health to my country; however, I see the United States fading and being replaced with “The Homeland”. More people are concerned with “Homeland Security” instead of the Freedoms and liberties of the United States of America.
I believe I heard this somewhere - “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”. — I never knew how true this was until recently.
December 7th, 2007 at 1:15 pm‘The Constitution is not a suicide pact’.
That small phrase says all you need to know. At the first whiff of fear these people are willing to jettison the glue that has held this nation together for over 200 years.
They are saying that the Constitution doesn’t matter. That is what they are saying. Screw the founding fathers, the bill of rights, the very things that have kept this country going all of these.
The fascists hated it all along.
-GSD
December 7th, 2007 at 1:15 pm“There MUST be a congressional investigations, because this story was not shared with the house and senate intelligence committees that by law are supposed to be informed of activities of this kind.”
December 7th, 2007 at 1:17 pmOutrage fatigue … I feel like I am drowning in all the misconduct on which none act. Missing emails, destroyed tapes, illegal surveillance, lies to start wars, corruption, mercenaries, habeus corpus and WMD, not, political prosecutions, a Supreme Court that Musharraf would love, NIE lies, shotgunnings, pardoning Libby, Plamegate… I can’t stand it anymore … I confess just stop torturing us. Please GWB and Dick pardon another turkey, do something positive, tell one truth, fire one miscreant
December 7th, 2007 at 1:17 pmConstitution is not a suicide pact. We are engaged in an existential struggle against fanatics who cannot be reasoned or negotiated with and who are willing (and soon able) to wipe out our cities with nukes.
Comment by Frank M — December 7, 2007 @ 1:06 pm
so there’s nothing left to do but nuke ‘em first.
eh?
December 7th, 2007 at 1:18 pm#25 - It is you that is naive Frank the Moron, if Bush’s torturing, er enhanced interrogation methods had turned up any evidence at all they would be Screaming it out at the top of their lungs.
Man, you are loathsome and stupid to boot.
Bush/Cheney
Hague Trials ‘09
Buck Fush
December 7th, 2007 at 1:19 pmI think we’ve had enough white people leading the Senate. It’s time for someone more diverse to come along.
Comment by Progresso — December 7, 2007 @ 1:06 pm
I’m totally down with that too. Unfortunately, Obama is the only African-American Senator and I’m hoping he’ll be President. I would be okay with Barbara Boxer. She’s very aggressive but also reasonable and I think she could be an effective leader. Sad to say though, looking at the list of Senators, there’s not much diversity at all in the chamber.
I’m trying to get all the Indians I know on my campus and in my community to participate in politics and maybe even find a qualified person to run for office. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be much desire. But I’ll try to change that.
December 7th, 2007 at 1:19 pmwhats good for the goose will be even better for the Ganda
December 7th, 2007 at 1:20 pmwe will lose because violence is all we’ve got.
Comment by Frank M — December 7, 2007 @ 1:21 pm
Frank M - you really are pathetic. I’m an American and I’m proud of the ideas and moral values we have in this country and I absolutely believe we can overcome this struggle with that alone.
If you want to live in an authoritarian country, move to Russia. Please get out of my country
December 7th, 2007 at 1:24 pm“You think these results have been released to the general public? How naive.”
Comment by Frank M
Oh, so you have inside knowlege? Do you work for the government? Are my tax dollars paying for you to be on blogs all day spreading your boss’s lies, spin and talking points? Do you expect the American people to actually believe that if torturing detainees has given us good intel that this mal-Administration wouldn’t be shouting it’s proof from the rooftops? Or is that just something you tell yourself to make you feel like less of a sniveling prick defending this criminal? Please do tell
December 7th, 2007 at 1:26 pmHave you met any of “these people”? Have you fought any of “these people”? Do you know that most of “these people” are not terrorists, but angry Iraqis? Do you know that for every friend we make, we make at least twice as many enemies in Iraq?
I am not a pacifist, I would never have joined the Marines if I was; however, war is not and should never be used as a “proactive” solution. It is for DEFENSE - ours or our allies. You spout fear and ignorance. You even go as far as to admit that you are dehumanizing a whole nation of people i.e. - “These people (and I use that term loosely)” - What makes you any better than the Nazis?
December 7th, 2007 at 1:39 pmAre you referring to my post arguing that torture is wrong as well as how it doesn’t work? If so, I believe that you misread my post as well as my other posts. If you weren’t referring to me, I apologize.
December 7th, 2007 at 1:52 pmThis is a test for the new AG for sure on how really loyal he is to the President.
Comment by SP Biloxi
Loyalty to the President? LOL!!!
Mukasey is a dual American-Israeli citizen (as is Michael Chertoff BTW).
I can tell you EXACTLY where his loyalties lie… and it’s NOT with the President.
December 7th, 2007 at 1:52 pmMy bad…I think you were replying to #24 (that is why I usually just quote instead of refer to numbers =)
December 7th, 2007 at 1:53 pm“These people (and I use that term loosely) we are fighting understand only violence: violence they employ and the threat of violence we pose. If we tie our hands behind our back and refuse to fight violence with equal or superior violence, we will lose because violence is all we’ve got. Heck, even the Nazis and the Japanese negotiated. These animals will not.”
Frank, I do believe you have described George Bush and the neocons precisely. The only thing they know how to do is send other people to die for their riches and lie about the reasons. Bush’s only solution to anything is violence. If there are “Islamofascists” who do the same thing, then Bush and his ilk created them.
December 7th, 2007 at 2:06 pm.
They destroyed TWO tapes?
Just TWO?
Not “THE” tapes?
WHERE ARE THE REST?
December 7th, 2007 at 2:12 pm.
DanCaveman I was referring to Frank M. his post was #25 at one point, someone got deleted and yours took its place.
Buck Fush
December 7th, 2007 at 2:17 pm31 - yes it is. remember New Hampshire’s state motto?????? any ideas on what it means???????
December 7th, 2007 at 2:25 pmas it appears to be “a clear case of obstruction of justice.â€
guess bush will be pulling out the old pardon pen.
December 7th, 2007 at 2:28 pm.
Dumb Question: “I don’t know if waterboarding is torture” Mukaskey will investigate the tapes. But as waterboarding isn’t defined as torture(in Mukaskey’s mind after extensive discussions with Blackwater), then the tapes didn’t show anything illegal and therefore destroying them is A OK ?
How do we stop the Merry-go-Round ?
December 7th, 2007 at 2:31 pm31 - yes it is. remember New Hampshire’s state motto?????? any ideas on what it means???????
Comment by tombaker — December 7, 2007 @ 2:25 pm
Didn’t realize Frank’s original cowardly decree was back up at 18.
I still want Frank to understand that the Constitution is something any real Patriot would give up his life for.
Live FREE or Die - Frank. That’s the real Patiot’s call to arms.
December 7th, 2007 at 2:47 pmWrong? It’s funny how the dems haven’t managed to accomplish anything after they gained majorities in both chambers. I’d rather be wrong than ineffectual.
Comment by Frank M — December 7, 2007 @ 12:58 pm
It’s better to be wrong than ineffectual? If you ever run for office, I recommend you don’t use that as a campaign slogan.
As far as the Dems in Congress go — most of what they “haven’t managed to accomplish” is due to Republican obstructionism. This is enabled only by the fact that the Dems don’t make up 60% in either chamber. YET. After the 2008 elections, expect a major uptick in Dem accomplishments.
Oh, and just because the GOP has attempted to block the Dems at every turn doesn’t mean they haven’t accomplished anything:
http://majorityleader.house.gov/ docUploads/ CaucusHouseAccomplishmentsJune2007.pdf
December 7th, 2007 at 3:15 pmWrong? It’s funny how the dems haven’t managed to accomplish anything after they gained majorities in both chambers. I’d rather be wrong than ineffectual.
Comment by Frank M — December 7, 2007 @ 12:58 pm
They’ve passed more legislation than the do nothing republicans did, and they’d accomplish more if the do nothing obstructionist republicans would get out of their way in the senate. The fact that Bush vetoes good legislation, and the Republicans block it doesn’t make the Democrats ineffectual at governing, it makes the Republicans ineffectual at doing so…
December 7th, 2007 at 3:24 pmOh, and just because the GOP has attempted to block the Dems at every turn doesn’t mean they haven’t accomplished anything:
http://majorityleader.house.gov/ docUploads/ CaucusHouseAccomplishmentsJune2007.pdf
Comment by missmolly — December 7, 2007 @ 3:15 pm
Obstructionism is the only competent skill Republicans have…
December 7th, 2007 at 3:24 pmOh, I almost forgot projection and whining - the Republicans are GREAT at both of those as well!
December 7th, 2007 at 3:25 pmFrank’s Fatal Flaw - Believing that most everyone else is as ill-informed and slow on the uptake as he.
December 7th, 2007 at 3:44 pmComment by Tracy2 — December 7, 2007 @ 4:12 pm
The right freaks out anytime anyone suggest that the States consider what other nations think and do. Why would they now give a damn?
December 7th, 2007 at 4:14 pmTracy - How many AQ operatives did you have to “take out” just to make it to work today?
I barely survived the commute myself, had to engage a band of hostiles near the minimart - they almost got my head, but I was able to prevail, thanks to Jesus (and Smith&Wesson, of course).
December 7th, 2007 at 4:21 pmI swear, if these crazy moonbats who live all around me don’t get serious about securing their perimeters, I’m going to stop wasting valuable ammo defending them from the hordes.
I’m well-supplied - don’t anyone get me wrong about my paramilitary capabilities - long, strong, and hard as steel around here, but I just can’t see wasting my firepower on these people who won’t get down to the Walmart and start amassing their own arsenals.
Whaddya say, Tracy - let’s get together, lock and load, and run some of these pacifist terrorist-sympathizers right on down to Mexico.
December 7th, 2007 at 4:26 pmComment by Tracy2 — December 7, 2007 @ 4:19 pm
Just checking to see that I have this right. Foreign intelligence good (if it supports US preconceived desires). Foreign judicial systems, taxation, healthcare, drug policy, environmental policy, social policies bad. Did I get that right?
December 7th, 2007 at 4:31 pmI’m still thinking about the Porter Goss connection. The torture occurred during Tenet’s tenure — and it should be noted that this was in the immediate wake of 9/11. I’m not justifying the torture, but placing it in context.
The decision to destroy the tapes was made in 2005, presumably by the new DCIA Porter Goss — a right wing Cheney-affiliated operator who at the time seemed to have a big future.
Goss — as was covered extensively in Talking Points Memo at the time — came into the CIA and installed 4 political hacks in all the senior spots of the CIA in what was touted as an effort to “de-politicize” the CIA (i.e. put an end to the resistance to Dick Cheney/Doug Feith’s intelligence-fixing operations, etc, which was seen as treason by the Cheney-ites).
One of Goss’s associates had to quit immediately, because it turned out he had been canned from the CIA previously for a shoplifting conviction. Leaking of this shady background was seen as another act of treason by insiders at the CIA.
Another of Goss’s Cronies was Dusty “nine fingers” Foggo, who with Brent Wilkes ran a “hospitality suite” for US congressman complete with hookers bussed in under a DHS contracted limousine company.
As reported in TPM at the time, Foggo was an impulsive moron with a long history of screwing up when he was a low-level operative at the CIA, and a rumored history of being the go-to guy for hookers in Honduras the 1980’s, for Republicans visiting the contras.
Many members of congress, including powerful Democrats (remember the Democrats?) visited the “hospitality suites”, but they did so only for “poker games”. The only Congressman who was ever id’d as laying with the hookers was Duke Cunningham.
All those hookers, a whole limousine operation, just to service one fat, dumb Republican? Damn. Must have had balls of tungsten!
All kidding aside, the story was an utter disgrace. At the very least, it represented a gross breach of security at the CIA. Espionage 101 involves getting your target to lay with hookers etc. so you can blackmail them.
There is also a real question in my mind as to whether the “poker game” was a blackmail/bribery operation being run BY Goss and Foggo. Certainly the involvement of prominent Dems (on from Texas as I recall) was one of the reasons this story never saw the light of day, other than hideous radical America-hating blogs run by Josh Marshall.
Cunningham and Wilkes, of course, were being investigated and prosecuted by US Attorney Carol Lam, until Alberto Gonzalez fired her as part of the “US Attorney Purge”. It is possible that Lam was the primary target of the entire purge, given the explosive nature of the charges, and links to many other GOP congressman. Lam’s successor accepted Cunningham’s weepy guilty plea, and shut down the rest of the investigation, fast.
As publicity about the “hospitality suites” grew, Goss quickly and quietly stepped down to spend more time with his family. His name is almost never mentioned by the MSM. Even in the times today, the fact that he was DCIA at the time is (as far as I could read) not mentioned — they only publish his denial that he knew anything.
Clearly, Goss’s “clean-up” at the CIA was on of complete lawlessness, and an effort to subordinate the agency to Cheney’s agenda using cash, poon-tang, and muscle — remember that the Valerie Plame burn was ongoing at the same time: an effort to slam and burn spooks who actually thought they were in the intelligence business, rather than the unitary executive propaganda business.
Is it a coincidence that this story follows the Iran NIE story by two days?
Is there somebody out there planting this stuff who doesn’t give a shit that Dems were involved?
Will anybody actually start talking about Porter Goss?
December 7th, 2007 at 4:43 pmI wish I could get excited about this, I really do.
But I’m dead sure that Mukasey’s nothing more than an asskissing Bushtoady, and there will be no investigation.
*sigh*
December 7th, 2007 at 6:22 pm62 - and you would be.
December 7th, 2007 at 6:35 pmDick, don’t count on it. Every appointee of Bush is a lying crony. Law? What law? Never heard of it–or I don’t recall.
December 8th, 2007 at 12:48 am