CIA scrambles to ‘lawyer up.’
By on Jan 7th, 2008 at 11:50 am
CIA scrambles to ‘lawyer up.’
Newsweek reports that the Justice Department’s decision to launch an investigation into the destruction of CIA tapes “has sent several alarmed agency employees scrambling to find lawyers.” CIA veterans “fear the move is tantamount to unleashing an independent counsel on Langley“:
“A lot of people are worried,” says one former CIA official, who asked not to be identified talking about sensitive matters. “Whenever you have the bureau running around the building, it’s going to turn up some heads. This could turn into a witch hunt.”
Legal expenses for each employee could reach “hundreds of thousands” of dollars and will not be paid for by the CIA. (via War and Piece)
UDPATE: As the DoJ aggressively pursues the CIA, will they also go after Cheney?
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enough of this shit already!
IMPEACH!
January 7th, 2008 at 11:52 amF8ck em all and feed em fish heads…
January 7th, 2008 at 11:53 amI’m sure all the pro-torture repubs will come up with legal defense $$$ for those who carried out their desires.
January 7th, 2008 at 11:57 amIf I were in the CIA, I wouldn’t be worried at all. I would simply turn state’s witness and rat out the person who ordered me to torture. In short time, the two responsible for the torture will be caught and impeached.
January 7th, 2008 at 11:58 amIf they’re smart (the CIA employees), they’ll speed this along so that Bush can pardon them all before he leaves office.
January 7th, 2008 at 11:59 amGood. Hit ‘em in the wallets.
January 7th, 2008 at 11:59 amOxycon: So far, it’s not about the torture, I mean “enhanced interrogation techniques”, it’s about the destruction of the tapes.
January 7th, 2008 at 12:00 pm“As the DoJ aggressively pursues the CIA, will they also go after Cheney?”
No.
January 7th, 2008 at 12:07 pmIt was only a matter of time before the conservative chattering classes extended the Republicans’ perpetual “criminalization of politics” defense to the exploding CIA tapes scandal. On Friday, the Wall Street Journal obliged, claiming the Justice Department’s probe into the spy agency’s destruction of detainee interrogation videos was the equivalent of “criminalizing the CIA.” Following the script from the Tom Delay, Valerie Plame outing, U.S. attorneys purge and other Republicans scandals, the Journal’s contortion is just the latest right-wing effort to recast potential conservative criminality as mere political disagreement.
For the details, see:
January 7th, 2008 at 12:08 pm“WSJ Extends GOP “Criminalizing Politics” Defense to CIA Tapes.”
For f8ck-sake, screw the “political” side, and just look into WHO BROKE WHAT LAWS.
January 7th, 2008 at 12:10 pmGo after Cheney? Why start now?
January 7th, 2008 at 12:11 pmYou don’t need a lawyer if all you intend to do is tell the truth.
January 7th, 2008 at 12:15 pmInteresting to me is that, as with any federal employee, they have the defense that they were acting in the context of their stated job duties. If so, the CIA should provide the lawyer.
Now, if they are worried that the CIA will feed them to the sharks to protect the CIA, that is another thing.
If they weren’t acting in accord with their job duties, that is another reason to lawyer up.
January 7th, 2008 at 12:15 pmAh yes. The ‘witch hunt’ talking point.
Who did AP talk to? Ed Gillespie? Bill Kristol?
Lawyer up boys, you shouldn’t have followed illegal orders. It wasn’t an excuse that worked for the Nazis.
-GSD
January 7th, 2008 at 12:17 pmOxycon – I’d have to disagree with you. If I worked for an organization that engaged in illegal activities and I wanted to rat them out, I would be very careful to get my own counsel to closely review any plea agreements. Dangerous ground.
Of course, If I ratted out the CIA, I’d also be worried that they know all sorts of clandestine ways to get back at me. So I’d also be very careful to negotiate the terms of witness protection.
January 7th, 2008 at 12:18 pmHow difficult is it going to be to find evidence of CIA/Cheney/Bush crimes?
Step one : Open Eyes.
Step two : Convict.
January 7th, 2008 at 12:18 pm“Witch hunt”?
*GASP*
Golly, that sounds torturous.
My only concern is that it will inevitably be a lower-level scapegoat who gets busted, rather than those who set the process in motion.
January 7th, 2008 at 12:20 pmComment by AngryOne — January 7, 2008 @ 12:08 pm
“Criminalization of politics” is not a valid defense when crimes are committed. Crimes are illegal, whether of a political nature or not.
January 7th, 2008 at 12:21 pmMore talk… no action.
January 7th, 2008 at 12:23 pmYou don’t need a lawyer if all you intend to do is tell the truth.
Comment by RUCerious — January 7, 2008 @ 12:15 pm
With this gang, telling the truth can get you hurt. It may be in your best interests to get a lawyer to ensure all your legal rights are respected. AND you may need protection.
January 7th, 2008 at 12:23 pmOdds of the CIA jokers being under oath for the hearings: 500:1.
January 7th, 2008 at 12:31 pmmissmolly, sadly true, I take it back. But, if they were acting under the auspices of their job descriptions, the CIA should pony up the $$…
January 7th, 2008 at 12:34 pmHow will the defense lawyers get security clearance?
I ask this seriously. I mean the CIA employees are going to need to fully disclose and discuss their actions with their lawyers. Won’t that involve sharing classified information?
January 7th, 2008 at 12:35 pmThis is perfect – Cheney & cohorts have been out to destroy the CIA for years; too pragmatic, and not dogmatic enough for Dick’s agenda. So, give orders for them to perform universally illegal activities and then persuade them to cover it up – and then, hang ‘em all out to dry. A perfect case for legislation mandating that all intelligence agencies be more under control of the politicians than the bureaucrats – that way, you get the intelligence you want, instead of the intelligence that is.
And they call this administration incompetent……
January 7th, 2008 at 12:46 pmjudyjudyjudy, that does go a long way in explaining why Darth has a hazmat suit in his limo…
January 7th, 2008 at 12:58 pmFrank M’s not too sure about the concept of multitasking.
January 7th, 2008 at 1:13 pmThe People at the top are the ones that should be worried.
January 7th, 2008 at 1:33 pmGo to Cheney and Bush at the get go and take it from there.
Some one call the Hague, our current Justice Department can’t handle cases like this. Shield the whistleblowers.
I believe I heard Thom Hartmann say that Mukasey’s “independent” investigator is actually an associate who is loyal to the administration. Further, launching a DOJ investigation effectively kills any chance for congress to do their own investigation. The end result is a “managed” affair that turns up nothing, while congress is prohibited from uncovering anything of substance.
Interesting take on it, if it actually is the case. It does fit this administration’s M.O.
January 7th, 2008 at 1:37 pmIt’s not “criminalization of politics”. It’s “politics of criminals”.
January 7th, 2008 at 1:48 pmThey’d better “lawyer up” along with the white house because when Sibel Edmonds’ story is released, it will totally destroy the CIA and members of the Bush administration……aka….”the enemy within”. Grossman….Addington….just to name a sorry few.
January 7th, 2008 at 1:59 pmAin’t that cute. Now the good people at CIA are lawyering up instead of waging war on terror. Well done. Osama is proud of you.
Comment by Frank M — January 7, 2008 @ 1:08 pm
Ain’t is cute. Frank is trying to justify criminality which actually hinders the “war on terror”, because our standing as a nation of laws is diminished. Well done. Hitler would be proud of you Frank.
January 7th, 2008 at 2:00 pmIt is of some interest that Representative Silvestre Reyes (D-TX)– chair of the House Standing Committee on Intelligence — is a close friend of Jose Rodriguez, the CIA operative who ordered the destruction of the CIA’s torture tapes. At ceremonies in El Paso last summer, Reyes praised Rodriguez for his work at the Agency and presented him with a flag that had flown over the U. S. Capitol. Rodriguez reportedly went to work for one of Reyes’ brothers at a company he owns in El Paso after Rodriguez left the CIA.
It is of more than passing interest that Reyes — joined by ranking Republican Peter Hoekstra — announced an investigation of the CIA torture tapes destruction by declaring that there would be no “scapegoat” (read: friend Rodriguez) in the case.
Writing in the Washington Post last Thursday, Dan Fromkin reported:
“Cheney has been the administration’s central figure on all things related to torture. It was Cheney who pushed so hard for “flexibility” in interrogations of terrorist suspects. Former secretary of state Colin Powell’s chief of staff, Lawrence Wilkerson, has long argued that it is “clear that the Office of the Vice President bears responsibility for creating an environment conducive to the acts of torture and murder committed by U.S. forces in the war on terror.”
“In the weeks proceeding the November 2005 destruction of the torture tapes, Cheney was pulling out all the stops in a failed lobbying effort to get fellow Republicans on the Hill to exempt the CIA from a proposed torture ban. Cheney’s arm-twisting was so unseemly that a Washington Post editorial dubbed him the “Vice President for Torture.” (When the law passed, Cheney’s office authored a ” signing statement” for Bush, in which he reserved the right to ignore it.)
“So it should have come as no surprise when the New York Times reported last month that David S. Addington, Cheney’s chief of staff and former legal counsel, was among the three White House lawyers who participated in at least one key meeting about the videotapes in 2004.
“The initial spin from the White House was that only Harriet E. Miers, then a deputy White House chief of staff, had been briefed about the tapes — and that she had advised against their destruction.
“But with anything related to torture, it’s pretty clear the CIA took its orders from Cheney — via Addington. And how plausible is it that, in his exchanges with the CIA, Addington advised against the tapes’ destruction? Or that the CIA would have done it if he had told them not to? Isn’t it more likely that he supported the idea, either overtly or with a nod and a wink?
“So one has to wonder what will happen if Addington is hauled in front of a grand jury to testify not just about his relevant conversations with the CIA, but about his conversations with Cheney. ”
It will be a very interesting Spring and Summer in D. C. this year.
January 7th, 2008 at 2:32 pmI vas only followink orders!
“Don’t do the crime, if you can’t do the time!”
January 7th, 2008 at 3:57 pm