Mukasey Argues That Torture Authorizers ‘Cannot And Should Not’ Be Prosecuted Or Even Investigated
Mukasey Argues That Torture Authorizers ‘Cannot And Should Not’ Be Prosecuted Or Even Investigated
During Attorney General Michael Mukasey’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee today, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) implored Mukasey to make a “clean break” from the Bush administration’s record of allowing possible violations of federal law to go unpunished, urging him to investigate administration officials who authorized torture.
Mukasey responded by saying that he “cannot and should not” prosecute those individuals because such an investigation would focus on what is “politically acceptable” rather than what is “legal”:
MUKASEY: Any CIA agent who acted in good faith reliance on an opinion from the Department of Justice cannot and should not be prosecuted because if they are, any opinion from the Department of Justice to anyone on the frontline is totally and completely useless. [...]
DURBIN: What about those who authorized that torture?
MUKASEY: I think its the same answer. … I think what lawyers have to do is focus on what’s legal and not be concerned with what is politically acceptable later on. And if we go after them and prosecute them that’s exactly what they will be concerned about.
Watch it:
Torture is not, and has never been, a political issue. The techniques authorized by Bush administration officials are illegal under both U.S. and international law. Less than a year ago, Mukasey himself said the Bush administration’s infamous torture memo was “worse than a sin, it was a mistake.” Mukasey’s refusal to investigate, however, should not be surprising. Like Gonzales before him, Mukasey does not appear to be concerned with holding government officials accountable for their “sins.”
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We are finished as Country the world looks up to!
July 9th, 2008 at 7:23 pmCan we impeach an AG? I believe he swore an oath also to uphold the laws of the land, and it is clear that torturing humans is a criminal act. The same arguement the AG uses to avoid investigating, was not accepted at Nuremberg. You cannot skip out on illegal actions simply because someone told you it was legal. Why is that so difficult for thinking people to understand?
My head still hurts. Gonna be a big drinking night for me…..
July 9th, 2008 at 7:25 pmCrime no longer exists. release all prisoners and close the jails.
July 9th, 2008 at 7:26 pmOnce again we must send our heartfelt thanks to Diane Feinstein and Chuck Schumer. I wonder if they are what they did to this country. Probably not since both voted to give telecom immunity. Every day I think that we need a parliamentary form of government. At least with that form of government they can get rid of politicians who don’t do the work of the people without having to wait 2, 4 or 6 years to do it.
July 9th, 2008 at 7:26 pmWe are a country run by douchebags.
July 9th, 2008 at 7:29 pmThis is the piece of crap our nation has become under the Republiscum. I am sorry, but I was a JAG in the Air Force. It did not take a lot to know that water boarding and orther enhanced interrogation techniques were just plain illegal.
This is a repudiation of the Nuremburg principals. It is the acceptance as a part of our law that one may follow illegal orders so long as the DoJ writes a memo saying that it is legal. Not only that, but those providing such legal advice also can not be held accountable. Hitler, Stalin, Hussein and many other sterling leaders of our world would have enjoyed such a privilege.
These people are war criminals. They deserve to be hunted down, tried, and put to death. The Republican party is no different than any other terrorist or fascist organization. The party must be disbanded, their senior membership imprisoned or put to death and their wealthy/corporate sponsors seized by the state. These scum are a cancer to our democracy and must be treated as such.
July 9th, 2008 at 7:30 pmEvery day I think that we need a parliamentary form of government. At least with that form of government they can get rid of politicians who don’t do the work of the people without having to wait 2, 4 or 6 years to do it.
Just tell me when and where…I got your back.
July 9th, 2008 at 7:30 pmAmerica is dead, except for collecting taxes from the workers to distribute to the corporations.
July 9th, 2008 at 7:36 pmWell, that sends a message to the rest of the world, doesn’t it? Are these Repubs that stupid? It’s like giving other countries a license to maim/torture/kill Americans. Stupid. And illegal.
July 9th, 2008 at 7:36 pmAttorney General Michael Mukasey should be impeachmented by the House of Representatives and put on trial in the Senate for “not upholding the constitution, and other high crimes and misdemeanors.”
July 9th, 2008 at 7:37 pmI meant “impeached”, sorry typing to fast…..
July 9th, 2008 at 7:38 pmWho would have thought that the GOP stood for anarchy?
July 9th, 2008 at 7:38 pmI’m sure that, given the weakened parameters for declaring martial law, this Mucousy fellow will back up that upcoming illegality. And Bush/Cheney will remain in power after the election. They stole two elections. They lied us into war and botched it. They approved and applauded torture and “extraordinary rendition.” They helped destroy our economy. They spy on Americans at will. They shit on the Constitution. They opened Gulags around the world, most notably in Guantanamo. They helped accelerate global warming and the destruction of the environment for profit. They blocked access to generic medications to treat HIV and other diseases to profit pharma, committing an economic form of genocide, while pressing psychotic and ineffective “abstinence only” programs. They have lost billions of dollars. They let New Orleans die. They destroyed most of the government’s regulatory efficacy. They outed a CIA officer whose work was around weapons of mass destruction. They have committed so many crimes, heinous acts, thefts, murders and mayhem upon the citizens of the United States and the world that it is absolutely breathtaking. Millions more are starving, progress in thwarting poverty globally have been wiped out. They are stingy and cruel to the benefit of the vastly stinking wealthy and the “corporatocracy” as Perkins puts in “Confessions of an Economic Hit Man.”
How much more of this horror can the world (and even the media) sustain?
Perhaps if all just accept the notion that profit matters more than life, we’ll all be just fine.
July 9th, 2008 at 7:40 pmWho needs Mukasey? We have Democrats.
July 9th, 2008 at 7:42 pmSomehow, our leaders came to the conclusion that we’d rather have bad legislation passed and evil people put in key positions than have governmental gridlock. I’d rather NOTHING happen in Washington than have what we’ve put up with in the last 7 1/2 years. First, do no harm.
July 9th, 2008 at 7:47 pmI know some former leaders of the Third Reich that would agree with these sentiments.
July 9th, 2008 at 7:54 pmEnough of these useless hearings. They are nothing more than political versions of Charlie Brown (the Democrats) repeatedly falling for Lucy Van Pelt’s (The Repukes) old trick of pulling away the football just as the blockhead comes running to kick it. These hearings are nothing more than big showy productions — only there’s never any applause when the curtain falls.
If the Dems were truly serious about holding these criminals accountable they’d scuttle every upcoming hearing for every committee they have and instead — every damn one of them — support Dennis Kucinich’s effort to impeach George Bush and Dick Cheney.
It’s a simple solution, albeit one which the scared rabbit Dems will obviously ignore, lest it be known that they actually stand for pithy things like truth, justice and the U.S. Constitution.
Just saying . . .
July 9th, 2008 at 7:55 pmMukasey sounds more like the defense attorney for the torture enablers than an attorney general.
That’s exactly how white men got away with lynching blacks. No crime committed if no one will press the issue…..
July 9th, 2008 at 8:01 pmA memo from a lawyer telling you an illegal act is legal does not make it legal, period. Otherwise drug dealers would have a lawyer writing at all times.
July 9th, 2008 at 8:07 pmNot that it will happen, but ……. Have the Repugs thought through the fact that the precedent they are setting will give the Dems the same powers to trash the Constitution and to ignore those pesky laws?
I admit to having ambivalent feelings about whether they should stoop that low, but ……..
July 9th, 2008 at 8:08 pmThey have given up claiming that waterboarding is not torture, so now they just refuse to enforce the law. Lying cowards and TRAITORS.
July 9th, 2008 at 8:08 pm“I think what lawyers have to do is focus on what’s legal and not be concerned with what is politically acceptable later on. And if we go after them and prosecute them that’s exactly what they will be concerned about.”
If prosecuting lawyers causes them to focus on what is and is not legal (torturing is always illegal) instead of what is politically acceptable (condoning torture under certain circumstances) then I say let’s prosecute the shit out of these bastards!!!
July 9th, 2008 at 8:12 pmSchumer and Feinstein are to blame for this fascist having the postion he is in. I also have to blame the criminals with (R)after their names who have given the thugs of the crime family everything they have ever wished for. The United States is much weaker today than they were the day the Supreme Court appointed a drunken AWOL chimp to the highest position in the world. This is a sad day.
July 9th, 2008 at 8:13 pmMUKASEY: Any CIA agent who acted in good faith reliance on an opinion from the Department of Justice cannot and should not be prosecuted…
Way to go Dems. Didn’t take long for those chickens to come home to roost, you stupid gutless f***s.
Is Mukasey’s answer not the exact same reasoning used to grant immunity to the telecoms? i.e., they were only acting in good faith because Bush told them it was legal to break the law?
This is the world Bush has created, and the Congress has enabled. F***ing sickening.
July 9th, 2008 at 8:27 pmStratRat (2) asks, “Can we impeach an AG?”
Apparently we can. The very same question came up a year ago in connection with Mukasey’s predecessor:
– He’s Impeachable, You Know
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July 9th, 2008 at 8:40 pmBy FRANK BOWMAN
Published: May 3, 2007
StratRat @ 2 asks, Can we impeach an AG?
Apparently yes. The same question came up a year ago with Mukasey’s predecessor.
– He’s Impeachable, You Know, Op-Ed by Frank Bowman, NY Times, May 3, 2007
July 9th, 2008 at 8:44 pmWhoops, sorry! For some reason an unfinished version of my post disappeared from the page. Very annoyed, I reposted from scratch before finding the raw version already posted.
July 9th, 2008 at 8:47 pmBy that logic, we should release Charles Manson, because he didn’t participate in the Manson killings, he just instigated them.
And the German officers that gave orders in WWII were not responsible for the atrocities that occurred, right?
What ever happened to the rule of Law in this country? Maybe Bush could search for them in the Oval office under a chair, like he did for the missing WMD’s in Iraq.
July 9th, 2008 at 8:52 pmThe current administration has mastered the talent of accepting no responsibility for themselves or thier subordinates actions. They have obviously passed it down to thier heir apparant and he is using it masterfully. Because these men have no integrity, they can so effortlessly make it appear natural and quite legitimate when they performing this it.
July 9th, 2008 at 9:02 pmThey should’nt be imprisoned. They should be tried, convicted and hung. We see just how low the Republican party has gone when they continue to side with torturers.
July 9th, 2008 at 9:06 pmWhy does Mukasey sound like a defendant at the Nuremberg Trials?
July 9th, 2008 at 9:17 pmA shadow puppet government as been installed right before our eyes.
July 9th, 2008 at 9:35 pmMukasey said:
July 9th, 2008 at 10:43 pm
.
What Mukasey meant was:
.
July 9th, 2008 at 10:44 pmIs Schumer really surprised? I’m not. Mukasey should never have been confirmed, as I told every Democratic member of the Judiciary Committee at the time. No AG would be better than this AG. Who nominated him again? That would be Bushco. They will all skate away with not even a slap on the wrist. So sick of these criminals. Nobody is doing anything and nobody will. Check back in 4 years or 8 years and all of these same characters will still be lying to us and robbing us blind.
July 9th, 2008 at 10:48 pmLets do this in a choose your own adventure version.
Are you American?
Yes? – Welcome to American civil/criminal rights
no? – Welcome to being the weakest link. Be lucky we took the time to talk to you instead of putting a handful of bullets in you. You might not be guilty of anything we can prove, but no one is truly innocent. However, Alpha > all so we can do what we want. Life isn’t fair, stop being such a flower and accept it.
July 10th, 2008 at 12:46 amThis does clear the way for international jurisdiction.
By the way,
BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING
July 10th, 2008 at 1:05 amMukasey responded by saying that he “cannot and should not” prosecute those individuals because such an investigation would focus on what is “politically acceptable” rather than what is “legal”:
I thought torture was illegal,
oop`s the re-pukes forgot….
July 10th, 2008 at 1:40 amMukasey is that rarest of all creatures: A Jew who never heard of Nuremberg.
July 10th, 2008 at 5:31 amI agree. Torture authorizers should not be prosecuted. They should be arrested, thrown in a cell, and denied any contact with the outside world. They should have no legal counsel, and no day in civilian court. They should be renditioned to Morocco or some other hellhole where the CIA has learned really effective “enhanced interrogation” techniques from the locals.
After several years of this treatment, the DOD can decide whether to send them to a military tribunal, or to simply drop them off somewhere like Albania and forget about them.
July 10th, 2008 at 8:43 amAddington, Yoo and the rest should be hung for what they have done to this Country’s reputation. It would be a good start and possibly deter future criminals from trying this shit down the road. Not doogedly going after the Reagan Administration after the Iran/Contra fiasco has emboldened these neocon thugs, many of which are holdovers from the Reagan and Nixon Administrations that have been sculking around DC since then waiting for exactly this kind of opportunity. They feel safe in the security that nothing will be done to punish their criminal activities so they push further and further over the legal boundaries, almost daring someone to do something about it. Mukasey deserves to be disbarred for not investigaitng such blatant illegal acts. After his term he should be arrested along with the rest of these thugs and tried for war crimes and domestic terror acts. IF A STRONG EXAMPLE ISN’T MADE OF THIS ADMINISTRATION WHAT WILL PREVENT THE NEXT REPUB PRESIDENCY FROM PUSHING EVEN FURTHER?
July 10th, 2008 at 9:33 amI would like to compliment Senator Durbin for keeping this issue in the forefront.
Rather than get upset about the AG’s response, how about everyone here DOING something about it?
Write your Congressperson and Senators and demand that a special prosecutor be installed to investigate this matter. If crimes of this magnitude have been committed, they need to be prosecuted (irrespective of the AG’s opinion).
The world is watching to see what type of morals the United States has.
July 10th, 2008 at 10:16 amMUKASEY: Any CIA agent who acted in good faith reliance on an opinion from the Department of Justice cannot and should not be prosecuted because if they are, any opinion from the Department of Justice to anyone on the frontline is totally and completely useless. […]
This is the same bogus argument used to justify telecom immunity, essentially they’re just following orders. But even in the army soldiers are required not to follow illegal orders.
DURBIN: What about those who authorized that torture?
MUKASEY: I think its the same answer. … I think what lawyers have to do is focus on what’s legal and not be concerned with what is politically acceptable later on. And if we go after them and prosecute them that’s exactly what they will be concerned about.
So in other words, whether you did it or authorized it makes no difference, Mukasey will do nothing. And his rationalization is beyond belief. Prosecuting tortures is politically motivated? Absurd. Not prosecuting such obvious crimes is politically motivated.
Mukasey is just another Bush stooge. And the beat goes on.
http://progressiveworldreview.com
July 10th, 2008 at 11:20 am.
So does Mukasey think Justice should NOT pursue the mastermind behind crimes against people… like 9/11?
.
July 10th, 2008 at 12:35 pmWe hung men at Nuremberg who were “only following orders”. That defense wasn’t accepted then, and it shouldn’t be accepted now.
July 10th, 2008 at 5:35 pmHe’s a Tom Hagen. You young’uns look that up in Wikipedia.
July 10th, 2008 at 11:51 pm