Apr 29 2009

Special Prosecutor formally requested by Conyers and Nadler!

(9 pm. – promoted by ek hornbeck)

Short and sweet:

Representatives John Conyers and Jerry Nadler have officially and formally requested that Eric Holder appoint a special prosecutor!

House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers and Rep Jerrold Nadler, (D-NY), formally requested that Attorney General Eric Holder appoint a special prosecutor to probe and, “where appropriate, prosecute,” Bush administration officials responsible for the torture of detainees at Guantanamo Bay prison and Iraq.

In a five-page letter sent to Holder Tuesday, Conyers and Nadler, who chairs the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, and 14 of their Democratic colleagues, said the release of four Bush administration “torture” memos, a Senate Armed Services Committee report on detainee abuse, and a report prepared by the International Red Cross on the treatment of 14 “high-value” detainees in U.S. custody, which the agency concluded “constituted torture,” “highlight the need for such an appointment.”

Link to 5 page letter HERE (on Nadler’s website).

From AfterDowningStreet.org,


Judiciary Democrats Call for Special Counsel on Torture

House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) and fifteen other Judiciary Democrats today called on Attorney General Eric Holder to appoint a special counsel to investigate possible violations of federal criminal law related to the interrogation of detainees. The attorney general acknowledged in his confirmation hearings that waterboarding is torture. Moreover, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the top Bush Administration official in charge of military commissions have also concluded that the United States engaged in torture of detainees. The Geneva Convention and the Convention Against Torture both require the United States to investigate, and if necessary prosecute, alleged violations. Justice Department regulations provide for the appointment of a special counsel when a criminal investigation is both warranted and in the public interest, and when an investigation may pose a conflict of interest within the Department. Since these conditions are present, the signatories below conclude that a special counsel should be appointed.

The signatories include:

Rep. John Conyers, Jr., Chairman

Rep. Jerrold Nadler, Chairman, Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties

Rep. Robert Scott, Chairman, Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security

Rep. Steve Cohen, Chairman, Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law

Rep. Hank Johnson, Chairman, Subcommittee on Courts and Competition Policy

Rep. Mel Watt

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee

Rep. Maxine Waters

Rep. Robert Wexler

Rep. Pedro Pierluisi

Rep. Luis Gutierrez

Rep. Tammy Baldwin

Rep. Anthony Weiner

Rep. Linda Sánchez

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz

Rep. Daniel Maffei

Can you say YEE HAW?!

25 comments

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  1. First part of the letter as follows:

    The Honorable Eric Holder

    Attorney General of the United States

    U.S. Department of Justice

    950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

    Washington, DC 20530

    Dear Mr. Attorney General:

    We write to request that you appoint a special counsel for the investigation and possible prosecution of any violations of federal criminal laws related to the interrogation of detainees in the effective custody or control of the United States in connection with counter-terrorism operations or armed conflicts in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States. Many of us previously asked your predecessor, Attorney General Mukasey, to do so, expressing our desire to ensure an independent investigation into serious allegations that high-ranking officials, including lawyers and others from the Department of Justice itself, approved the use of enhanced interrogation techniques that amounted to torture.

    Recent events highlight the need for such an appointment. The OLC memos formally released last week provide additional details regarding the purported legal justifications provided by DOJ lawyers for various interrogation techniques, including the slamming of detainees into walls, the use of stress positions, confinement in boxes, sleep deprivation, and waterboarding. The Senate Armed Services Inquiry into the Treatment of Detainees in U.S. Custody, declassified and released on April 21, confirms that these interrogation practices were developed at the request of and authorized by high-ranking administration officials, and that the abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib and elsewhere can be linked to these policy decisions.1 Top Bush Administration officials previously testified that at least three detainees were subjected to waterboarding,2 and the recently released OLC memos reveal that one detainee was subjected to waterboarding 183 times in a one month period while another was subjected to waterboarding 83 times in one month.3

    • Edger on April 29, 2009 at 01:49
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    🙂

  3. Imagonna hafta call her…! MY REP! yeehaw baybeee!

    Okay, calmed down from the overload of glee, I just want to say… this is the LEAST our elected representatives should be doing on behalf of The People and the frikkin LAW. Gah.

    So grateful, like an EX-beatup battered wife, so glad the New Guy brought me a five dollar bunch of carnations. What a ma-an. {sorry, that was snarky me}

  4. I’m sure the fact that someone inside the CIA is starting to sing like a bird to Der Spiegel has NOTHING to do with this.

    They have even tracked down the pilot of one of the “torture taxi” planes. They have his name, address and telephone number.

    Europe is watching, and if you think there is rage in the eyes of Americans, be assured that we are in very good company when it comes to the majority of Europe.

    • rb137 on April 29, 2009 at 03:15
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    I can’t figure out what to say! But thank you for this happy news.  🙂

    • geomoo on April 29, 2009 at 07:07
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    We’ve gotta be a tad gun-shy with the well-worded letters, however.  I’m going to assume Holder is driven by a burning respect for the rule of law until he proves otherwise.

  7. Conyers informed us months ago that this was going to occur, but Rove’s ass is still intact.

    Maybe a special prosecutor will move faster than Conyers has, and will actually nail some of these BushCo criminals instead of just writing letters about it.  

    Thanks, Lisa.  

  8. is cooking something up too.

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