Jan 29 2009

Holder Responds to Bond

HT to NL!

Via Huffpo, to clear the record….



Aide: Holder Has Made No Decisions On Prosecuting Bush Officials

An aide to Eric Holder rejected a report Wednesday suggesting that the Attorney General nominee had pledged not to prosecute members of the Bush administration officials who were complicit in illegal harsh interrogations or torture.

“Eric Holder has not made any commitments about who would or would not be prosecuted,” said the aide. “He explained his position to Senator Bond as he did in the public hearing and in responses to written questions.”

The statement came hours after the Washington Times quoted Senate Judiciary Committee member Kit Bond saying Holder had privately insisted that he would not conduct such prosecutions. That report caused a stir on the Hill, where Democrats were left wondering whether Holder had privately placated Republican concerns that he would investigate Bush administration officials involved in interrogations.



So…..Kit Bond is, completely unsurprisingly….a big, fat liar!

Isn’t it nice to have a responsive government again?

15 comments

Skip to comment form

  1. “Oh look honey, there is that big fat liar Kit Bond!”

    Photobucket

    • Edger on January 29, 2009 at 00:52
    • #

    Bond and The Washington Times are…. trolls!

  3. with comments.

    The Plum Line

    Greg Sargent’s blog

    White House Aide Denying That Holder Ruled Out Prosecuting Bush Officials

    An aide to incoming Attorney General Eric Holder is denying that he privately told GOP Senators that he’d ruled out prosecuting former Bush officials involved in interrogating programs.

    Earlier today, the Washington Times got everyone stirred up by reporting that GOP Senator Christopher Bond had decided to back Holder’s confirmation for AG because Holder had privately assured him he wouldn’t pursue such prosecutions. The story has cheered conservatives today, and sent human rights advocates into a panic. . . . .

    Glenn Greenwald observes that “something caused virtually all of the [Judiciary] Committee Republicans to vote to confirm Holder today.” It seems unlikely that Bond’s version of events is it, however.

    I think Greenwald’s comment is pretty interesting.  

    And Greenwald has an Update:

    UPDATE IV:  At his new Washington Post blog, Greg Sargent reports that a Holder aide — rather emphatically — denies that Holder made any such comments to Bond:  “Eric Holder has not made any commitments about who would or would not be prosecuted. He explained his position to Senator Bond as he did in the public hearing and in his responses to written questions.”  Greg notes that Holder’s public comments explicitly left open the possibility of prosecutions and, referring to my statement above that “something caused virtually all of the Committee Republicans to vote to confirm Holder today,” Greg writes:  “It seems unlikely that Bond’s version of events is it, however.”  I agree; it is unlikely.

    — Glenn Greenwald

     

  4. just announced that Senator Feingold will be on her show tonight to give his predictions about the possibility of prosecution of the Bush administration.  

  5. So…..Kit Bond is, completely unsurprisingly….a big, fat liar!

    Now, I may be jaded about politicians and lawyers, but it seems to me that there is no proof that Bond is a liar.  Mind you, in this case I hope he is. The problem is that we weren’t privy to whatever conversations Holder and Bond had.

    I would say let’s wait and see what Holder does.  If he investigates and prosecutes, then we can say that Bond was a liar.  If no prosecutions, then it would seem to me that Holder was.

Comments have been disabled.