Reply #123: More Info on calls for a special prosecutor: [View All]

"A host of liberals yearn for a Fitzgerald-like prosecutor to hit the torture trail--to investigate whether any Bush administration officials violated anti-torture laws, or conspired to do so. MoveOn has asked its members to urge Holder to set up a special prosecutor, and it has organized a petition drive. In a letter to its members, the group says:

So far there's been no accountability for the architects of Bush's torture program -- the top officials who justified keeping detainees awake for 11 days straight, waterboarding them repeatedly, and forcing prisoners into coffin-like boxes with insects. We need real consequences for those responsible -- it's the only way to keep this from happening again.


Democrats.com has a similar petition for Holder. The Center for Constitutional Rights has called for a special prosecutor. So have the American Civil Liberties Union and Firedoglake.com. Constitutional law professor and talking head Jonathan Turley said that appointing a special prosecutor was "long overdue." Representative Jerry Nadler (D-NY), who chairs the House subcommittee on the constitution, has demanded that Holder hire a special prosecutor. And Representative John Conyers, who chairs the House judiciary committee, has requested a special prosecutor who would investigate not merely interrogation practices but the Bush administration's use of extraordinary rendition and warrantless wiretaps."

The above is from http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2009/04/no-special-prosecutor-torture and written by David Corn, who points out that the Special Prosecutor is not as desirable as Independent Counsel, but the latter no longer exists since Congress let the authorizing statute expire. The chief problem Corn sees with SP is that SP can only prosecute crimes, not investigate wrongdoing short of crime and report on it, as Independent Counsel could. I say, better than nothing!


On edit: Seems like part of Corn's concerns can be addressed:

In the past, however, Congress has passed laws allowing special prosecutors in cases of government wrongdoing to make formal reports to the public at the end of their investigations." http://www.consortiumnews.com/2009/042909d.html