"The Cleansing Effects of Investigations" - Glenn Greenwald

The cleansing effects of investigations

When I litigated cases, the part of the lawsuit which I liked best was the discovery phase, where parties and witnesses could be compelled by subpoenas and similar instruments to disclose information and documents and to testify under oath. When a lawsuit begins, each party has their own version of events, but nobody really knows who is telling the truth or what really happened, since only incomplete information is available and, as a result, nobody can really be held accountable for the untruthful claims they advance.

But the discovery process almost always uncovers critical, hidden facts that reveal what really happened, and it is virtually always the case that there are documents or testimony even more incriminating than can be predicted. People resist, and lie under oath, and try to conceal things even in the face of disclosure obligations, but compelled disclosure has a way -- sometimes slowly and incrementally, but inexorably -- of uncovering the truth and exposing wrongdoing.

In my view, more than anything else, this will be the value of a Democratic takeover of at least one of the houses of Congress. As much wrongdoing as we have learned about on the part of Bush administration already, it is almost certainly the case that there is much, much more that we don't know about, but ought to.

Beginning even before the 9/11 attacks and worsening substantially since, the administration has operated behind an almost impenetrable wall of unprecedented secrecy. More than preemptive wars, tax cuts, or presidential lawlessness, secrecy is its guiding principle, its core belief (hence the incomparable hatred that spews forth at those, such as reporters, whistleblowers, and former allies who reveal their secrets). Their allies who have controlled Congress for the last five years have not only failed to fulfill their oversight and investigative duties, but have actively helped shield the administration from any real scrutiny. . . .