Could it be? Will justice find its mark?

Source: Holder considers prosecutor to probe interrogations
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/07/12/source-holder-considers-prosecutor-to-probe-interrogations/

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Attorney General Eric Holder is leaning toward appointing a prosecutor to investigate the Bush administration's interrogation practices, a source familiar with the process confirmed to CNN.

The source did not want to be identified by name because the process is ongoing, and no decision has been made.

Newsweek, which first reported Holder's inclination to name a prosecutor, also reported that the attorney general has asked his staff for a list of 10 candidates who might serve as that prosecutor if one is named.

A Justice Department official told CNN a decision could come in the next few weeks. The official, who also did not want to be named because of the ongoing process, said that if the attorney general does proceed, it will be a very "narrowly tailored" investigation, looking at only those who might have gone beyond the legal guidance at the time in conducting interrogations.

Obama Faces a New Push to Look Back
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/13/us/politics/13intel.html?_r=1&hp

President Obama is facing new pressure to reverse himself and to ramp up investigations into the Bush-era security programs, despite the political risks.

Leading Democrats on Sunday demanded investigations of how a highly classified counterterrorism program was kept secret from the Congressional leadership on the orders of Vice President Dick Cheney.

Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, who is the chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, on Fox News Sunday called it a “big problem.” Senator Richard J. Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, on “This Week” on ABC, agreed that the secrecy “could be illegal” and demanded an inquiry.

Mr. Obama said this weekend that he had asked his staff members to review the mass killing of prisoners in Afghanistan by local forces allied with the United States as it toppled the Taliban regime there. The New York Times reported Saturday that the Bush administration had blocked investigations of the matter.

Reports: Cheney Told CIA To Conceal Program
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106521628&sc=fb&cc=fp


Weekend Edition Sunday, July 12, 2009 · Former Vice President Dick Cheney directed the CIA eight years ago not to brief Congress on a secret counterterrorism program created after the Sept. 11 attacks, according to reports from the Associated Press and The New York Times.

The details of the program have not been released, but Texas congressman Silvestre Reyes, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, told NPR, "This was a very highly classified program that had been in place since right after the attacks of 9/11 and involved a worldwide effort. It's a very serious program."

CIA Director Leon Panetta ended the program when he learned about it on June 23, according to Reyes. "And then I'd say within less than 24 hours, he was in front of our committee giving us the full scale of information," Reyes said.

Reyes said the CIA may have violated provisions of the National Security Act that requires Congress to be kept informed about this and other intelligence programs.

Bush-era wiretap program had limited results, report finds
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/07/12/bush.wiretap/index.html

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Federal agents found much of the information produced by the Bush administration's top-secret warrantless surveillance program vague and difficult to use, a sweeping review of the program found.


Former President Bush claims his administration's surveillance program helped to ward off terrorist attacks.

Then-President George Bush and other top administration officials have said the program was a critical tool in preventing terrorist attacks. However, a report Friday by the inspectors general of the CIA, the Justice Department, the Pentagon and other agencies found that some FBI and CIA agents were frustrated by the secrecy surrounding the program.

Former CIA chiefs Michael Hayden and Porter Goss told investigators the wiretaps filled a gap in U.S. intelligence. One senior official quoted in the report called the wiretaps, dubbed the "President's Surveillance Program" by the report, "a key resource," while the FBI considered it "one tool of many" in their efforts to head off terrorist plots, the report states.

"Even though most PSP leads were determined not to have any connection to terrorism, many of the FBI witnesses believed the mere possibility of the leads producing useful information made investigating the leads worthwhile," the report states.

Obama orders review of alleged slayings of Taliban in Bush era
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/07/12/obama.afghan.killings/index.html

(CNN) -- President Obama has ordered national security officials to look into allegations that the Bush administration resisted efforts to investigate a CIA-backed Afghan warlord over the killings of hundreds of Taliban prisoners in 2001.


In an exclusive, CNN talked with President Obama in Ghana about his order to review alleged deaths of Taliban.

"The indications that this had not been properly investigated just recently was brought to my attention," Obama told CNN's Anderson Cooper in an exclusive interview during the president's visit to Ghana. The full interview will air 10 p.m. Monday.

"So what I've asked my national security team to do is to collect the facts for me that are known, and we'll probably make a decision in terms of how to approach it once we have all of the facts gathered up," Obama said.