Is the Justice Department currently investigating torture during the Bush administration?

I'd like to see more votes. Maybe we'll get a correct answer soon.

Isn't it odd that the public, and even the netroots, are so unaware of it? I understand why the corporate press wants to ignore it, but why should the left? I guess it doesn't fit the cynicism narrative.

I can't imagine what he was thinking!

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/torture-investigation-president-george-bush-era-doj-attorneys/story?id=9892348&page=1

In fact I seem to remember DU outrage over Yoo not getting arrested for his legal opinions.

Use the terms of scorn and derision properly or not at all!

Google John Durham for news stories. You'll mostly find editorials criticizing that he didn't prosecute over the destruction of torture videos. If you read in a few paragraphs, you'll find that his investigation was recently expanded to look further into interrogation methods used under Bush.

He didn't prosecute over the destruction of the evidence but you think something is going to happen with his "investigation" of the methods?

That's a good sign. It's what many people on this site want, even if they don't know it happened.
We don't know why he chose not to prosecute the destruction of evidence. Maybe he didn't believe he had enough evidence for a conviction. He may still prosecute for conspiracy to commit or perjury related to the crime.

I am curious, what is your favorite news site? DU has some good stuff, but I notice a lot of things not getting noticed or written about. Thanks for sharing the above.

I like common dreams and alternet. DU news forum is still a good source.

I have habit of googling anti-Obama claims on DU that sound fishy. Most of the time I discover that the post is exaggerated or based on nothing but speculation.

However, this will not make some folks who want to see Bush/Cheney personally imprisoned, for life, happy.

But these things don't happen in the American political system. It only happens to leaders on the losing side of a war and we didn't lose that one.

It's investigating Julian Assange. Apparently Julian is torturing them with his Wikileaks.

is it investigating the right people. Look at Abu Ghraib for an example. Who should of went to jail over those prison photos, and who ended up going to jail over those photos?

Investigations only matter if you're going after the right people. And Obama does not want to be seen as attacking anyone within the intelligence services or the military.

If prosecutions result then there will be legal and political cover to expand it even further. That's how solid investigations usually progress. It's the difference between Watergate, which worked its way up as crimes were investigated, as opposed to Whitewater, which started with a target and searched for crime.

A lot of Democrats want a Whitewater style investigation that starts with a target and looks for a crime that can be prosecuted. That's understandable but I don't think it will result in the results they're looking for. That's what should have been done by Congress while Bush was still in office.

file charges against people of the Bush administration?

If you believe that, then I have a bridge in Brooklyn I want to sell you.

Obama: Bush Official Prosecutions Over Torture Memos Possible

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/21/obama-administration-bush_n_189521.html

Together to Kill Bush Torture Probe"

http://motherjones.com/politics/2010/12/wikileaks-cable-obama-quashed-torture-investigation



If Obama is willing to go to such great lengths to stop Spain from proceeding with such proceedings, then there is no chance in hell he will allow the Justice Department to follow through with such proceedings.

In typical Obama fashion, say one thing - do another.

They tried to get a friendly judge (something every lawyer in every case wants) to protect US officials in an attempted prosecution by a foreign government. It's typical American fashion for any administration. Assuming that's a big conspiracy to stop any domestic investigation is a conspiratorial stretch.

Or maybe your eyes were shut when you came to this part; "Two weeks later, Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) and the embassy's charge d'affaires "raised the issue" with another official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The next day, Zaragoza informed the US embassy that the complaint might not be legally sound. He noted he would ask Cándido Conde-Pumpido, Spain's attorney general, to review whether Spain had jurisdiction.

On April 15, Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.), who'd recently been chairman of the Republican Party, and the US embassy's charge d'affaires met with the acting Spanish foreign minister, Angel Lossada. The Americans, according to this cable, "underscored that the prosecutions would not be understood or accepted in the US and would have an enormous impact on the bilateral relationship" between Spain and the United States. Here was a former head of the GOP and a representative of a new Democratic administration (headed by a president who had decried the Bush-Cheney administration's use of torture) jointly applying pressure on Spain to kill the investigation of the former Bush officials."

Perhaps you didn't read that part of my post. Yes, it's standard operating procedure extended to members of any previous or current administration. It's the same thing we've done when soldiers accidentally destroy property or lives in ally countries. Look up accidents caused by US troops in Canada and Spain over the past few years and how we responded similarly. Extrapolating some deeper intent to not investigate torture domestically is completely speculative, as most of the attacks against Obama on this board are.

All I know is what they tell me.