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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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Obama Could Expose Secrets of the Bush Years

On torture, wiretapping, and more, Bush legacy rests with successor

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(Newser) – Good government groups spent years suing and lobbying to expose the Bush administration’s secrets. Will President Obama spill the beans on his predecessor? Politico outlines major secrets Obama can choose to air or keep:

  • US attorney firings: Claiming executive privilege, Karl Rove refused to testify. But Rove has been re-subpoenaed, and Obama may get to make the final choice.

  • Warrantless wiretapping: “The Bush administration claimed secrets that really don’t pass the giggle test,” says a privacy advocate. Obama backed liberals on this issue until a sudden mid-campaign compromise. He probably won’t flip back now.
  • Bush’s and Cheney’s CIA leak statements: A top watchdog in Congress tried to get Bush and Cheney’s statements to the Valerie Plame case prosecutor, but the Justice Department blocked him. Now Obama can disclose them, if he chooses.
  • The torture memos: More than 40 legal opinions, including one actually listing interrogation methods, are still largely secret.
  • Secret prisons: The orders for Bush’s “black site” program might be released, but Obama will probably try to avoid embarrassing the host countries.
  • Area 51: Just kidding.   

A demonstrator who did not want to be identified displays signs during a protest of the Bush administration's domestic wiretapping program February 22, 2006 in downtown Chicago, Illinois.
A demonstrator who did not want to be identified displays signs during a protest of the Bush administration's domestic wiretapping program February 22, 2006 in downtown Chicago, Illinois.   (Getty Images)
A plane at the Prague airport, April 8, 2005. This plane is widely believed to have been used in extraordinary rendition of prisoners.
A plane at the Prague airport, April 8, 2005. This plane is widely believed to have been used in extraordinary rendition of prisoners.   (Getty Images)
President Bush stands with Attorney General Michael Mukasey, discussing warrant less wiretapping and Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), Monday, March 3, 2008.
President Bush stands with Attorney General Michael Mukasey, discussing warrant less wiretapping and Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), Monday, March 3, 2008.   (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
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If all the litigation goes forward — status quo, there’s going to be a huge sense of disappointment, a feeling of betrayal. - Anne Weissman, chief counsel for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington

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9 comments
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Timinator2K
Feb 10, 09 10:05 AM CST
Obama is going to NOTHING of the sort..lest he NEED to employ similar methods in order to facilitate the killing of more terrorists. And the deader, the better! Reply
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Bryanw55
Feb 10, 09 4:44 PM CST
Uh, there is no proof, zero, that even one act of terrorism was stopped by using these methods. And the majority of military officers say that it is not effective. And as John McCain once stated before drinking the Cheney koolaid, it makes it far more likely that our own troops will be tortured. I guess you have no problems with wire tapping anyone at any time either, though it shreds the Constitution. All that needs to be done is to prove after the fact-after the fact, that the tapping was justified. There is no reason to not agree to justify why you tapped someone's communication after the fact unless you are misusing the system, likely for political rather than security reasons. Unless the executive branch can be checked and must justify its actions we are spawning a dictatorship. And that won't separate us very much from the folks who hit us on 911. In fact, it will prove they won, destroying our great Republic.
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Caps
Feb 10, 09 10:31 AM CST
I hope he exposes these two cronies and shows the country what these two right wing nuts were made of. Reply
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PaleRider
Feb 10, 09 10:38 AM CST
The only thing he has a chance of "exposing" is that the media has spun this "urban legend" up to epic proportions and the truth will disappoint a lot of people looking to see Bush and Chaney answer to it. Reply
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IN RESPONSE:
Mr.C
Feb 10, 09 11:26 AM CST
well-said
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