If CIA Gets Pass on Torture, Why Not Lynndie?

(NEWSER) - AG Eric Holder today named a special prosecutor to investigate allegations of torture against CIA operatives who interrogated terror suspects during the Bush administration, the Washington Post reports. John Durham, who is currently probing the destruction of interrogation tapes, will look into fewer than 12 cases detailed in a CIA report released today and determine if a full-scale investigation is warranted. The Bush-era Justice Department investigated and dismissed the cases. More»

(NEWSER) - A report by the ethics office of the Justice Department recommends reopening a dozen cases of alleged prisoner abuse, a move that would expose CIA employees to prosecution if it's determined they tortured terrorism suspects, reports the New York Times. Legal experts predict Attorney General Eric Holder will launch a new criminal investigation later this week—despite President Obama's desire to ignore Bush-era abuses. More»

(NEWSER) - The CIA debacle engulfing Nancy Pelosi stems from two key mistakes on the part of the House speaker, Jay Newton-Small writes in Time. Pelosi’s dangerous belief that media training is “a waste of her time” was demonstrated when she walked away from her own press conference on the subject of interrogation briefings. Her other mistake—or character flaw—is reacting rashly in unanticipated situations. More»

Kristol: Why else would CIA boss 'humiliate' his party's speaker?

(NEWSER) - After Nancy Pelosi suggested the CIA had misled Congress, the agency’s director fired back with a letter denying the claim. But the idea that Leon Panetta would send a letter “humiliating a House speaker of his own party” entirely of his own accord seems “almost inconceivable,” writes William Kristol in the Washington Post. Perhaps he “ran it by” Rahm Emanuel—begging the question: “Does Emanuel (and, presumably, President Obama) want a chastened Pelosi to remain speaker?” More»

Torture allegations trump state secrets argument, panel rules

(NEWSER) - Five men who allege they were kidnapped and tortured on the orders of CIA agents may bring suit in federal court, an appeals panel ruled yesterday. Presidents Bush and Obama both contended that the case should be dismissed to protect classified evidence. But a federal appeals court panel ruled presidential powers to guard state secrets "are not the only weighty constitutional values at stake." More»