Gonzales Changes Tune on 'Legitimate' CIA Probe

(NEWSER) - Bush Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is on the same page as Eric Holder when it comes to investigating allegations of CIA torture. “As chief prosecutor of the United States, he should make the decision on his own, based on the facts,” he tells the Washington Times. Gonzales, who's taken much heat for his role in sanctioning harsh interrogations, says he and his lawyers "worked very hard to set up ground rules." If people went beyond them, "I think it is legitimate to question and examine that conduct." More»

(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»

(AP) - Seeking to move beyond what he calls a "a dark and painful chapter in our history," President Barack Obama said today that CIA officials who used harsh interrogation tactics during the Bush administration will not be prosecuted. Obama officials also released four secret memos detailing tactics against 28 prisoners, from waterboarding to using a plastic neck collar to slam detainees into walls. More»

Eric Holder carves a new, powerful role as attorney general

(NEWSER) - The appointment of a federal prosecutor to investigate CIA interrogations exposed a long-running turf war between the intelligence agency and the Department of Justice—and demonstrated the substantial clout of AG Eric Holder, who prevailed in almost every dispute with CIA Director Leon Panetta. The New York Times and Washington Post both chart the push-pull leading up to this week's announcement, which began when Justice released largely unredacted memos authorizing waterboarding and other forms of torture. More»

Top-level approval of interrogation techniques could complicate Justice probe

(NEWSER) - As the CIA discloses internal reports concerning “enhanced” interrogation techniques on detainees at secret prisons, the ugliest details—threats of execution and harm with a power drill—have grabbed headlines. But the documents also reveal an intriguing level of control that the CIA and Department of Justice maintained over every detail of interrogations—down to the size of light bulbs in a cell—in a painstaking attempt to keep the abuse within a hair's breath of the law, the New York Times reports. More»