LEAHY Blasts WH For Refusing To Supply Torture Docs

[kpete]

U.S. SENATOR PATRICK LEAHY

CONTACT: Office of Senator Leahy, 202-224-4242
VERMONT


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Comments Of Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.),
Incoming Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee
On Department Of Justice’s Response To Request
For Documents Relating To Bush Administration’s Interrogation Policies
January 2, 2007

“It is disappointing that the Department of Justice and the White House have squandered another opportunity to work cooperatively with Congress. The Department’s decision to brush off my request for information about the Administration’s troubling interrogation policies is not the constructive step toward bipartisanship that I had hoped for, given President Bush’s promise to work with us.

“I requested two documents concerning CIA interrogation methods, which the Administration recently acknowledged in a lawsuit, and other relevant information. The Administration’s refusal to provide any of this information other than forwarding a couple of public documents suggests that the President’s offer to work with us may have been only political lip service. I have advised the Attorney General that I plan to pursue this matter further at the Committee’s first oversight hearing of the Department of Justice.”

“I hope the Department and the White House will reconsider their response and work with the Judiciary Committee to promptly share this information, with any appropriate confidentiality safeguards. The Committee will continue its efforts to obtain the information that it needs for meaningful oversight and accountability on this and other issues of importance to the American people.”

http://leahy.senate.gov/press/200701/010207.html

[helderheid]

1. 1st rec - thanks as usual kpete!

[riderinthestorm]

2. I wonder if this will be the first "fight to the death" over a subpeona for docs

that the Justice Dept has promised. Gonzalez isn't going to hand them over without taking this all the way to court.

The battlefield has been prepped and the first play has begun. Go Leahy.

[cali]

3. This will almost certainly be the first prominent battle

on this front, but it surely won't be the last.

[riderinthestorm]

8. I'm glad the first battle with be Leahy's. I believe he won't back down

even WHEN the Justice Dept takes it all the way to the SC. Conyers or Leahy deserve the chance to lead the charge in this first foray, their persistent investigatory efforts for the past 6 years have earned them a place at the front.

[cali]

9. Completely agree.

I'm convinced Leahy won't back down an inch, and Conyers and Leahy absolutely deserve great credit for their perseverance.

[rox63]

4. Start the popcorn popping

It's going to be an interesting congressional session ahead. :popcorn:

[sinkingfeeling]

5. It's time to get back to the 'rule of law'! Go, Leahy! Take the SOBs to court!

[Lasher]

6. Pawn to King 4

Things can be predictable in the opening. We need to get those subpeonas moving a soon as possible. Two years can be a short time when the courts are involved.

[Marie26]

7. Leahy knows what's up

You really get the sense that he thinks Bush is becoming a dictator.

[Morgana LaFey]

10. So what muscle does Leahy and his commitee have?

What I mean is, what happens if Bush et. al. keep stonewalling? Subpoenas can be issued and they too can be ignored. THEN what? Does the Committee (or someone) have the authority to send in armed police to go after the info they want? DO they just get to sue and THEN what? I mean I literaly can't imagine these arrogant "Divine Right" thugs complying with anything they don't want to absent FORCE.

So, Constitutionally and/or legally, what are the options here?

[cali]

11. The Supreme Court

is the most obvious option. I suppose they could try and find someone to testify to the contents of the documents they're seeking. I don't know what else they can do.

[Morgana LaFey]

12. I'm sorry, Cali -- I mean REAL options, beyond that.

I can see them simply ignoring the Supreme Court, too. Really, I can. IOW: who's gonna make them?

[pacalo]

13. Nixon's refusal to turn over the WH tapes to the House judiciary committee

led to the first article of impeachment: obstruction of justice.

[DoYouEverWonder]

17. I they decide to ignore the Supreme Court

(if it gets to that point) then even the Republicans will be voting for impeachment.

[Morgana LaFey]

18. Answers to my questions

sorta:

What Should Congressional Democrats Do, When the Bush Administration Stonewalls Their Efforts To Undertake Oversight?:
Part Two in a Three-Part Series
http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dean/20061229.html

I found it in some other thread.

[mod mom]

19. Thanks. Dean said on KO that congress should go after minions to get evidence

they need.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

14. i thought they could be held in contempt of Congress and put in jail.

I could be wrong. That's what happens usually when you don't obey a subpoena and show up to testify.

[stop the bleeding]

15. "dunderhead(s)"

:D

[librechik]

16. John Dean is doing a series about what to do and how to get the docs

Here is the link to part 2 of 3 (3 not out yet)

http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dean/20061229.html

snip

"Often, Congress folds when the president invokes executive privilege, for there is no real judicial remedy (as noted above, courts tend to punt, citing the "political question" doctrine). However, a determined Congress - or committee thereof - can prevail over a recalcitrant president (or vice president) if its members are determined and persistent.

Thus, if the 110th Congress, controlled by the Democrats, fails to get the information it needs -- and the public wants -- about the workings of the Bush/Cheney presidency, it will not be because it does not have the tools with which to obtain that information. Rather, it will be because it lacks the will to use those tools.

Forcing Executive Compliance with Congressional Information Requests

When Congress plays hardball, it gets the information it wants from the president. The Congressional Reference Service (CRS) has prepared a complete manual on oversight, which they updated recently. In the manual, CRS has laid out all Congress needs to know to crack any stonewall Bush and Cheney may erect to block their oversight efforts.

Lou Fisher, one of the authors of the CRS manual, catalogued a number of the methods available to Congress in his essay: "Congressional Access To Information: Using Legislative Will And Leverage." Drawing on historical examples, Fisher shows that Congress has a host of tools, of various size and shape and depending on the situation, to "extract information from the President."

more at link