More Misconduct At The TOP Levels Of The Justice Department (Scott Horton)

[kpete]

IG investigators were astonished particularly by what transpired in the first ten days of Arar’s detention. Well-defined procedures were not followed. The State Department was consciously kept out of the loop. Steps were taken to circumvent Arar’s rights, and particularly to guard against the prospect that a lawyer for Arar would challenge his highly dubious treatment through a habeas corpus proceeding. Who was at fault in this process? A group of very senior figures, mostly in the U.S. Department of Justice.

Justice Department figures, and particularly those who are fingered and criticized in the early drafts of the IG Report, have been frantic in their efforts to quash it. And they’re succeeding. That, I am told, is why the IG Report has not been finalized and transmitted to Congress.

One pretext has been used to block the Report. It is the fact that civil litigation brought by Maher Arar is now pending in the U.S. Courts. Justice Department lawyers involved in managing the defense of this suit have expressed strong concern that the IG Report would, if delivered to Congress, deliver a potential death blow to their efforts. They also caution that it might result in the leakage of attorney-client privileged information which would greatly harm the litigating position of the United States.

more at:
http://harpers.org/archive/2007/11/hbc-90001676

[ThomCat]

1. I'm sure there's a whole lot of illegal dirt they're trying

to keep out of the light of day. Mr Arar deserves one hell of an apology from the US.

[Richard Steele]

2. Grrrecommended

[hootinholler]

3. They have nothing to worry about if they did nothing wrong, right?

Turn about is fair play.

-Hoot