Holder On Torture Prosecutions: An Update

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Apr 22 2009, 5:16 pm by Marc Ambinder

The Justice Department passes along, at my request, a transcript of Attorney General Eric Holder's remarks today at an Earth Day ceremony:

Q: Would you like to comment on what the President said on the torture memos?

AG: I mean I think what the President said was consistent with what we have said all along. Those people who in good faith followed the OLC memoranda are not going to be subject to prosecution or investigation. So that message I think has been consistent since we first announced it.

Q: And what about the people who wrote the memoranda or directed the policy?

AG: Well we've also said you know we're going to follow the evidence wherever it takes us. We'll follow the law wherever that takes us. No one is above the law. So we'll see what happens.

Comments (4)

Ben from Queens April 22, 2009 6:08 PM

Does anyone else see the irony of "Move On".org calling for "investigations" of Cheney, etc? Not that I know the right thing to do...www.moveon.org/investigate

By the way, Moveon polled its members during the transition about four priorities for the new administration and pursuing prosecutions for these past actions was not among those four. Is it more important than health care?

ottovbvs April 23, 2009 8:57 AM

Holder is entirely correct. When these memos were released Obama said only the CIA people would be shielded otherwise the law had to take it course. Why the Republicans are making a big deal of all this is a mystery to me. They are essentially making themselves the party of torture with one of the most distrusted men in the country, Cheney, as their principal spokesman. It's nuts.

goethean April 23, 2009 1:05 PM

> Ben from Queens April 22, 2009 6:08 PM
> Does anyone else see the irony of "Move On".org calling
> for "investigations" of Cheney, etc?

No I don't see the irony. Please explain to me how wanting to avoid impeaching Bill Clinton for receiving a blowjob is exactly like not wanting to prosecute Dick Cheney for signing off on a regime of torture. What kind of insane, amoral sociopath are you to think that those two things are comparable?

JR Shells April 23, 2009 2:17 PM

Didn't Rahm Emmanuel say on This Week on Sunday that they would not prosecute the drafters of the policy? Was he speaking out of turn?