It goes without saying that, where there is a story of constitutional or human rights abuse, Dick Cheney cannot be far behind. It is therefore little surprise to learn this week that, according to sources in the recent disclosure of a hidden counterterrorism program, the prior concealment from Congress was allegedly ordered by Cheney.
The Central Intelligence Agency reportedly withheld information about program for eight years on orders from Cheney, who continually fought any disclosures on a host of subjects to either Congress or the courts.
As I discussed on this segment of MSNBC Countdown, it is a crime to withhold such information from Congress — yet another crime that is not being investigated by the Obama Administration.
While covert operations can be limited to disclosures to the Gang of Eight, the National Security Act of 1947 requires such disclosure.
It was previously known that Cheney’s legal adviser, David S. Addington, (another dark character in these scandals) was involved in this matter as well.
Once again, it is astonishing that Attorney General Eric Holder continues to refuse to appoint a special prosecutor to deal with the mounting allegations of criminal acts by the Bush Administration. The blocking of such investigations by the Obama Administration reaffirms the view that our intelligence services live beyond the reach of the law and that our leaders are unaccountable under the criminal laws that they apply to average citizens. While Obama insists that no one is above the law, he has ensured that we have two separate systems of justice for the powerful and the plebes.
In another story, Gen. Michael Hayden who carried out many of the presumptively unlawful programs during the Bush Administration insists that Congress was informed of this particular program, here.
For the full story, click here
A couple of links that tie in to all of this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COINTELPRO
http://blog.aclu.org/2008/07/28/fbi-celebrates-100-years-of-absolutely-not-spying-on-americans/
(http://blog.aclu.org/2008/07/25/fbis-civil-liberties-history-palmer-raids-to-racial-profiling-guidelines/)
I remember clearly the ominous presence of the National Guard on college campuses in the early 70s. Where is the outrage that I saw then? Why are students (and others) not protesting en masse, as we once did? I’m not advocating violence, but I wish that we could move people to act, once again, in the best interest in this country.
Mike S.,
I wonder if part of the problem with prosecution has to do with Cheney not having the authority in the first place.
It would appear that the best place to avoid accountability is to hold the Office of Vice President.
I think Cheney was the puppet-master. I think that was the intention from the beginning.
Thanks, as always, Jonathan Turley! Although Hélène Volat and I campaigned for the exceptionally qualified Barack Obama, we also predicted quite accurately that G.W. Bush’s successor – whoever she or he might be – would fail in the realm of openness and civil rights. We just didn’t realize how miserable that failure would be. Where we predicted this was in a book that we wrote in French and published in Paris, when we could find no publisher willing to touch it in 2006: De l’exception à la règle [From Exception to Rule]: USA PATRIOT Act.
I’ve been contending since the inaugural that it is premature to believe that the Administration won’t go after Bush/Cheney on their illegal doings, but is working on it in a way that will seem less the political attack of a new administration upon its’ predecessor. Perhaps if one looks beyond the overt content in the attached two links, one can see the shape of prosecution to come and the political cover it affords. Part of any administration’s toolbox is of necessity political theater. I know I’m a pretty straightforward type of guy, but if I was in power, I’d be doing the same thing simply because some things can not be attacked overtly without unknowable blowback. Time will tell.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/11/holder-now-leaning-toward_n_230057.html
http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/07/11/holder-v-rahm-the-torture-fight/
Little Known Military Thug Squad Still Brutalizing Prisoners at Gitmo Under Obama
By Jeremy Scahill, AlterNet. Posted May 15, 2009.
This is a link to the aforementioned story that Jill posted to another thread. It’s a “must-read” and I may be quoting Jill.
http://www.alternet.org/rights/140022/little_known_military_thug_squad_still_brutalizing_prisoners_at_gitmo_under_obama/
An excerpt from the previous link (also provided by Jill):
The torture, according to the Spanish investigation, all occurred “under the authority of American military personnel” and was sometimes conducted in the presence of medical professionals.
More significantly, however, the investigation could for the first time place an intense focus on a notorious, but seldom discussed, thug squad deployed by the U.S. military to retaliate with excessive violence to the slightest resistance by prisoners at Guantánamo.
The force is officially known as the the Immediate Reaction Force or Emergency Reaction Force, but inside the walls of Guantánamo, it is known to the prisoners as the Extreme Repression Force. Despite President Barack Obama’s publicized pledge to close the prison camp and end torture — and analysis from human rights lawyers who call these forces’ actions illegal — IRFs remain very much active at Guantánamo.” (end of excerpt)
There is nothing that is all right about any of this. How could anyone read this story and not feel that we must move forward with a criminal investigation.
Furthermore (and I know this for a fact), groups of thugs are currently operating domestically in many, if not all, communities across this country. They appear to be state-sanctioned and they are commiting crimes without leaving tangible evidence. They are targeting, surveilling and discrediting individuals. Personal property is being vandalized and thefts are not uncommon. It’s psychological harassment, pure and simple.
Some in the law enforcement community are either complicit or turning a blind-eye to these domestic programs, it would appear.
I don’t want to misquote him, but I believe that John Dean has said that this will “be worse than Watergate” when all the facts are known. We don’t know all the facts, yet, and it already seems “worse than Watergate”.
To loosely paraphrase Mike Spindell (another thread), the challenge is to “reawaken” Americans.
We can’t let this one go. And we have to keep pushing until we know “the whole truth.”
Refer to Mike Spindell’s full comment via the following link:
http://jonathanturley.org/2009/07/11/bush-administration-accused-of-cover-up-of-massacre-of-taliban-prisoners/#comments
Let us not pretend that what is being done by the CIA and other more hidden intelligence groups is anything new, or has been limited to Republican Administrations. Check out the Church Committee Hearings of the late 70’s. I don’t say this as justification, nor do I think Cheney shouldn’t be prosecuted. He has, if this is true committed what is in essence treason, under the same old rubric of “National Security.”
The concept of the secrecy necessary to maintain National Security is in the main nonsense. It has always been a clever way to hide failures and missteps by those in power. What may have had some meager justification during the Cold War ended with the dissolution of the USSR and America’s emergence as the worlds most powerful nation militarily. While it is true that we need Intelligence Agency’s and the identity of Agents should be secret, though Valerie Plame gives lie to this past administration’s fidelity towards secrecy, there is nothing wrong with a clear understanding of what these Agencies are doing and indeed that is demanded in order to maintain our supposedly free society.
Too many people in congress have bought into the concept of National Security Secrecy, or are frightened at opposing it.
This is their Constitutional role and they are failing in it.
Unfortunately, the Beltway pundits and Aristocracy are full throated members of the National Secrets Chorus and so it is only the very brave political soul who will challenge these faulty premises.
If Holder doesn’t grow a set he needs to be shown the door right now. I think we will need to hang our hats with Congress because they are getting pissed with all of the information that is coming out that they were not only hoodwinked, but left in the dark on many intelligence issues.
Mespo hit the nail on the head about our old friend, Hayden. There is another guy who Holder needs to add to his list, if he really is starting a list!
Curious,
If Cheney and Addington relied on that language, Congress would not have been briefed on anything. Cheney’s first thought is secrecy so he would have used that language 100% of the time if he could have.
Glenn Greenwald thinks Holder’s noise about prosecution is a scam. When I read the article this was also my conclusion:
“Sunday July 12, 2009 08:13 EDT
The Holder trial balloon: Abu Ghraib redux
(updated below)
Yesterday, I treated this new Newsweek report that Eric Holder is “leaning toward appointing a prosecutor to investigate the Bush administration’s brutal interrogation practices” as something to celebrate. But new facts about what that investigation would entail and, more importantly, would exclude — facts added by today’s Washington Post — strongly suggest it’s the opposite. At least if that article is to be believed — and it seems clear that Holder dispatched his allies to leak his plans in order to gauge reaction — the investigation will only target “rogue” CIA interrogators who exceeded the limits of what John Yoo authorized, and would not include high-level policy makers who authorized the torture tactics and implemented America’s torture regime:
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/
Buddha, thanks for the link to the Newsweek article..
It seems, according to these statements by Holder, he knows what to do….he just needs some balls!
“You have the responsibility of enforcing the nation’s laws, and you have to be seen as neutral, detached, and nonpartisan in that effort,”
“I hope that whatever decision I make would not have a negative impact on the president’s agenda,” he says. “But that can’t be a part of my decision.”
“the notion that you would take actions based on political considerations runs counter to everything in my DNA.”
*****
Jill, I’m in total agreement w/you on this!
Jill wrote:
“To not prosecute is itself a crime. Someone said charges should be brought by Monday, or if that isn’t a workable day for Holder, then by the end of today. I agree.” (end quote)
So do I, and I’m guessing that many other very busy Americans do, as well, in spite of the apparent lack of a public outcry. Many just don’t know all the facts and/or clearly understand the implications of failing to conduct a criminal investigation with subsequent prosecution/s.
I fear for the future of our country, if we fail to do what is so clearly the right thing. The Department of Justice must put politics aside and prosecute those who broke the law. If not, just open the doors of all of our prisons, for we have become a country which selectively prosecutes horrific crimes.
Thanks for your excellent posts on this matter, Prof. Turley. One question about the legality of concealment of the program by Cheney to Congress: The NYT and WP say the question of the illegality of this concealment is murky because the National Security Act of 1947 creates an exception: “to the extent consistent with due regard for the protection from unauthorized disclosure of classified information relating to sensitive intelligence sources and methods or other exceptionally sensitive matters.”
Doesn’t this loophole, especially the “other exceptionally sensitive matters” let Cheney and Addington off the hook? If not, why not? Has there ever been any litigation on this? Thanks for shedding any light you can on this.
Jill,
You say you do not understand the reason for Hayden’s actions, but I’m sure you actually do. We all know Mr Turley’s neighbor is absolutely devoid of any integrity and that any comment he makes in public is purely politically motivated. What he says may be completely logically inconsistent, but that makes no matter to him. What he is trying to do is ensure a mutually ensured destruction scenario for Democrats in congress. That is, if torture/surveillance/rendition/prisoner death/etc./etc. is investigated, Hayden wants the Democrats to know that they will be implicated in these acts just as Republicans will. By stating that the Congress (read: Democrats) knew about these programs all along, he is chipping away at the plausible deniability that Pelosi, et al may use as a defense if Holder actually decides to prosecute.
Has Cheney had an assassination squad operating out of the White House since 2001?
Washington D.C. is a criminal organization masquerading as a democratic government.
Domestic surveillance of American citizens continues to this day, but the program remains hidden from the public. It would appear that there is multi-agency involvement (in the program to which I’m referring), but I’m left to speculate based on what I’ve seen.
Someone must expose the secret and sadistic programs which are targeting good, patriotic, law-abiding people and doing irreparable harm. I’m a white, professional woman with absolutely no criminal history. I could be your next-door-neighbor or friend. If this could happen to me, it could happen to anyone.
It’s easy to dismiss those who speak out about programs such as the one to which I’m referring. It’s easy and convenient. Having said this, it’s nothing short of tragic for the victims/targets of these programs to let them continue. And in the long run, it’s tragic for the country as a whole.
It’s become pretty clear that our most secretive agencies have been involved in activities that are not consistent with the rule of law and the Constitution. We cannot allow them to hide behind the “state secrets privilege.” When the laws of this country have been violated, there must be prosecution. For now, we are simply a country with “liberty and justice” for some. It’s an outrage.
Many thanks to Jonathan Turley for consistently standing up for the rule of law and our Constitution.
“Once again, it is astonishing that Attorney General Eric Holder continues to refuse to appoint a special prosecutor to deal with the mounting allegations of criminal acts by the Bush Administration”
That is the gist of it.
“But it will take a lot more clamor to move public opinion on this issue. One thing is particularly clear: any pro-Obama partisan who lectures others on the need to be patient with Obama, or to believe Obama knows best when it comes to whether and when to act on the issues of torture and detention – well, anyone who argues that position should now know that they own responsibility for Bush-era lawless cruelty, along with the Obama administration. Now more than ever, let’s not be sheeple.”
http://www.salon.com/opinion/walsh/?last_story=/opinion/walsh/politics/2009/07/11/eric_holder/
Mr. Hayden says Congress was informed and there was nothing different about this spying program than what has already been disclosed. Since he is making these claims in a public forum I am mystified as to why he refuses to make the same claims under oath, at a Congressional Hearing or in a court of law. Further, I am unclear why he simply does not release all the details of the program to the public. What’s the issue here? If we already know what the program is, then why not release the full authorization and details of it.
As to the Dark Lord, no suprise there. I’m still trying to figure out where the VP fits into the chain of command over so many military operations (he doesn’t) and how the nefarious programs directed against civilians are all part of the work of the VP. With the incredible successes Mr. Cheney has given us in so many of his endeavors I’m certain he won’t mind telling the details of how he achieve these many sucesses in a court of law and to Congress as well.
The fact they we do have a seemless transition between Bush and Obama, with one key figure still directing things, speaks for itself. To not prosecute is itself a crime. Someone said charges should be brought by Monday, or if that isn’t a workable day for Holder, then by the end of today. I agree.
“In another story, Gen. Michael Hayden who carried out many of the presumptively unlawful programs during the Bush Administration insists that Congress was informed of this particular program.”
***********
He likewise insisted that “probable cause” was nowhere to be found in the 4th Amendment. So much for his insisting!
Apparently Holder is feeling heat to do . . . something.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/206300