Holder Under Fire On Terrorism Blunders; Yoo Exonerated on Waterboarding

Michael Isikoff
Eric Holder Jr. may finally be running out of string on the confidence of this POTUS who has picked a mediocre cabinet [Geithner, Janet N., Holder, and the creep who wants to teach gay values to First Graders over at "Education." But the chickens are coming home to roost:

For weeks, the right has heckled Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. for his plans to try the alleged 9/11 conspirators in New York City and his handling of the Christmas bombing plot suspect. Now the left is going to be upset: an upcoming Justice Department report from its ethics-watchdog unit, the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR), clears the Bush administration lawyers who authored the “torture” memos of professional-misconduct allegations.

Michael Isikoff, perhaps the only Newsweak reporter left whom I respect, goes on:

The report, which is still going through declassification, will provide many new details about how waterboarding was adopted and the role that top White House officials played in the process, say two sources who have read the report but asked for anonymity to describe a sensitive document. Two of the most controversial sections of the 2002 memo—including one contending that the president, as commander in chief, can override a federal law banning torture—were not in the original draft of the memo, say the sources. But when Michael Chertoff, then-chief of Justice’s criminal division, refused the CIA’s request for a blanket pledge not to prosecute its officers for torture, Yoo met at the White House with David Addington, Dick Cheney’s chief counsel, and then–White House counsel Alberto Gonzales. After that, Yoo inserted a section about the commander in chief’s wartime powers and another saying that agency officers accused of torturing Qaeda suspects could claim they were acting in “self-defense” to prevent future terror attacks, the sources say. Both legal claims have long since been rejected by Justice officials as overly broad and unsupported by legal precedent.

A Justice official declined to explain why David Margolis softened the original finding, but noted that he is a highly respected career lawyer who acted without input from Holder. Yoo and Bybee (through his lawyer) declined requests for comment.

Given the absurd counter-reaction of Obama to read Miranda rights before debriefing the Detroit crotch bomber, Holder may have to be the fall-guy if another terrorist attempt isn't caught offshore because of the absurd no-fly cock-ups [along with Janet from another planet Napolitano]. If there is another attempt within weeks, Holder will have been held criminally malfeasant in not allowing the Detroit bomber to be extensively interrogated by DNI, CIA [the FBI unit for debriefing terrorists is in typical FBI eff-up style, still in the formation stage after its authorization last AUGUST!!]. Maybe Mueller might have to go because the FBI just ain't up to any job except playing dirty tricks on other USG agencies like the CIA or DNI.