Source: The Hill
By Susan Crabtree
Posted: 02/09/09 04:02 PM [ET]

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) wants to establish a truth commission to investigate allegations of wrongdoing in the Bush administration.

Leahy, who chairs the Judiciary Committee, announced the idea Monday during a wide-ranging speech at Georgetown University on the topic of “Restoring Trust in the Judicial System.” The commission, he said, could be headed by one person or a group of people known for being independent and fair-minded and look into everything from detainee and interrogation policies to the war in Iraq and the firing of nine U.S. attorneys for political reasons.

People who came forward with information would be granted immunity from prosecution, Leahy said.

“Congress has already granted immunity, over my objection, to those who facilitated warrantless wiretaps and those who conducted cruel interrogations,” Leahy said. “It would be far better to use that authority to learn the truth.”

Leahy offered the truth commission idea as a “middle ground to find the truth” between Democrats who want to investigate and prosecute Bush administration officials to the fullest extent of the law and President Obama, who has indicated that he may not want to rehash his predecessor’s alleged misdeeds.


House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) has not backed off attempts to hold Bush administration officials accountable. Conyers recently subpoenaed former Bush aide Karl Rove to try to continue to probe the U.S. attorneys scandal and what role, if any, Rove played in it.

Conyers also has introduced a bill creating a more narrowly focused truth commission to investigate the war in Iraq and whether Bush abused his war powers authority and individuals' civil liberties with his administration’s use of wiretapping laws.


In his remarks, Leahy repeated an earlier claim that the abuses at the Justice Department during the Bush administration were"worse than Watergate". He also referred to the Church Commission of the 1970s, when he first came to Congress, which investigated illegal intelligence gathering, as well as South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which was devoted to reviewing the country’s apartheid-era abuses.


“Rather than vengeance, we need a fair-minded pursuit of what actually happened,” he said. “Sometimes the best way to move forward is getting to the truth, finding out what happened, so we can make sure it does not happen again.”

Rep. Lamar Smith (Texas), the ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, blasted Leahy’s suggestion as partisan politics as usual and repetitive of previous internal Justice Department investigations.

“No good purpose is served by continuing to persecute those who served in the previous Administration.” Smith said in a statement. “President Obama promised to usher in an era of ‘change’ and bipartisan harmony. Unfortunately, the continued effort by some Democrats to unjustly malign former Bush Administration officials is politics as usual.”
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Note From Me:
I watched the cspan announcement of his plans for "Restoring Trust in the Judicial System.”
He has invited folks to contact him via email with your thoughts.
I will hope that people will at least send him a vote of confidence. I believe that he and Conyers MUST bring the Bush Criminals to Justice and work to restore America's Liberties and Freedoms and roll back the Unconstitutional Executive Powers.
I want to see something like this:

Views: 62

Comment

You need to be a member of 12160 Social Network to add comments!

Join 12160 Social Network

Comment by truth on November 26, 2009 at 12:55am
Well all most a year later, democratic pres and demo congress and nutt-in, any one surprised??
Comment by 7R33SandR0P3S on February 12, 2009 at 6:54am
Maybe true, but, if the truth becomes pubic knowledge, the outraged public may demand justice for traitors.....and again the rogue government will fail to follow the US Constitution, proving the need for the revival of the Constitution.
Comment by truth on February 11, 2009 at 6:23pm
The Rachel Maddow Show, broadcast Feb. 10, 2009.


Comment by Maas on February 11, 2009 at 8:20am
Leahy might want a truth commission, but he doesn't want it for the purposes of any kind of criminal investigations or even censure of the Bush gang.

"Destroying the New World Order"

TOP CONTENT THIS WEEK

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THE SITE!

mobile page

12160.info/m

12160 Administrators

 

Latest Activity

Doc Vega posted a blog post

Well Known Wilderness Photographer Disappears in the Cascades-Guess Why?

 In August of 2023 another aficionado of the great outdoors went missing. The chilling revelations…See More
1 hour ago
Doc Vega posted a blog post

The Draconian Show

Sometimes I talk to my invisible friend, IkeHe comes from another dimension when magnetic fields…See More
Friday
tjdavis posted a blog post
Thursday
Doc Vega posted a blog post
Wednesday
Doc Vega posted blog posts
Tuesday
Doc Vega posted blog posts
Jun 23
Doc Vega favorited tjdavis's photo
Jun 22
Doc Vega commented on tjdavis's photo
Thumbnail

Game Night

"Ha! Good one!"
Jun 22
Doc Vega commented on FREEDOMROX's blog post MRNA VACCINES: Question
"Listen man I know where you're at but back in October of 2023 thru December of 2023 for months…"
Jun 22
tjdavis posted a video

Architecton | Official Trailer HD | A24

SUBSCRIBE: http://bit.ly/A24subscribeWritten and directed by Victor Kossakovsky and starring Michele De Lucchi. ARCHITECTON – Coming Soon RELEASE DATE: Comin...
Jun 22
tjdavis posted photos
Jun 22
tjdavis posted a blog post
Jun 21
Burbia posted a video

Europe Will Not Survive

The hubris.All things Archaix at www.archaix.com
Jun 21
FREEDOMROX posted a video
Jun 21
Burbia commented on tjdavis's blog post Track AIPAC
Jun 20
rlionhearted_3 commented on Doc Vega's blog post Latest Details on Missile Exchanges Between Iran and Israel
"May get really ugly over there?"
Jun 20
Doc Vega posted a blog post

Latest Details on Missile Exchanges Between Iran and Israel

Latest information about the air attacks between Israel and Iran as the US moves another carrier…See More
Jun 19
tjdavis favorited Less Prone's video
Jun 19
tjdavis posted a blog post
Jun 19
cheeki kea replied to cheeki kea's discussion Tartaria
"Some interesting information has come to light ( from the renaissance period ) which explains that…"
Jun 19

© 2025   Created by truth.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

content and site copyright 12160.info 2007-2019 - all rights reserved. unless otherwise noted