Washington— The Justice Department has decided not to file criminal charges in the vast majority of cases involving the CIA's former interrogation, detention and kidnapping program.
In a statement to CIA employees on his last day as director, Leon E. Panetta said Thursday that after an examination of more than 100 instances in which the agency allegedly had contact with terrorism detainees, Assistant U.S. Atty. John Durham decided that further investigation was warranted in just two cases. Each of those cases resulted in a death.
| Bambi finally sees the light -- alternately, he, Jarrett and Axelrod begin to see these cases as a distraction and anchor on the re-election campaign. |
Panetta, who is to be sworn in as Defense secretary Friday, did not disclose specifics about those cases, but it has been widely reported that one involves Manadel Jamadi, who died in 2003 at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq after he was beaten while being questioned in a shower by a CIA interrogator.
"Both cases were previously reviewed by career federal prosecutors who subsequently declined prosecution," Panetta said.
| Which should have been the end of it, but Bambi was playing to his progressive base when he decided to prosecute all the CIA people. |
Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr., who announced the CIA investigations in August 2009, followed Panetta's announcement with a statement that confirmed the decision but did not explain it.
Beyond the two detainee deaths, "the department has determined that an expanded criminal investigation of the remaining matters is not warranted," Holder said.
The announcements mean that no CIA officer will face prosecution in connection with interrogations that the agency's inspector general and a Justice Department official under former President George W. Bush concluded had exceeded what lawyers had authorized.
Panetta praised the decision not to file charges in most cases, as did Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.), who chairs the House Intelligence Committee.
Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, who succeeds Panetta as CIA director, told the Senate Intelligence Committee last week that "it is time to take the rear-view mirrors off the bus with respect to certain actions out there." |