The top ranking Republican of the House Judiciary Committee introduced legislation today that would compel the Justice Department to confer with the Director of National Intelligence and the secretary of Defense before deciding if a suspected terrorist should be tried treated as a civilian.
Lamar Smith (gov)
Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) criticized the Obama administration’s decision to allow FBI agents to interrogate Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab and read the Nigerian his Miranda rights when he was captured after he allegedly tried to ignite explosives in his underpants on a Dec. 25 Detroit-bound airplane flight.
“Giving terrorists constitutional rights ignores the seriousness of the threat from al-Qaeda — these are acts of war, not isolated incidents of crime,” Smith said in a statement. “All terrorists should be interrogated by intelligence experts to obtain crucial information about future attacks. Anything less risks the safety and security of the American people.”
DOJ spokesman Matthew Miller defended the decisions, saying in a statement last week that the DOJ consulted national security officials before Abdulmutallab was charged in federal court. But it is still unclear exactly when in the decision-making process the DOJ consulted the nationaly security officials on Abdulmutallab.
Yesterday, Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and the panel’s ranking Republican, Susan Collins of Maine, asked Attorney General Eric Holder to remove Abdulmutallab from federal custody to military detention.
Smith’s bill is co-sponsored by 17 Republicans: John Boehner, Ohio; John Carter, Texas; Buck McKeon, California; Peter King, New York; Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Florida; Jim Sensenbrenner, Wisconsin; Howard Coble, North Carolina; Elton Gallegly, California; Daniel Lungren, California; Trent Franks, Arizona; Louie Gohmert, Texas; Jim Jordan, Ohio; Jason Chaffetz, Utah; Tom Rooney, Florida; Roy Blunt ,Missouri; Hal Rogers, Kentucky; and Don Manzullo, Illinois.
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The Republicans aren’t too happy about Attorney General Eric Holder’s decision to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate whether CIA officers and contractors broke anti-torture laws during the interrogations of suspected terrorists.
Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) flying from Baghdad to Amman, Jordan with security personnel. (Gov)
New York Rep. Peter King, the ranking Republican on the Homeland Security Committee and a member of the House Intelligence Committee, used a few choice words in an interview with Politico today to express his disgust with the upcoming investigation.
“It’s bullshit. It’s disgraceful. You wonder which side they’re on,” King told Politco adding that the probe was a “declaration of war against the CIA, and against common sense.”
But he was only getting started.
“It’s a total breach of faith, and either the president is intentionally caving to the left wing of his party or he’s lost control of his administration,” King told Politico.
He then had a warning for the Obama administration.
“You will have thousands of lives that will be lost, and the blood will be on Eric Holder’s hands,” he told Politico.
Other Republicans were more reserved in their remarks about Holder’s move. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement Monday that Holder made “a poor and misguided decision.”
Democratic leaders in Congress applauded the appointment of a special prosecutor, but they said more can still be done. Connecticut Assistant U.S. Attorney John H. Durham will be limited to determining whether there is enough evidence to warrant a full investigation into CIA officials who may have violated the law in their handling of suspected terrorists.
“As I have said for many months, it is vital that this special counsel be given a broad mandate to investigate these abuses, to follow the evidence where it leads, and to prosecute where warranted,” said Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), chair of the House Judiciary constitution, civil rights and civil liberties subcommittee, in a statement Monday. “This must be a robust mission to gather any and all evidence without predetermination of where it may lead. Seeking out only the low-level actors in a conspiracy to torture detainees will bring neither justice nor restored standing to our nation.”
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